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BRAL | An urban movement for Brussels
Place du samedi 13
1000 Brussels
T: 02 217 56 33
Bank account nr.: BE74 5230 8083 3007
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Get in touch with one of our staffmembers :
Raf Pauly
Cordinator
+32 487 31 94 20
raf[a]bral.brussels
Steyn Van Assche
Urban planning
+32 498 13 25 86
steyn[at]bral.brussels
Piet Van Meerbeek
Citizen participation
+32 478 99 97 07
piet[at]bral.brussels
Tim Cassiers
Mobility & air quality
+32 476 44 92 23
tim[at]bral.brussels
FlorenceLepoudre
Mobility
+32 472 78 07 72
florence[at]bral.brussels
Maya Maes
Communication
+32 499 90 86 97
maya[at]bral.brussels
Marie Couteaux
Urban planning
+32 493 27 03 11
marie[at]bral.brussels
Ingrid Dujardin
Accounting & Administration
ingrid[at]bral.brussels
BRAL is a city movement striving to make Brussels sustainable.
Along with our members and partners we want to build an environmentally friendly, affordable and solidary city.
BRAL organises actions, lobbies, supports citizens' initiatives and provides advice to the authorities. Our priorities today are : better air quality, an economy that is both green and social, and an efficient city development with room for participation.
We work in the Brussels metropolitan region, in all its social and cultural diversity.
The Brussels Council for the Environment (Bral vzw) wants to involve expats in Brussels more closely in the urban planning decision-making in Brussels. For years, BRAL as a critical Brussels NGO has been providing the necessary up-to-date information about public inquiries and consultation committees on its website in Dutch. From today, and not by chance at the beginning of the European Year of the Citizen, that tool is also available in French and English.
Via the tool, you will be able to find background information, practical details and a selection of large and small current applications for permits in Brussels.
In 2013, 20 years have passed since European citizenship originated. The EU treaties state that each citizen in the Union is entitled to certain rights, including among others the right to free travel and establishment in other member states. In these treaties, the EU citizens obtained the right to vote and be a candidate in European and local elections.
It is no public secret that the citizens in the EU are often not aware of these rights. “And the same is true for the ten thousands of ‘expats’ living and working in Brussels. However, their involvement in the urban planning development of our capital is required”, according to Hilde Geens from Bral. She has been following the urban planning dossiers in the European Quarter in Brussels for decades. “In the neighbourhoods around the European institutions, the local expertise and interest of these residents could bring a high added value for a variety of reasons. The neighbourhood committees, which are active in the Leopold Quarter, have been searching for some time for ways to involve their EU neighbours in their actions. This trilingual tool is of course no panacea, but it will lower the threshold to participating in the Brussels’ decision-making.”
In future, the Bral website will provide detailed information in three languages (Dutch/FR/ENG) about how and where you will be able to participate in a public inquiry, in which way to best notify your objections to the policy-makers, and how to draft a notice of opposition. A click-through map of Brussels will take you also to all public inquiries in the 19 municipalities of Brussels as well as to Bral’s critical selection of public inquiries. The translations have been carried out with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation and the National Lottery.
By means of this trilingual tool, Bral hopes that it will also be able to reach other non-Dutch speaking residents of Brussels. According to Geens “The classical Dutch speaking or even bilingual residents’ committees no longer exist in Brussels”. “Groups of residents respond increasingly to reality and they openly play the international card. In practice, this often means also multi-lingual communication. We would like to help them out by making our expertise now available in three languages.”
In the spring of 2013, BRAL will also publish the trilingual publication ‘Battle strategies – actions by inhabitants of the European Quarter in Brussels – from 1986 until the present’.
FIND THE TOOL HERE: PUBLIC INQUIRIES IN BRUSSELS
Contact : Hilde Geens | Bral vzw // www.bralvzw.be // staff member urban planning and Europe // Place du Samedi 13 – 1000 Brussels | T 02 217 56 33 |
Would you like to help build a sustainable Brussels in a politically independent way ? Are you interested as an individual to join BRAL, or are you a member of a citizens' committee, group or organisation in or around Brussels ?
In that case, do join BRAL as a member! You will be invited to engaging debates and BRAL actions. We will support you in your undertakings to improve Brussels. And of course you will receive our BRAL Publications and our BRAL Newsletter.
25 euros per year
Bank transfer to account BE74 5230 8083 3007, reference 'MEMBERSHIP FEE + name and/or organisation'
Would you like more info on the matter? Do not hesitate to send an email to christiaan[at]bral.brussels
Hilde Geens (°1953) is senior staff member urban planning at BRAL. She has been working since the early eighties on the ‘European dossier’ and was deeply involved in all initiatives and actions described in this publication. To this day she follows closely the overall Brussels planning processes, and in particular the developments in the European Quarter.
The publication "Community Organisation in the European Quarter in Brussels - Strategies for struggle - from 1986 until today" is available in 3 languages (English, French, Dutch) and can be downloaded here.
You think BRAL has an important mission and you want to support us ? Make a donation to help us in our fight for a sustainable Brussels ! We will keep you informed through our publications and newsletter.
45% of any donation of 40 euros and more can be deducted from your taxes. For example, if you donate 40 euros to Bral, it will only cost you 22 euros: the tax relief covers the rest. A donation of 60 euros will cost you 33, 80 euros for Bral cost you 44, etc.
Would you be willing to support Bral in the long run? Ask your bank to make a monthly transfer. Even only 5 euros a month make a welcome donation of 60 in a year, and you will be entitled to a tax relief statement.
Bank transfer to account BE74 5230 8083 3007, reference 'DONATION'
You will have seen them in the Brussels streets, the red posters with plenty of small print on them. Such posters inform passers-by of projects and building plans in or around that particular street. During a limited period of time (the 'public enquiry') you can consult the details of the project or plan, state your opinion or lodge a complaint.
PUBLIC INQUIRIES: FAQ
In our FAQ reproduced here you will find all the necessary background information to the system of public enquiries. It explains ''What is a public enquiry'', ''How and where can the files be consulted ?'', ''How do I state my opinion ?'', ''What is the most efficient manner to react ?''.
Do get in touch with BRAL if you have any questions.
BACKGROUND
With this overview, Bral keeps you up-to-date about the origine and background of this unique system.
Do you want a better air quality in Brussels? Do you dream of a city with a better quality of life for everyone? Does the creativity of the Bruxellois entice you too? Then BRAL, an urban movement for Brussels might be something for you.
Support us
Become A member
What is Bral?
Bral is a city movement striving to make Brussels sustainable. Along with our members and partners, we want to build an environmentally friendly, affordable and solidary city. Bral organises actions, lobbies, supports citizens' initiatives and provides advice to the authorities. We work in the Brussels metropolitan region, in all its social and cultural diversity.
Our priorities today are: better air quality, an economy that is both green and social, and an efficient city development with room for participation.
What exactly does it mean, a subscription to the BRAL publications?
- 4 thematical publications per year in your mailbox
- Current topics, subject to a critical and profound BRAL-analysis
- 30 euro/year
All you need to do, is send us a bank transfer to our Triodos-account BE62 0012 1549 3761, with reference 'SUBSCRIPTION'.
* Of course, as a member of BRAL, you don’t have to subscribe. Members receive our publications as a part of the benefits of their membership. Interested to become a member? Just do it.