Under the banner ‘Between public good and bad governance’ the European Parliament hosted a conference discussing the contemporary role of NGOs, writes Gary Cartwright. Delegates, from the worlds of politics, civil society, academia, and the press heard the argument that the lines between NGOs and lobbyists, and, indeed, purveyors of fake news, have become increasingly blurred. The…
Christmas is coming so what better reason to push the boat out and indulge a little? If you thought oysters and champagne were the height of indulgence there’s one thing that can top both – caviar. Usually, it’s associated with the jet set and wealthy but, for one Belgian company, the looming festive season is…
A former coal mining site has been reinvented to provide one of the few opportunities in Belgium for wake boarding and water ski-ing. The Terhills Cablepark is based on former gravel pits linked to what used to be one of the country’s biggest coal mines. The mine has long since gone but the good news…
It’s one of the more novel culinary innovations of recent years in Brussels and elsewhere – eating while suspended 50 metres from the ground. For its 2019 edition, Dinner in the Sky will head to the Canal in Brussels, opposite the future Kanal Pompidou Museum. Since its launch in Brussels in 2006, Dinner in the…
It is renowned as Belgium’s best open air museum but now Bokrijk could soon be known for something else: its very own beer. The reason is that the historic Limburg attraction has launched a new beer which is only available at the famous visitor attraction, located in Belgium’s eastern most province. Called “Wildeman”, a 9% strength beer…
I met with Ekaterina Tsaranok the Founder of the Modern Education & Research Institute, based in Brussels, which is dedicated to the modernisation of the teaching profession and to the adaptation of professors to the quickly changing educational environment. The members of the Institute are universities and individual professors from the countries of Central Asia, the Eastern…
The outcome of the presidential election in Ukraine is going to be decided not so much by the programmes or the personalities of the candidates, but by one question: whether more voters fear disruptive changes or rather deplore the current situation, writes Yuriy Sheyko. The Ukrainian leadership that has governed the country since the Revolution…
Paintings of the Ukrainian political prisoner Roman Sushchenko are being exhibited at the Brussels Press Club. A journalist of the Ukrainian state agency “Ukrinform”, based in Paris as their correspondent for France, he was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment in Russia on charges of espionage. He was arrested while travelling to Russia to visit…
The refugee situation in Europe and its neighbourhood continues to be high on the European political agenda. There are many actors at different levels providing a multi-layered response to the refugee situation, writes Hande Bozatli. Among these actors the role of Local and Regional Governments is at the forefront of offering public services to refugees. At the…
As protests grow in the United States over the environmental and health impacts of the production of mineral wool, it seems these concerns are also spreading to Europe.The effects of mineral wool production are increasingly under the spotlight, with a Rockwool plant being built in Romania this year, writes James Wilson. Protests have escalated in…
