Brussels is already the political capital of Europe, but it’s also one of four finalists hoping to win the title of European Green Capital 2015, as awarded by the European Commission. The annual award promotes and rewards the efforts of city governments as they battle ecological challenges. At the end of May, the Brussels team will try to convince a jury of members from various European institutions that it should win, and on 14 June, Brussels will know whether it has prevailed over its rivals: Bristol (England), Glasgow (Scotland) and Ljubljana (Slovenia).

The idea of transition to a more sustainable way of living dates back to the turn of the century. People like the English activist Rob Hopkins began to look for answers to the question of how local communities could ready themselves to combat threats such as climate change and peak oil. An important principle in their thinking is resilience, which refers to the degree to which a system – such as a community – can withstand external influences.

Last week, a major construction project began in Kruibeke, East Flanders. The intention, however, is not to construct new roads or buildings, but new nature: reed fields, small islands and spawning grounds for fish.

The works are part of the Flemish government’s Sigma plan, which aims to create space for new bodies of water along the river Scheldt and its tributaries. The plan will not only aid nature, it will protect against flooding.

“Every time you think about 1913, you immediately think about 1914,” says Joost Vandommele. Indeed. The start of the First World War not only wiped out the immediate memories of the events in Ghent in 1913, it wiped them out of the collective historical consciousness. “There are people in Ghent now who’ve never even heard of the World’s Fair,” says Vandommele.