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Four decades ago, two cultural geographers and a landscape architect described Wisconsin's Belgian ethnic landscape, the nation's largest rural concentration of persons of Belgian ancestry, noting its distinctive architecture and religious heritage. The presence of small roadside votive chapels had long been noted, yet the geographers lamented that they might disappear over time. The landscape architect noted that there were "only a dozen remaining chapels' and there were none "under construction." This paper revisits the findings of these scholars and looks at the contemporary status of these chapels. Today there are as many roadside chapels as there were in the 19805, including historic chapels, those relocated to cemeteries, plus at least five new chapels erected this century. Their continuing presence, promotion by the Belgian Heritage Center, and interest and publicity by a local religious leader ensures that they remain an enduring sacred feature on the Belgian cultural landscape of northeast Wisconsin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French Reformed church of Maastricht, founded in 1632 following the Dutch takeover of the city, was a geographically isolated institution within the Dutch Republic. This isolation was reinforced by the city's unique status, which allowed the public exercise of Catholicism. Within this context, and situated next to the hostile Principality of Liège, the French church had to develop survival strategies and establish relations not only with the States-General and the Walloon synod, but also with the urban authorities and the Dutch Reformed church, in order to withstand the influence of Catholicism. Yet even though Maastricht was on the confessional and military front line—a place of passage for merchants, refugees, and Catholic clergymen—the French Protestant community survived the French occupation of 1673–1678 and managed to absorb the massive influx of Huguenot refugees from 1686 onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bibliothèque wallonne accommodates a church collection that is the result of distinct archival policies. Tracing the archival history of this collection reveals important shifts in its formation, accessibility, and usage. A travelling archive from 1578, it became a fixed church archive in 1777, and in 1852 was augmented by a separate Walloon Library, with both archives under the management of a Commission des Archives. In 1877, the Commission de l' histoire des Églises wallonnes was established, whose goal was to write the history of the Walloon churches in the Netherlands, and collecting the necessary sources for doing so. In 1893, after the activities of both commissions were merged, the collections were combined to form what is now the Bibliothèque wallonne. Established primarily as a church archive, the collection is now mostly used for researching the history of the Walloon churches in the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siting controversies are commonplace, as well against the construction of roads, railways, nuclear waste disposals, as against windfarms. Local citizens resist against siting decisions taken by the authorities, following a dynamics often quoted as ‘Not In My Back Yard’. Yet contested for its lack of analytical value, NIMBY is still used strategically by actors to qualify citizens as irrational and egoistic. Beyond this labeling, many factors are investigated to understand the dynamics behind siting controversies. In this paper, we focus on the impact of the legal procedure structuring the implantation of windfarms in the Walloon Region (Belgium), and itstranslationswithin different decision-making processes in specific case studies. To that regard, we consider the legal procedure as a ‘public policy instrument’. It is neither neutral nor natural, and carry values and interests. It organizes interpersonal relations between actors, and is potentially catalyzer of frustrations. In addition, this legal procedure is the object oftranslationswithin different contexts, including different actors participating to specific decision-making processes. The empirical approach of this paper is based on case studies data and on the use of an innovative methodology called ‘Open Process Workshop’. This methodology consists of a structured workshop with key stakeholders, during which the legal procedure is questioned. Overall, we demonstrate that the focus on the legal procedure – and itstranslationswithin different decision-making processes – allows systemic analysis providing deep understandings of controversies and reaffirming the interlinks between ‘the social’ and ‘the technical’ in such controversies. In addition, we argue that the methodology used fosters the production of innovative knowledge, mutual understanding, and collective learning between the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is an oft-heard democratic paradox: while people who do not live under democracy strive for it, where it exists democracy is under criticism. This does not mean that citizens in democratic systems want to get rid of it, but that their trust in the functioning of democracy is considerably eroded. This article analyses democratic support by questioning the way it is measured, based on a representative sample of the Walloon population in Belgium. To do so, it compares two methods for classifying citizens: the a priori method, usually used in the literature, and the inductive method, inspired from social psychology. Three profiles, whose contours partially differ between methods, emerge –“non-democrats,” “satisfied democrats,” and “dissatisfied democrats”– and are analysed in light of four theoretical approaches: resources, modernization, ideology and national identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sedimentology of the Walloon Subgroup (WSG) has been extensively studied; however, gaps exist in our understanding of the succession's alluvial architecture and the mechanisms controlling its complex internal organisation. Successful coal-seam gas development in the Surat Basin requires the construction of predictive facies models, which in turn necessitates a fulsome understanding of the geometry and controls on the spatial and temporal distribution of alluvial sub-environments. To improve our models of WSG facies, this study employs an open-source high-resolution 3D seismic dataset available on the western limb of the Surat Basin. Integration of core, wireline and seismic data has resolved the geometries of four discrete alluvial architectural elements, representing simple channel, channel belt, crevasse splay complexes and peat-mire sub-environments. Channel belts were found to be 1600–2000 m wide, simple channels 400–800 m in width and crevasse splays averaging 3.5 × 5.5 km. Coal bodies mapped from seismic attribute extractions were found to be 4.2 km2on average. The high-resolution dataset has also yielded insight into the geological controls governing the spatial and temporal distribution of these sub-environments, explaining, in part the mechanisms responsible for the complex internal distribution of facies within the WSG. In places within the study area, the WSG's sedimentary organisation appears to be initiated by the rejuvenation of deep-seated tectonic features, the expression of which is propagated upward via the mechanics of compensational stacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deviations of the distribution of Belgian indoor radon data from the log-normal trend are examined. Simulated data are generated to provide a theoretical frame for understanding these deviations. It is shown that the 3-component structure of indoor radon (radon from subsoil, outdoor air and building materials) generates deviations in the low- and high-concentration tails, but this low-C trend can be almost completely compensated by the effect of measurement uncertainties and by possible small errors in background subtraction. The predicted low-C and high-C deviations are well observed in the Belgian data, when considering the global distribution of all data. The agreement with the log-normal model is improved when considering data organised in homogeneous geological groups. As the deviation from log-normality is often due to the low-C tail for which there is no interest, it is proposed to use the log-normal fit limited to the high-C half of the distribution. With this prescription, the vast majority of the geological groups of data are compatible with the log-normal model, the remaining deviations being mostly due to a few outliers, and rarely to a “fat tail”. With very few exceptions, the log-normal modelling of the high-concentration part of indoor radon data is expected to give reasonable results, provided that the data are organised in homogeneous geological groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable in situ regeneration of microbial (biogenic) methane or microbially enhanced coal bed methane (‘MECoM’) is an emerging concept being investigated globally. Promising results and recommendations of a preliminary culture study of Walloon Subgroup co-produced coal seam gas (CSG) waters from the Surat Basin, Queensland established the presence of viable methanogens and suggested that in situ methanogenesis could be stimulated using physical and chemical reservoir treatments. This paper represents the culmination of a stepwise basin analysis project ultimately aimed at siting potential in situ bioreactor locations in the eastern Surat Basin. The integration of stratigraphically located data on the molecular and isotopic composition of desorbed gases, host coal properties and spatially associated waters through the core production zone has allowed the spatial variability and relative influence of hydro-geological factors on methanogenesis to be evaluated in detail for the first time. Higher gas contents and systematically enriched CH 4 and CO 2 carbon isotopic compositions in the stratigraphically central coal seams (oldest-youngest: in the upper Taroom Coal Measures, Tangalooma Sandstone lower Juandah Coal Measures) are best explained by increased rates of microbial CO 2 reduction and substrate depletion. There is a building case to trial MECoM in the central coal seams in a depleted/underperforming well in an area of high permeability. Integrated microbiological, chemical engineering, hydro-chemical and geological studies are ongoing to further enhance understanding of Walloon Subgroup CSG and the bioreactor potential of the Surat Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of our paper is to analyze the concept of "urban renewal", defined by the Wallonian code on land use planning, urban planning, patrimony and energy and by the provisions of the French laws as the phenomenon by means of which towns and cities evolve in order to face new community needs. Urban renewal is closely connected to servitudes and private property limits, to which we will refer in the light of the provisions of the New Civil Code of Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Belgium often is of interest to social scientists and the public. This is not merely a consequence of the fact that Brussels is the political heart of Europe. Difficulties with the appointment of the government, the extreme multi-party system, disputes about the competence of Communities and Regions, the gradual social and cultural divergence between the Flemish and the Walloons are only the most important problems of modern Belgium. Initially, monolingual, through Flemish Movement's activities, Belgium became a state that recognizes Dutch. Successive reforms have resulted in federalisation of the state. These changes do not resolve the problems of Belgium. Cultural diversity and political instability still provoke questions about the future of Belgium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new analytical framework for the study of political careers in multi-level systems. It is argued that the study of vertical movementsbetweenpolitical arenas, which constitutes the prevalent methodological approach in the literature on political careers, should be complemented by the study of horizontal movementswithinpolitical arenas. Based on a longitudinal analysis of individual political careers, the micro-approach developed in this article allows the comprehension of all territorial dynamics of political careers in multi-level systems. Based on an in-depth case study of all 419 Walloon careers in Belgium, four career patterns are identified: national careers, regional careers, multi-level careers and discrete careers. Although Belgium presents an integrated structure of opportunity, it is demonstrated that key evidences underline the prevalence of a regional and a national political class along a highly integrated political elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Belgian History / Revue Belge d'Histoire Contemporaine is the property of Cegesoma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Like active labour market programmes, grade repetition could generate two types of effects: better/worse outcomes due to programme participation (i.e. the fact that pupils repeat a particular grade). This is what the existing literature on grade repetition has focused on. Another potential outcome is the ‘threat’ effect of grade repetition. Pupils and/or their family could make significant efforts to avoid grade repetition and its important opportunity cost. Learning effort by pupils could be a function of the risk of grade repetition. This paper attempts to assess that relationship by exploiting a reform introduced in 2001 in the French-Speaking Community of Belgium, synonymous with a reinforced overall threat of grade repetition. The possibility to impose grade repetition sanctions and the end of grades 8–12 has always existed, but in year 2001, policy makers reinstated the possibility to repeat grade 7, putting an end to the regime of ‘social promotion’ applicable to that grade since 1995. We use data from two waves of the Programme for International Student Assessment study (corresponding to periods before and after the reform) to evaluate the medium-term effects of this reform. The first measure of performance we consider is the position in the curriculum (or grade) reached at the age of 15, and we show that it deteriorated after 2001. We also consider the reform's impact on test scores. Focusing on grade 10, we fail to verify the necessary condition for grade repetition threat to lead to higher test scores. The tentative conclusion is that an enhanced threat of grade retention after 2001 did not lead to better medium-term outcomes, even among the segments of the population the most at risk of grade repetition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although Gerrit Harmansz, Israël de Pauli and their successors are almost unknown in the history of the book and only 20 known publications bear their names, they operated an important Amsterdam printing office for about fifty years. This article provides a detailed account of the masters of the printing office, its workmen as far as we can identify them, the addresses where it operated and the books and other printed matter that can be attributed to the printing office based at least partly on internal or external documentary evidence. It also illustrates all printing types, fleurons, woodcut or duplicated woodcut ornaments and initials in these publications, and gives further information about the origins of the printing types. This provides a basis for identifying the printing office's extensive and in many cases controversial undocumented work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing flood risk in Europe is a critical issue because climate change is expected to increase flood hazard in many european countries. Beside climate change, land use evolution is also a key factor influencing future flood risk. The core contribution of this paper is a new methodology to model residential land use evolution. Based on two climate scenarios ("dry" and "wet"), the method is applied to study the evolution of flood damage by 2100 along the river Meuse. Nine urbanization scenarios were developed: three of them assume a "current trend" land use evolution, leading to a significant urban sprawl, while six others assume a dense urban development, characterized by a higher density and a higher diversity of urban functions in the urbanized areas. Using damage curves, the damage estimation was performed by combining inundation maps for the present and future 100 yr flood with present and future land use maps and specific prices. According to the dry scenario, the flood discharge is expected not to increase. In this case, land use changes increase flood damages by 1-40%, to € 334-462 million in 2100. In the wet scenario, the relative increase in flood damage is 540-630 %, corresponding to total damages of € 2.1-2.4 billion. In this extreme scenario, the influence of climate on the overall damage is 3-8 times higher than the effect of land use change. However, for seven municipalities along the river Meuse, these two factors have a comparable influence. Consequently, in the "wet" scenario and at the level of the whole Meuse valley in the Walloon region, careful spatial planning would reduce the increase in flood damage by no more than 11-23 %; but, at the level of several municipalities, more sustainable spatial planning would reduce future flood damage to a much greater degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of milk, fat, and protein yields, fat and protein contents, somatic cell count, and 17 groups and individual milk fatty acid ( FA) contents predicted by mid-infrared spectrometry for first-, second- and third-parity Holstein cows. Edited data included records collected in the Walloon region of Belgium from 37 768 cows in parity 1, 22 566 cows in parity 2 and 8221 in parity 3. A total of 69 (23 traits for three parities) single-trait random regression animal test-day models were run. Approximate genetic correlations among traits were inferred from pairwise regressions among estimated breeding values of cow having observations. Heritability and genetic correlation estimates from this study reflected the origins of FA: de novo synthetized or originating from the diet and the body fat mobilization. Averaged daily heritabilities of FA contents in milk ranged between 0.18 and 0.47. Average daily genetic correlations (averaged across days in milk and parities) among groups and individual FA contents in milk ranged between 0.31 and 0.99. The genetic variability of FAs in combination with the moderate to high heritabilities indicated that FA contents in milk could be changed by genetic selection; however, desirable direction of change in these traits remains unclear and should be defined with respect to all issues of importance related to milk FA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Transylvanian Saxons have always been described as Germans living in Siebenbürgen (until 1918 part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). They were supposed to have come to Transylvania (terra ultra silvam, land beyond the woods) in the twelfth century after an appeal by King Geysa II. The question "Where did they come from?" was usually answered with "from the Rhine-Moselle area". The aim of this study is not to show that they were not Germans, but to prove that not all of them came from present-day Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue des Sciences Sociales is the property of Universite des Sciences Humaines and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Silk fabric samples were dyed according to the various procedures using madder ( Rubia tinctorium L.) and walloon oak ( Quercus ithaburensis Decaisne) extracts. The colour coordinates, K/S, as well as wash, light, rub and perspiration fastness values were determined. A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection was utilised for the identification of the components of dyes present in the dyed fabrics and in the plant extracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of an empirical study of Strategic Intelligence (SI) in Belgian (Walloon) small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The main objective of the research was to take stock of the attitude towards SI initiatives directed at small businesses. More precisely, the research aimed to establish whether or not some threats to such programmes, identified by previous studies, needed to be taken into account in the Walloon approach. These threats mainly lay in the cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions of SMEs' attitudes, used as a framework for analysis. A total of 250 phone interviews were carried out with the head or a top manager of each SME. The research reveals a lack of awareness of SI and SI programmes and a gap between the SMEs' self-confidence in their information level and their intelligence practices. In short, findings show that Wallonia is a virgin territory for SI and does not suffer from all the handicaps that have been identified in studies of other countries' programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the history and contemporary constellation of language in Belgium as a protracted language-ideological debate. Belgium is often presented as a country whose political dynamics revolve around language: the fundamental ethnolinguistic difference between Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons. Scholarly work as well as popular and media representations emphasize this language-focused political dynamics. This paper seeks to amend this view. Historically, the sociolinguistic-political history of Belgium is not linear, and contains several major turning points. This is explicable when we realize that language never occurred alone as a factor and argument in conflicts, but always operated as part, initially, of a larger democratization process and, later, as part of a power struggle due to momentous demographic and socio-economic transformations. Language was, in short, an emblematic argument that became shorthand for a larger set of issues. The most profound historical shift in Belgium's sociolinguistic history is language-ideological: the transformation of a bilingual and Jacobin hegemony to a monolingual Herderian one. This transformation now accounts for the recent emergence of two major problem zones: the denial of bilingualism as a social fact; and the selective rejection of forms of social, cultural and linguistic diversity as an effect of globalization. This rejection is selective, because English is now taking the precise place in the repertoires of Flemish youth as French did half a century ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue des Sciences Sociales is the property of Universite des Sciences Humaines and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to analyse the relationship between (sub-state) nationalism on the one hand, and multiculturalism (as represented by integration policy) on the other hand, in Flanders and Belgium. The authors contend that nationalism has an agenda setting function, but it can also influence the content and substance of migration and integration policies. Hence, in this paper, it is argued that the difference between Flemish and Walloon nationalism can explain the differences in migrant policies between the two regions. However, the influence of Flemish nationalism is less univocal than many hypotheses suggest. So the conclusion we reach is that, in line with the national history and sensitivities of the region, the Flemish government sees no contradiction in terms of combining a more assimilationist, with a more multicultural approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Deviance et Societe is the property of Medecine et Hygiene and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cross-national research is by definition carried out between different countries. Looking at country differences often results in common and diverse sets of divorce risks. This article uses a cross-national research perspective on divorce risks within a single country. Belgium is a special case in this respect. The division of the country in two regions with a different language and a quite different historical background often frightens researchers to include the country in large-scale international comparisons. We argue that Belgium is an interesting test case in international perspective since it combines—in a quasi-experimental setting—two important explanatory conditions for divorce risks on the macro level. First, Belgium is a unitary country with a single social security system, similar labor market characteristics, and a single family policy. Second, whereas the institutions between the northern and the southern part are similar, Belgium is culturally divided in a rather Catholic northern part (Flanders) and a secular southern part (Wallonia). This division is often referred to as a northern (Scandinavian) and a southern (Spain, Italy) cultural pattern. This means that when studying divorce patterns, we have the opportunity to examine the net effect of cultural determinants because of the similar feature of the institutional setting of both the Walloon and the Flemish part of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores archival records of the cathedral (currently the basilica) of Saint-Quentin, Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France, focusing particularly on references to the 1524 testament of Mr (sic) Jean le Maire, also referred to as the will of Jean Lemaire. The author argues that Lemaire, priest and cannon of the cathedral, was the same person as Walloon poet and orator Jean Lemaire de Belges. References linking the poet and priest are considered including the 1516 book "Illustrations de Gaule et Singularitez de Troye" by Lemaire, a 1524 book inventory of Queen Marguerite of Austria, and a 1528 verse epistle by Jean Bouchet which refers to the death of Lemaire.

This paper aims to analyse the relationship between (sub-state) nationalism on the one hand, and multiculturalism (as represented by integration policy) on the other hand, in Flanders and Belgium. The authors contend that nationalism has an agenda setting function, but it can also influence the content and substance of migration and integration policies. Hence, in this paper, it is argued that the difference between Flemish and Walloon nationalism can explain the differences in migrant policies between the two regions. However, the influence of Flemish nationalism is less univocal than many hypotheses suggest. So the conclusion we reach is that, in line with the national history and sensitivities of the region, the Flemish government sees no contradiction in terms of combining a more assimilationist, with a more multicultural approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the current dilemma of Belgium in line with the tensions caused by a linguistic divide between the Walloons and the Flemish. To introduce the history of Belgium, it presented a marriage metaphor that would best represent the country's situations. It also explores the complex structure of the political institution of Belgium used to respond to a set of persistent problems. Likewise, it suggests that Belgium's future lies on a cooperative pattern of communication.

Copyright of Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Societe et Environnement is the property of Les Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose - This paper aims to present a multi-dimensional measure of poverty. The proposed method has been applied to the Panel Set of Belgian Households dataset for Belgium for the years between 1994 and 2000. Design/methodology/approach - First, a common model is decided upon by exploratory factor analysis, and applied by confirmatory factor analysis. Cluster analysis (CA) is then used to separate the multi-dimensional poor. Finally, the possible causes of multi-dimensional poverty are surfaced by estimating a discrete duration model. Findings - The proposed method reveals three dimensions of poverty: 'material deprivation', 'social deprivation' and 'psychological health'. Between 9 and 11 per cent of the representative sample of Belgian individuals are poor. The paper also identifies causes of poverty including not having a job, not having the Belgian nationality, having a poor health or a disability, being lower educated, experiencing financial poverty, being divorced or widowed, living in the Walloon or Brussels regions, and having a bad psychological health. Research limitations/implications - Research implications include the use of polychoric and tetrachoric correlations as a starting point of factor analysis, as well as the combination of factor analysis and CA. Originality/value - The paper proposes an alternative multi-dimensional measure of poverty. It argues that previous measures may suffer from categorisation errors and suggests a solution to this problem. The advantages of the proposed method are that all information is used to disentangle the poor from the non-poor and that dimensions of poverty are defined using the correlations between deprivations. Finally, the paper identifies 'psychological health' as one of the dimensions of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the ethnic identity of the first settlers of the town of New Paltz in Ulster County, New York, traditionally identified since the 19th century as Huguenots, but referred to in various contemporaneous 17th-century documents as Walloons. The origins of the New Paltz settlers, including Louis DuBois, in the French-speaking region of the Spanish Netherlands (today northern France and the southern Belgium) is discussed, as is their religious background as Dutch Calvinists who emigrated to the Dutch colony of New Netherland in the 1660s to escape Catholic persecution. Ethnic relations in the New Paltz settlement are also discussed.

The article discusses the impact of Belgian immigrants to the educational and linguistic situation of Western Canada. It states that Belgians consist of two ethnic communities, the Flemings in the north Belgium and Walloons in the south. During Belgians initial emigration in 1880 to 1914 and 1920, French was the language of secondary education in Canada as well as the official and cultural language of the upper class. However, with the rise of Fleming ethnic in the 19th century, demands for the use of Flemish dialects of Dutch in schools, administration and courts have made the Flemish as an official language in 1898. As a result, English language was perceived by French and English Canadians as a political instrument of nation building and vehicle for schools' accomplishment.

The article argues that each of the necessary components of Walloon ironworking were transformed within or near Wallonia borders. The essential components of ironworking are waterpowered tall furnaces, forges, and forge hammers. The use of iron cannon and cast-iron shot developed significantly during the Hundred Years' War between France and England. Between 1345 and 1445, important technological developments in ironworking occurred in Namur county and in nearby parts of Wallonia in France. The Walloon method of ironworking was not suited to every purpose. But it did have one distinct advantage, the method can produce iron artillery rapidly and in great quantity.

Goal, Scope and Background. The goal of this study is to determine the environmental impact of using one cubic metre of water in the Walloon Region. The whole anthropogenic water cycle is analysed, from the pumping stations to the wastewater treatment plants. The functional unit has been defined as one cubic metre of water at the consumer tap. This study was carried Out in the context of the EU Water Frame- work Directive. It is part of a programme called PIRENE launched by the Walloon Region to fulfil the requirements of this Directive. Methods. A model of the whole anthropogenic water cycle in the Walloon Region was developed. The model is mainly based on site- specific data given by the companies working in the field of water production and wastewater treatment. It was used to assess the environmental impact from the pumping station to the wastewater treatment plant using the Eco-Indicator 99 methodology. Eco-Indicator 99 has been adapted in order to better take into account environmental impact of acidification and eutrophication. Characterisation factors have been calculated for COD, nitrogen and phosphate emissions. From the reference model, different scenarios have been elaborated. Results and Discussion. On the basis of the inventory, the environ- mental impact of five scenarios has been evaluated. Acidification and eutrophication is the most important impact category. It is mainly caused by the wastewater that is discharged without any treatment, but also by the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant. So, this impact category has the lowest environmental load when the wastewater treatment rate is high. For the other impact categories, the impact generally increases with the wastewater treatment rate. During wastewater treatment, energy and chemicals are indeed consumed to improve the quality of the final outputs, and thus to reduce the environmental impact related to acidification and eutrophication. A comparison between the scenarios has also shown that the building of the sewer network has a significant contribution to the global environmental load and that the stages before the tap contribute less to the environmental impact than the stage after the tap. Conclusions. The three stages that contribute significantly to the global environmental load are: water discharge, wastewater treatment operation and, to a lesser extent, the sewer system. The results show that the wastewater treatment rate must be as high as possible, using either collective or individual wastewater treatment plants. Even a small water discharge without any treatment has a significant environmental impact. Operation of the wastewater treatment plants must also be improved to reduce the environmental impact caused by the effluent of the plants. For new wastewater treatment plants, building plants treating nitrogen and phosphorus should be encouraged. A sensitivity analysis was conducted and showed that the results of the study were not very affected by a modification of key parameters. Impact assessment using the CML methodology has confirmed the results obtained with Eco-Indicator 99. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the conflict between the Flemish and Walloon peoples of Belgium. A manifesto was published calling for the independence of Flanders due to diverging interests from Wallonia. Flemish citizens have alleged discrimination by Walloons due to their inability to speak French. The Belgian constitution recognizes Wallonia and Flanders as separate regions. The author compares the conflict to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Copyright of Societes Contemporaines is the property of Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article illustrates the environmental law reports of Belgium from July 1, 2003 to September 30, 2003. Report is about agri-environment, atmospheric pollution, chemicals, energy, nature conservation, noise pollution, soil, town and country planning, wastes and water. In the light of Kyoto Protocol of the U.N. , the Walloon region entered on June 2, 2003 into a sector agreement with Fedichem Wallonie Energie, which represents the chemical sector, on the reduction of the specific emission of greenhouse gases and the improvement of the energy efficiency. A Decision of the Belgian Flemish Government of June 27, 2003 establishes the conditions for the recognition of nature reserves and of environmental associations managing a terrain, and on the granting of subsidies. Various such reports are cited in detail.

The purpose of the paper is to analyse farmers' participation in environmental schemes, which are gaining a growing importance within the European agricultural policy. These schemes are implemented through voluntary contracts that pay farmers for the provision of environmental services. The microeconomic model that is developed is a farm household model that incorporates the producer and consumer behaviour of the farmer to optimise his environmental supply considering that the environmental service that he is supplying also has the characteristics of a public good. Defined as the difference between the profit loss in providing the environmental service and the willingness to pay to consume this service, the household's "willingness to accept" (WTA) is compared with two flexible WTA measures that account for the technological flexibility of the environmental supply. Data come from a survey of an agri-environmental scheme implemented in the Walloon region of Belgium since 1995 and intended to protect the nesting of some endangered bird species. Econometric results show that contingent valuation is a reliable method to reveal the behaviours of farmers facing the invitation to participate in this scheme. They also confirm that farmer behaviour is also influenced by environmental preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to shed some light on language and society in contemporary Belgium by looking at the social significance of Belgium's language regions. The analysis focus on Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The major official language regions of Belgium are products of the long and sometimes volatile history relations between the so-called language communities. The changing nature and significance of linguistic regionalism in Belgium is deeply implicated in the evolution of relations among and between Flemings, Walloons, and residents of Brussels. The administrative partitioning of Belgium along language lines institutionalized the division between language communities in a way that may well be encouraging the growth of a regional ideology that sees Flanders as Flemish and Wallonia as Walloon. Regional administrative structures and regionalist sentiment are affecting interaction between the Flemings of Flanders and the Walloons of Wallonia. This is most clearly seen in the institutional realm, where the partitioning of Belgium along language lines has resulted in the division of political parties, government ministries, universities, the state-run media and some labor unions. The recent history of linguistic regionalism in Belgium should remind us that Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, like all regions, are socially constructed places. They are not just convenient or politically significant compartments for analysis: they are part of what is being analyzed.

This article proposes to examine the politics of compromise surrounding the language conflict of the early 1930s in Belgium. Three main alternative proposals on no language policy reform were seriously discussed in the early 1930s, namely, no reform, mandatory nationwide bilingualism and regional unilingualism. Most scholars contend that the enactment of regional unilingualism in 1932 language laws met the language policy demands of both Flemings and Walloons, but not those of the Francophones of Flanders and Brussels. The Francophones of Flander clearly dominated Liberal Party policy on Gheng University in 1930. Once it had become obvious that Dutchification of the university was inevitable, the Liberals attempted to secure, in exchange, guarantees for the protection of linguistic minorities, in particular protection of the French language in Flanders in primary and secondary education. The Walloon Liberals where not enthusiastic about the attempted exchange. This examination of the politics of compromise in the early 1930s, which resulted in the enactment of the two language laws of 1932, dispells the common myth that there were clear winners and losers in this language conflict. Not only does the analysis offered here further the understanding of the events in the early 1930s, but it also suggests that 1932 was an important precedent to subsequent language compromises in Belgium. The Belgian language compromise of 1932 was possible because it was compatible with competing political interests. It is an example of politics as usual, that is, usual for the 1930s as well as for the 1970s and 1980s.

This article discusses the problem of the French-speaking Walloons, specifically the problem of the relationships between the use of dialects and the identification with the Walloon community. The degree of comprehension and use of dialects was investigated. Such variables were then related to subjective identification with Wallonia. The questionnaire illustrates the fact that residents of the southern part of Belgium do not mobilize around the ideal of a French-speaking area but rather Wallonia. It is important to assert that the favorable attitude of the Walloon population toward its dialects has an ideological effect. Dialects are increasingly considered as collective symbols from which springs an emotional and mobilizing identification focusing on the design of a Walloon community. From a sociological point of view it can be stated that Wallonia is a linguistic community in as much as the various dialects do not affect the linguistic identification or the mobilization of the Walloons towards common feeling.