The Great Transformation of Brussels - Practices of Change

Brussels currently has an innovative civil society with many initiatives that, in collaboration with public and private actors, can add up to the greatest transformation project of the European capital. They are practices that respond to the necessary transitions of our living environment in order to provide spatial translations to the social changes. If we set up a multitude of projects simultaneously, we can achieve an unprecedented acceleration. To support these local organisations, we need new space for collaboration and innovations in urban policy: a visionary framework for the multiplication of these initiatives. Policies develop the frameworks to accelerate and properly land social transitions. Practices of change help to build good solutions to shape these challenges. In a public conversation on November 22, we will jointly discover the opportunities and bottlenecks experienced by different innovative practices. We will open the conversation with national and international policymakers and discuss how policies can give these initiatives a boost so that they do not remain the undercurrent but become the mainstream. The insights will be presented to the authorised State Secretary of the Brussels Capital Region, Pascal Smet.

We kick off the evening with an inspiring lecture by Panos Mantziaras on the programme Luxembourg in Transition in which designers and policy makers work on spatial visions for the climate-neutral and resilient future of Luxembourg. During the evening, we explore what Brussels can learn from policy instruments that are used in Luxembourg to work on transition issues. And we will dive deeper into the Brussels context with speakers connected to local organisations working on fundamental transformations as a new type of urban civil society: Sofie Van Bruystegem (City Mine(d)), Dimitri Crespin (Brusseau), Maarten Roels (Terre-en-vue) and Myriam Stoffen (Zinneke).

We will then draw lessons and talk about the valorisation of the workings of the innovative practices in the setting of a salon discussion with Pascal Smet, Panos Mantziaras (director Fondation Braillard Architectes and scientific director Luxembourg in Transition) and Katrien Rycken (director Leuven 2030). How are different actors and inhabitants collaborating on the city of the future and what can different cities learn from each other? How do we work together on the great transformation of Brussels?

The conversation is moderated by Architecture Workroom Brussels and takes place on the ground floor of Pachecolaan 34, Brussels.

Participation via the livestream on www.degroteverbouwing.eu