Schauvliege (pictured) was speaking in Mechelen at an event to mark the retirement of Carlo Van Baelen, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Flemish Fund for Literature (VFL) 12 years ago. She praised the “enormous drive and commitment” he brought to the job: “You strove for the interests of quality literature, sometimes going against the fashion of the day”.
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.
The changes come as part of the package of measures agreed by the main parties when the long-awaited federal government was formed at the end of last year. Several responsibilities were transferred from the federal government to the regions, including housing policy.
“I’ve been mulling over Belgium,
Because everyone there laughs.
I’ve been mulling over Belgium,
Because the language is so soft.”
So sang the Dutch pop group Het Goede Doel in 1982, in a very odd song called “België”. And in fact, more and more young Dutch people are mulling over their neighbour to the south – for the purposes of higher education.
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.
Peeters’ warning sparked off a round of speculation, with immediate suggestions that cultural subsidies and public transport could be most affected. Peeters was careful to outline his government’s priorities: “Investments in the struggle against child poverty; the provision of social services. Besides those, making innovation more attractive and investing in economic growth.”
The government will carry out a budget revision in February. “By then we will know what sums are involved,” said Peeters. “But it’s not looking good.”
Professor Smagghe leads a research group on crop protection in the university’s bio-engineering faculty, and his speciality is insects – in particular, the metamorphosis of insects such as caterpillars, beetles and aphids. Understanding their development can lead to new means of protecting crops from the ravages they inflict.
“I grew up watching Hollywood movies, so it was a big part of my childhood,” says Van Loy (pictured). “I’ve always wanted to create a story about Hollywood – its history and the period.” The result is a 640-page epic spanning six decades of film history and covering a wide array of topics such as the studio system, civil rights, McCarthyism, the Wall Street Crash and even polio, which are intertwined with the lives of dozens of larger-than-life characters.
The proposals contained in the working paper include scrapping the free pass allowed to pensioners, which would be replaced with a season ticket costing €30 a year, or restricting the use of the free pass to off-peak hours.
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.
Flanders Today is a 
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