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This study examines how non-profit organizations that engage in advocacy gain their legitimacy in the eyes of their target group of vulnerable citizens. The existing body of literature shows that these organizations are challenged in their pursuit of citizen legitimacy, defined as the extent to which their constituent target group perceives the organization as justified, accepted, and appropriate. This paper draws on the results of qualitative research in government-funded non-profit community work organizations that develop advocacy activities to influence policymakers. We interviewed community workers and their target group of citizens in four community centers in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. We show that community workers engage in practices to enhance both the input and throughput legitimacy of their advocacy activities. More specifically, they construct safe spaces through informality, ensure proximity by taking care of individual needs, and collectivize individual needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Big data research requires public support. It has been argued that this can be achieved by public involvement and engagement to ensure that public views are at the centre of research projects. Researchers should aim to include diverse communities, including seldom‐heard voices, to ensure that a range of voices are heard and that research is meaningful to them. Objective: We explored how researchers involve and engage seldom‐heard communities around big data research. Methods: This is a qualitative study. Researchers who had experience of involving or engaging seldom‐heard communities in big data research were recruited. They were based in England (n = 5), Scotland (n = 4), Belgium (n = 2) and Canada (n = 1). Twelve semistructured interviews were conducted on Zoom. All interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed, and we used reflexive thematic analysis to analyse participants' experiences. Results: The analysis highlighted the complexity of involving and engaging seldom‐heard communities around big data research. Four themes were developed to represent participants' experiences: (1) abstraction and complexity of big data, (2) one size does not fit all, (3) working in partnership and (4) empowering the public contribution. Conclusion: The study offers researchers a better understanding of how to involve and engage seldom‐heard communities in a meaningful way around big data research. There is no one right approach, with involvement and engagement activities required to be project‐specific and dependent on the public contributors, researchers' needs, resources and time available. Patient and Public Involvement: Two public contributors are authors of the paper and they were involved in the study design, analysis and writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endophytes within plants are known to be crucial for plant fitness, and while their presence and functions in many compartments have been studied in depth, the research on seed endophytes is still limited. This work aimed to characterize the seed endophytic and rhizospheric bacterial community of two Noccaea caerulescens Pb-Zn hyperaccumulator populations, growing on two heavy-metal-polluted sites in Belgium. Cultured representatives were evaluated for their potential to enhance seed germination and root length of the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. The results indicated that the community structure within the seed is conserved between the two locations, comprising mainly of Proteobacteria (seeds), and Actinobacteria in the bulk soil. Root length of A. thaliana was significantly increased when inoculated with Sphingomonas vulcanisoli. The results of this paper offer insights into the importance of the selection of the core seed endophytic microbiome and highlight the precarious symbiotic relationship they have with the plant and seed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationships consumers cultivate with mass-market commodities while caring for their authenticity. Drawing on a six-year ethnography of classic Mustang owners communities in France, Switzerland and Belgium, the authors show that, far from being a symbolic value only, or a resource into which people can "invest" in a mechanism of social distinction, authenticity can also appear as a burden that weighs constantly on the relationship between people and things. Indeed, throughout their uses and maintenance, the material integrity of classic Mustangs is of great concern for their owners, who apprehend every breakdown or maintenance intervention as threats that could jeopardize their car's authenticity. For the sake of security, comfort or health, because new regulations come up, or because some original parts are not available anymore, classic Mustangs owners compose with heterogeneous elements, constantly reshaping both their cars and their concerns for authenticity. The authors draw on Hennion's notion of "attachement" to describe the intimate relationship that grows through these arrangements. The notion particularly helps to grasp the ambivalence of the bonds between people and things: while they get more and more attached to their classic Mustang, owners are getting more and more worried. Moreover, throughout this growing relationship and the recurrent material interventions it draws on, the car does not remain passive. It progressively reveals itself, sometimes surprising its owner. Therefore, not only is authenticity "in the making" in this process, the contours of the thing itself evolve, as well as the knowledge of its owner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper aims to reflect on the results of the project Community Intervention in Urban Areas: a youth driven initiative. This project envisioned the development of a Transnational Seminar that gave origin to the development of youth arts intervention projects and to the elaboration of the document "Youth Policies for Urban Neighborhoods". The project started from the youth's reflection on the physical, social, economic, and cultural degradation of specific spaces/territories and communities in Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium (spaces in ruins, non-places and other abandoned areas), exploring these territories as spaces for transformation and future renovation. The idea is to explore the ways youth may contribute to the transformation of these spaces, therefore enhancing their civic knowledge, capacity to intervene and influence policy and research under this theme. We wish to explore the role of younger generations, and youth in particular, through a change of paradigm. That is, by developing alternatives of intervention, through Participant Action Research and through the exploration of its connections with artistic practice and the cultural field in general. We hope this approach can influence local, national and European youth education policies and enhance different approaches to research in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Belgium, migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounted for 45% of new heterosexual HIV infections in 2021, while only 1.5% of PrEP starters were of SSA descent. We explored the acceptance of PrEP and barriers towards PrEP uptake and use among SSA migrant and diaspora communities in Belgium using a participatory action research approach. Trained community researchers (CRs), involved in all phases of the study, co-designed and moderated group discussions (GDs) while simultaneously providing information on HIV and PrEP during workshops. Extensive summaries and field notes were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. CRs were involved in data analysis, interpretation and reporting. We conducted seven GDs with 51 participants. We identified five major themes: (1) Participants had limited PrEP knowledge, which created feelings of surprise and annoyance about not being informed. This was partly explained by (2) the taboo and stigma that surrounds sexuality and HIV, which could shape PrEP acceptance. (3) Participants shared feelings of otherness due to experiences of racism and discrimination, also in relationship to HIV prevention. (4) PrEP was considered a high-threshold prevention tool, because of its perceived side-effects and its specialized service delivery. (5) Despite nuanced opinions about PrEP, all participants agreed that PrEP promotion should be mainstreamed, so everyone can make an informed decision. In conclusion, PrEP seemed acceptable among our participants. Our qualitative study provides insights into the intersecting barriers to accessing HIV services, showing that SSA diaspora communities are 'hardly reached' rather than 'hard to reach' by PrEP promotion messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the quality of life in the neighbourhood as a starting point and appeals to the framework of Age-friendly Cities to gain insights in how ‘the neighbourhood as a physical surrounding’ can either promote or hinder feelings of unsafety in later life. It examines the impact of the perceived design of the neighbourhood on feelings of unsafety in later life. Literature on the relationship between feelings of unsafety and the neighbourhood mainly concentrates on incivilities and disorder. Other physical-spatial features of the neighbourhood are rarely taken into consideration. Using data generated from the Belgian Ageing Studies (N=25,980) multivariate analyses indicate that a neighbourhood which is perceived to be physically adapted to the needs of older people (in terms of accessibility and distance to services) heightens feelings of safety. The findings demonstrate the need to reduce behaviour constraints by redesigning fear-related physical features. This conclusion raises practical implications and formulates a number of policy recommendations to tackle feelings of unsafety in an ageing society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The three-level political structure of Belgium (capital Brussels) is very complicated. The first sentence of the constitution says: "Belgium is a federal state made up of communities and regions". This means there are different levels active in the political system. This layout is also represented in the organization of the tourism promotion in and for Belgium. It means there is a very complicated system in and around tourism. In fact there is no central service for promoting touristic Belgium. The three communities organise the touristic policy and promotion in a different way with own accents and highlights. And there is Brussels, the capital of Belgium, but also the capital of the Flemish Region. Brussels is governed by the Flemish and Walloon Community together. But Brussels Capital is also a Region. Next to that there are 19 districts in Brussels with their own major and town council. All these institutions play their role in the Brussels tourism policy. In Flanders the situation is rather simple. For them Brussels is the capital. On the French speaking side (French community) there is a very complicated system of different institutions working together but also beside each other. This paper will explain the situation of the tourist policy and the institutions concerned in the three Communities. But first it is necessary to explain the political structure of Belgium. Otherwise it is impossible to understand the tourist policy and the concerned institutions and/or services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Very little attention has been given to the social accountability of conferences, either in action or in scholarship, in particular, of scientific conferences. Concerns that have been raised include: (1) Local communities and regions suffer from ecological pressure caused by conferences, (2) There is limited value to the local community, (3) International conferences take place at locations irrelevant to the topics discussed; hence there is no connection with locals, and (4) It has been the observation of the authors that <10% of participants may come from the region where the conference is organized, which makes it challenging to make a "positive societal impact" locally. We conducted a natural experiment investigating the interactions between academia, conference organizers, and community leaders. Methods: We utilized a case study approach to report on the outcomes of two 2022 annual international conferences that seek to improve community health. We used a mixed-methods approach of surveys and interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify the key themes. Results: We obtained 358 responses from all six World Health Organization regions. Results from both conferences were split into two categories: the why and the how. A strong consensus among participants is that bi-directional learning between conference organizers and local communities leads to shared understanding and mutual goals. The data emphasize that including communities in academic conferences helps us progress forward from intentions toward demonstrating accountability and reporting impact. Discussion: A diversity of perspectives is needed to advance socially accountable health system transformation. Five best practices from conference participants are laid out as a framework to assist in the change: (1) Build trust, (2) provide funding for community member participation, (3) appreciation of local community knowledge, (4) involve the local community in the planning stages, and (5) make the local community part of the conference and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal child behavior is a complex entity including among others disorders such as ADHD, a neuropsychiatric disorder interfering with the normal development of the child, and combining many comorbidities. There are no specific tools designed to assess abnormal child behavior, although well-known ADHD screening tools such as the CTRS-R:S go beyond the disorder itself and cover the wider construct. This can be understood as the complex system of mutually influencing entities, that is why the aim of this study was to investigate the items of the CTRS-R:S as a psychological network. We analyzed a data set of 525 children in French-speaking primary schools from Belgium, and estimated a Bayesian Gaussian Graphical Model with a Bayes Factor of 30. We identified highly connected nodes from each community of the CTRS-R:S to build an additional network of communities. In the domain network, Oppositional and Cognitive skills share the strongest connection in the network. The 28-item network was overall positively connected albeit the presence of some negative connections. The spinglass algorithm identified eight domains in the CTRS-R:S network that causally influence each other. The network approach is a useful framework to investigate the domains of abnormal child behavior as well as the interplay between individual symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This article reports on a government-funded research project exploring the problems experienced by LGBTQs with a migration background living in Belgium, to guide future policies aiming to support this target group and to increase acceptance of LGBTQs within their ethno-cultural communities. Methods: In 2019 and 2020, in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 LGBTQ individuals belonging to Moroccan, Turkish and Congolese communities in Belgium, complemented by 10 expert interviews with persons who have professional, activist and/or personal expertise in relation to this intersection. Results: Across the three communities, several thresholds and problems were identified in relation to the acceptance of homosexuality, rigid gender roles, and intersectional experiences of racism and exclusion. To address these problems, the participants and experts cautioned against the use of "shock tactics" or a one-sided focus on culture and religion. Instead, they proposed government support of bottom-up initiatives taken within the communities, increased social and media representation, and education on sexual diversity at schools. Conclusions: The limited acceptance of LGBTQs is not only connected to particular cultures and religions. To increase acceptance, policies should support changes from within rather than working top-down. Policy Implications: To be effective and supported by the targeted communities, future policies as well as government-funded research should involve people from the targeted communities from the start, following the principle "nothing about us without us." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pre-existing racial/ethnic disparities in health, sustained by intersecting socio-economic and structural inequities, have widened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, little attention has been paid to the lived experiences of people in ethnic/racialised minority communities, and to the causes and effects underlying the COVID-19-related burden. This hinders tailored responses. This study explores Sub-Saharan African (SSA) communities' needs, perceptions, and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its control measures in Antwerp (Belgium) in 2020. Methods: This qualitative study using an interpretative ethnographical approach adopted an iterative and participatory methodology: a community advisory board advised on all stages of the research process. Interviews and a group discussion were conducted online, through telephone, and face-to-face. We analysed the data inductively using a thematic analytical approach. Results: Our respondents, who mostly used social media for information, struggled with misinformation about the new virus and prevention measures. They reported to be vulnerable to misinformation about the origin of the pandemic, risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2, and the prevention measures. Not only did the epidemic affect SSA communities, but to a larger extent, the control strategies did—especially the lockdown. Respondents perceived the interaction of social factors (i.e. being migrants, being undocumented, having experienced racism and discrimination) and economic factors (i.e. working in temporary and precarious jobs, not being able to apply for unemployment benefit, crowded housing conditions) as increasing the burden of COVID-19 control measures. In turn, these experiences influenced people's perceptions and attitudes, and may have partially impaired them to follow some public health COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Despite these challenges, communities developed bottom-up initiatives to react quickly to the epidemic, including translation of prevention messages, food distribution, and online spiritual support. Conclusion: Pre-existing disparities influenced the perceptions of and attitudes towards COVID-19 and its control strategies among SSA communities. To better design support and control strategies targeted to specific groups, we need to not only involve communities and address their specific needs and concerns, but also build on their strengths and resilience. This will remain important in the context of widening disparities and future epidemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the real-life impact of indoor climate, human behaviour, ventilation and air filtration on respiratory pathogen detection and concentration are poorly understood. This hinders the interpretability of bioaerosol quantification in indoor air to surveil respiratory pathogens and transmission risk. We tested 341 indoor air samples from 21 community settings in Belgium for 29 respiratory pathogens using qPCR. On average, 3.9 pathogens were positive per sample and 85.3% of samples tested positive for at least one. Pathogen detection and concentration varied significantly by pathogen, month, and age group in generalised linear (mixed) models and generalised estimating equations. High CO2 and low natural ventilation were independent risk factors for detection. The odds ratio for detection was 1.09 (95% CI 1.03–1.15) per 100 parts per million (ppm) increase in CO2, and 0.88 (95% CI 0.80–0.97) per stepwise increase in natural ventilation (on a Likert scale). CO2 concentration and portable air filtration were independently associated with pathogen concentration. Each 100ppm increase in CO2 was associated with a qPCR Ct value decrease of 0.08 (95% CI −0.12 to −0.04), and portable air filtration with a 0.58 (95% CI 0.25–0.91) increase. The effects of occupancy, sampling duration, mask wearing, vocalisation, temperature, humidity and mechanical ventilation were not significant. Our results support the importance of ventilation and air filtration to reduce transmission. Surveillance of respiratory pathogens in air may improve understanding of indoor transmission risks but impacts of context-specific factors on pathogen abundance are not well understood. Here, the authors investigate factors associated with 29 respiratory pathogens through surveillance of 21 community settings in Belgium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to provide a critique of the depoliticising funding call for co-creation research on urban resilience and sustainability while advocating that urban sustainability should remain political and require a political sphere. This study illustrated the invisible costs of undertaking co-creation research and, more specifically, the power imbalance between different groups of co-researchers, which creates tensions. Our research on the case study of the Brussels Health Gardens (BHG) project illustrated how a policy instrument such as a funding call depoliticised urban sustainability and nature-based health knowledge and failed to integrate sufficient resources, such as the time needed to care for science, society, and the self. While previous research focused on successful applications across different scales and places, we illustrated the costs and tensions created by an application that was accepted and funded in the first stage and rejected in the second stage. Vulnerable groups, immigrants, and women tried to access the financial resources that were provided by a regional funding application to communicate nature-based health knowledge in their cities, neighbourhoods, and communities while working together with academic institutions. Two authors were involved in all phases of this project and contributed a collaborative autoethnography of the tensions that were experienced during the project co-creation and their perceived causes. The third author interviewed other co-researchers and focused on the tensions. Several tensions were linked with those observed in other co-creation research (inclusion versus control; impact versus solution; and the research topic of health, which is a boundary object), whereas some tensions were linked with the systems of Brussels (and beyond), ecological modernist priorities, and academic entrepreneurial system. The empirical data of both the lived experiences of the first and second authors, enriched with findings of interviews, contribute to the underexplored body of knowledge and critiques on the depoliticisation by ecological modernist research and policy priorities in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the Parisian financial elite, Meyer Joseph Cahen d'Anvers (1804–1881) and his descendants belonged to an Ashkenazi community rooted in Germany and Belgium. In the late nineteenth century, as targets of the anti-Semitic press, the Cahen d'Anvers family experienced the consequences of the Dreyfus Affair and the horrors of the racial laws. In an earlier generation, the family adopted what could be defined as a 'top-down' model of integration. This essay focuses on its mechanisms and development, in relation to the construction of the family's national and cultural identity. After tracing the patriarch's origins, the text analyses the properties and collections of Cahen d'Anvers and explores their influence upon the subsequent development of the family's place in society. As a showcase for their public identity, the Château de Nainville (Essonne) and the Petit Hôtel de Villars (Paris) distilled, in their architecture, furnishings and collections, Meyer Joseph's civil rights and ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bill of 3 July 2022 to recognize the alienability of goods linked to the Belgian State's colonial past and to determine a legal framework for their restitution and return ("the Restitution Bill") puts Belgium at the forefront of international restitutions of colonial collections. With the parliamentary approval, and therefore democratically backed adoption of the Restitution Bill, Belgium is about to write history by being the first country in the world with a legislative framework allowing for large-scale restitutions of colonial collections. The situation, however, is not all roses, as the new legislation keeps its scope quite narrow (only cultural objects from former Belgian colonies, and no archives or human remains) and excludes local communities within the State of origin from being involved in restitution proceedings. Moreover, the Bill's initial draft had to be watered down significantly to give the Government maximum freedom in negotiating bilateral restitution agreements. The relative lack of procedural rules renders the process less transparent and more political. In sidestepping the issue, the actual restitution procedure will depend almost entirely on the terms of each of the bilateral agreements, thus giving more leeway to political squabbling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely believed that the school context plays a crucial role in teacher burnout. Against that background, we (1) critically review existing empirical multilevel studies on teacher burnout and (2) use data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 to assess the school-level variance and its correlates in emotional exhaustion, cynical depersonalization, and personal accomplishment in 2,300 primary (183 schools) and 2,700 lower secondary (190 schools) teachers in the Flemish-speaking community of Belgium, and 2,135 lower secondary (120 schools) teachers in the French-speaking community of Belgium. Our results reveal that (1) conceptual confusion exists surrounding school-context variables and (2) the between-school variance in teacher burnout is small. Implications for educational policy and teacher burnout research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthcare authorities worldwide search for ways to develop integrated care and interprofessional collaboration. In Belgium, Medical-Pharmaceutical Concertation (MPC) was introduced as a format to promote constructive dialogues between GPs and community pharmacists (CPs) with a focus on pharmacotherapy. Objective: To evaluate the implementation of MPC from the perspective of healthcare authorities and GPs/CPs. Methods: Mixed-methods approach, including semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and service users, observations of MPC meetings and surveys in GPs/CPs. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed inductively. Results: The implementation of MPC took a slow start. Parties involved had divergent views on the goals of the MPC: stakeholders focused on measurable results, while service users aimed on improving interprofessional communication. Additionally, service users felt that the lack of local structures hindered consensus building and implementation of agreements in daily practice. Support from professional associations was considered indispensable for the implementation of MPC. In order to organize this efficiently, the establishment of an independent institution, coordinating the MPC initiative, was highly recommended. Conclusion: The study confirms that a thorough context assessment prior to implementation of a complex project is needed and that a step-wise approach should be respected to achieve effective interprofessional relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in new technologies and the desire to achieve a sustainable and safe energy supply, enable communities to transition from conventional to renewable resources, such as geothermal energy. Perception and acceptance amongst different audiences have a high impact on the feasibility of energy projects, which is an important aspect to analyze. For this reason, this study focuses on describing the level of awareness and acceptance of deep geothermal energy within an educated segment of the population in five European and American countries (Canada, Colombia, Chile, Belgium, and France) at different stages of geothermal development. This study was conducted through an online survey, which was targeted to post-secondary students and professionals. Some of the most significant conclusions are: (1) there is a high degree of awareness of geothermal energy among the respondents in Chile and Canada, a medium level in Belgium and France, and a low one in Colombia; (2) there is a favorable acceptance of a geothermal project in each country, even when hydraulic stimulation is considered; (3) environmental aspects and community safety are the most important issues that must be addressed to support a pilot geothermal project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The physical neighbourhood environment may influence adults' sedentary behaviour. Yet, most studies examining the association between the physical neighbourhood environment and sedentary behaviour rely on selfreported data of either the physical neighbourhood environment and/or sedentary behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors and accelerometer-determined total sedentary time in adults. Methods: In total, 219 Dutch and 128 Belgian adults (mean age ± SD: 55.8 ± 15.4 years) were recruited between March and August 2014 as part of the European SPOTLIGHT project. Physical environmental neighbourhood factors, grouped into eight domains, i.e. walking, cycling, public transport, aesthetics, land use mix, grocery stores, food outlets and recreational facilities, were assessed using the SPOTLIGHT Virtual Audit Tool. Sedentary time was collected using ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. General linear mixed models were conducted to examine associations between physical environmental neighbourhood factors and total sedentary time. Results: Participants were sedentary, on average, for 542.9 min/day (SD: 84.3), or 9.1 h/day. None of the examined physical environmental neighbourhood factors were significantly related to total sedentary time. Conclusions: Our findings do not support associations of objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors with adults' objectively sedentary time in Dutch and Belgian adults. More research on sedentary behaviours in settings such as the home and work setting is needed to examine the influence of more specific physical environmental factors on these context-specific sedentary behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being married reduces the mortality risk of older persons. More generally, living arrangements that include co-residence with a source of support and a close care-giver are associated with a lower mortality risk. We build a detailed typology of private and collective living arrangements, including marital status, and check its association with mortality risks, controlling for health status. Using administrative data from the population register, we identify the living arrangement of all individuals aged 65 years and over living in Belgium as at 1 January 2002, and their survival during the year 2002. Data on health status are extracted from the 2001 census. We use binary logistic regression with the probability to die as outcome and living arrangement, health, age and gender as covariates. Our results show that mortality is more closely associated with actual living arrangements than with marital status. This association is age and gender-specific and remains even at very old ages. Living with a spouse is confirmed to be beneficial for survival but in older age living alone becomes more favourable. Of all living arrangements, older persons living in religious communities experience the lowest mortality risk whereas those living in nursing homes experience the highest risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The VirtualBelgium project aims at developing an understanding of the evolution of the Belgian population using agent-based simulations and considering various aspects of this evolution such as demographics, residential choices, activity patterns, mobility, etc. This simulation is based on a validated synthetic population consisting of approximately 10,000,000 individuals and 4,350,000 households located in the 589 municipalities of Belgium. The work presented in this paper focuses only on the mobility behaviour of such large populations and this is simulated using an activity-based approach in which the travel demand is derived from the activities performed by the individuals. The proposed model is distribution-based and requires only minimal information, but is designed to easily take advantage of any additional network-related data available. The proposed activity-based approach has been applied to the Belgian synthetic population. The quality of the agent behaviour is discussed using statistical criteria extracted from the literature and results show that VirtualBelgium produces satisfactory results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how informal economic activities (IEAs) can be (re)formalized in a way that will not destroy their potential for being assets for community development. The very concept of collaborative development in public administration is applied to social work’s asset-based community development (ABCD). This cross-application enables the exploration of alternatives for the challenges encountered in IEAs within industrialized nations. The authors argue that IEAs differ from the underground economy and deserve a different policy response. Social capital will be the overarching framework. Studies of two Western European countries (specifically, Belgium and the UK) will be used as examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is strong evidence that age brings an increasing attachment to social and physical environments. However, the extent to which the experience of place attachment may vary between different types of locations remains underexplored in ageing research. Using a mixed-method approach consisting of two consecutive phases, this article aims to identify contextual factors that either promote or impede older people's attachment to place. In the first phase, quantitative data from the Belgian Ageing Studies were used to purposively select four municipalities: two with relatively strong and two with relatively weak place attachments among the older population. In the second, qualitative phase, two focus groups with local stakeholders and 20 semi-structured interviews with older residents were conducted in each of the four case study areas in order to explain and build on the quantitative results. The qualitative findings focus on two contextual factors that have been linked to place attachment: the physical–spatial environment and population turnover. The study identifies the various pathways between these factors and older people's attachments. The article concludes by discussing practical and policy issues raised by the research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Developing environments responsive to the aspirations of older people has become a major concern for social and public policy. Policies and programs directed at achieving “age-friendly” communities are considered to require a wide range of interventions, including actions at the level of the social and physical environment. This article compares the age-friendly approaches of two European cities, Brussels and Manchester, with a particular focus on policies and initiatives that promote active aging in an urban context. The article examines, first, the demographic, social, and multicultural contexts of Brussels and Manchester; second, the way in which both cities became members of the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities; third, similarities and differences in the age-friendly approaches and actions adopted by both cities; and fourth, opportunities and barriers to the implementation of age-friendly policies. The article concludes by discussing the key elements and resources needed to develop age-friendly cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The use of unscheduled out of hours medical care is related to the social status of the patient. However, the social variance in the patient's preference for a hospital based versus a primary care based facility, and the impact of specific patient characteristics such as the travel distance to both types of facilities is unclear. This study aims to determine the social gradient in emergency care seeking behavior (consulting the emergency department (ED) in a hospital or the community-based Primary Care Center (PCC)) taking into account patient characteristics including the geographical distance from the patient's home to both services. Methods: A cross-sectional study, including 7,723 patients seeking out-of-hours care during 16 weekends and 2 public holidays was set up in all EDs and PCCs in Ghent, Belgium. Information on the consulted type of service, and neighborhood deprivation level was collected, but also the exact geographical distance from the patient's home to both types of services, and if the patient has a regular GP. Results: Patients living in a socially deprived area have a higher propensity to choose a hospital-based ED than their counterparts living in more affluent neighborhoods. This social difference persists when taking into account distance to both services, having a regular GP, and being hospitalized or not. The impact of the distance between the patient's home address and the location of both types of services on the patient's choice of service is rather small. Conclusions: Initiatives aiming to lead patients more to PCC by penalizing inappropriate ED use might increase health inequity when they are not twinned with interventions improving the access to primary care services and tackling the underlying mechanisms of patients' emergency care seeking behavior. Further research exploring the impact of out-of-hours care organization (gatekeeping, payment systems, …) and the patient's perspectives on out-of-hours care services is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Among Belgian adolescents active transport (AT) is a common physical activity (PA) behavior. Preliminary evidence suggests that AT can be an important opportunity for increasing adolescents' daily PA levels. To inform interventions, predictors of this PA behavior need to be further explored. Therefore, in the perspective of the ecological models this study aimed (a) to investigate the relationship between the perception of neighborhood built environmental attributes and adolescents' AT and (b) to explore the contribution of the perception of neighborhood built environmental attributes beyond psychosocial factors. Methods: For the purpose of this study, data from the Belgian Environmental Physical Activity Study in Youth (BEPAS-Y), performed between 2008 and 2009, was used. The final study population consisted of 637 adolescents aged 13-15 years. The participants completed a survey measuring demographic and psychosocial factors, the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Dutch version of the Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale. Results: A set of stepwise linear regression analyses with backward elimination revealed that a shorter distance to school, perceiving neighborhoods to have connected streets, a lower degree of land use mix diversity, less infrastructure for walking and a lower quality of the infrastructure for walking are associated with more min/day AT to and from school (p all <0.05). Furthermore, marginally significant associations (p < 0.10) were found between residential density and safety from crime and AT to and from school. No relationship between the perception of the neighborhood built environmental attributes and walking for transport during leisure time and cycling for transport during leisure time was found. Conclusions: The substantial contribution of the perception of neighbourhood built environmental attributes to AT found in Belgian adults, could not totally be confirmed by this study for Belgian adolescents. Among Belgian adolescents, the contribution of neighborhood environmental perceptions to explain the variance in AT seems to be dependent of the purpose of AT. Further research is needed to explore this relationship in specific subgroups and to overcome some of the limitations this study had to contend with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, various attempts have been undertaken to develop a comprehensive social cohesion index to monitor the social progress of society. However, classical sociological theories predict that contemporary modern communities function according to a different type of social cohesion than traditional communities. From both a theoretical and a methodological perspective, it can be questioned whether social cohesion can be summarised into one single index. In this article, an extensive dataset of social cohesion indicators is analysed, including indicators of religious involvement, social inclusion, crime and voter turnout, for 308 local communities in the Flemish region of Belgium. Based on first- and second-order factor analyses, it is concluded that it is impossible to construct one single indicator for social cohesion when taking the multidimensionality of the concept into account. While the traditional form prevails in rural areas, it does not coincide with a distinct modern form that prevails in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Cycling to school has been identified as an important target for increasing physical activity levels in children. However, knowledge about correlates of cycling to school is scarce as many studies did not make a distinction between walking and cycling to school. Moreover, correlates of cycling to school for those who live within a distance, that in theory would allow cycling to school, stay undiscovered. Therefore, this study examined individual, social and physical environmental correlates of never and always cycling to/from school among 10 to 12 year old Belgian children living within a 3.0 km distance from school. Methods: 850 parents completed a questionnaire to assess personal, family, behavioral, cognitive, social and physical environmental factors related to the cycling behavior of their children. Parents indicated on a question matrix how many days a week their child (1) walked, (2) cycled, was (3) driven by car or (4) public transport to and from school during fall, winter and spring. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the correlates. Results: Overall, 39.3% of children never cycled to school and 16.5% of children always cycled to school. Children with high levels of independent mobility and good cycling skills perceived by their parents were more likely to always cycle to school (resp. OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.04-1.15 and OR 1.08; 95% CI 1.01-1.16) and less likely to never cycle to school (resp. OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.78-0.91 and OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.7-0.84). Children with friends who encourage them to cycle to school were more likely to always cycle to school (OR 1.08; 95% CI 1.01-1.15) and less likely to never cycle to school (OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.83-1.0). In addition, children with parents who encourage them to cycle to school were less likely to never cycle to school (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.7-0.87). Regarding the physical environmental factors, only neighborhood traffic safety was significantly associated with cycling: i.e., children were more likely to always cycle to school if neighborhood traffic was perceived as safe by their parents (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.07-1.31). Conclusion: Individual, social and physical environmental factors were associated with children's cycling behavior to/from school. However, the contribution of the physical environment is limited and highlights the fact that interventions for increasing cycling to school should not focus solely on the physical environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belgian regions and communities have an unparalleled external role. Their treaty-making powers and their representation in the EU policy process require extensive coordination efforts to ensure coherence. Paradoxically the regional quest for external autonomy has actually forced the regions/communities to cooperate much more than was initially expected. Few intergovernmental conflicts have emerged and those that have arisen have been settled in a pragmatic (technocratic) fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]