MyMachine is a project that harnesses the creativity of both primary and secondary school pupils, as well as engineering students in college. Together they develop the most fantastic devices, which actually work. The purpose is to give students in Flanders the chance to think outside the box and help them realise that seemingly impossible undertakings can in fact be completed successfully through collaboration.
An in-depth article in the Flemish daily newspaper De Standaard on 3 December put the cat among the pigeons. It covered the lawsuit that has been filed by a few psychoanalysts in France trying to stop the release of a new documentary called Le Mur (The Wall). The film documents psychoanalytic therapy of autistic children in France, which focuses on the mother as being either too distant or not distant enough.
David Van Reybrouck In the beginning of 2011, when Belgium was in the midst of its deepest political crisis ever, many felt a sparkle of hope in the birth of the G1000. The initiative, in which 1,000 ordinary citizens gathered to discuss the future of the country, was the idea of Flemish writer and historian David Van Reybrouck. Over the past few years, Van Reybrouck has become a well-known voice in the media as a opinion maker on topics like the gap between politics and ordinary people and the inefficiency of the democratic system.
So what’s in a name? You call for a bus (bellen is “to call” in Dutch), preferably a day ahead and no less than two hours in advance. The call centre agent helps you make your reservation, and the bus will pick you up at the planned time, at the planned belbus stop. Based on reservations, a computer decides the most efficient itinerary for the bus assigned to this area, instead of it following a scheduled route as a normal bus would. Flanders has 131 belbus areas divided over the five provinces.
But above all, Dansercoer (photo, left) is known for his daring undertakings on both poles, and with the Antarctic ICE expedition, he proves that his ambition is increasing with his age.
Dansercoer, 49, has just set off on an attempt to set a world record for the longest-ever polar expedition without outside support or motorised aid. He and his sidekick, student Sam Deltour, are travelling with a sled over 6,000 kilometres across Antarctica in 100 days.
The gigantic engineering achievement that is the north-south line consists of six tracks of saturated railway traffic under a 2.8 kilometre-long tunnel and has always divided public opinion, just as it divides the city through its very heart. For two full years, several events and debates will take place alongside the famous rail line.
Few people are aware that the first-ever railway line on the European continent was on Flemish soil. It opened in 1835 and linked Brussels to Mechelen. At that time, King Leopold I had big plans for the young capital of this new nation.
Today, Van Beirendonck (pictured) is still considered the most controversial of Belgian designers, but the title comes with a great deal of respect. Antwerp’s Fashion Museum (MoMu) chose him to be the first of the famous “Antwerp Six” – the group of fashion graduates that collaborated to put Belgium on the fashion map in the 1980s – for a retrospective, which opens this week.
Their presence cannot be missed: trees have been planted, a day care has been built, pavements have been widened, street lights have been installed, buildings have been scrubbed, façades have been restored and some of Belgium’s finest architects have thrown up some exemplary ecological buildings.
Child Focus was a response to the criticism from families of victims that their anxieties over their missing children had been brushed aside. Then prime minister Jean- Luc Dehaene promised to establish an organisation that would take their concerns seriously. Child Focus, modelled on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the US, opened its doors in 1998.
Thanks to a study carried out by the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), it appears that what we used to think of as pigging-out is in fact more a case of self-medication and neurochemistry.
Flanders Today is a 
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