Rural Futures

  In Flanders there is one little isolated part of Wallonia namely Comines-Warneton. During the excursion Comines-Warneton was never mentioned and also in the excursion guide Comines-Warneton is remarkably absent (figure) because most figures are about Flanders. Our field trip is about border crossing in the Westhoek. During our field trip only the border with France was mentioned but in the Westhoek there is another important border namely the border with Wallonia. More specifically, I am referring to Comines-Warneton which is fully surrounded by Flanders and France. Looking at Belgium it can be said that Comines-Warneton can be seen as an island in Flanders. I think this deserves some more attention. During a small talk with an interviewee before the interview at the village square of Comines-Warneton we talked a little bit about this piece of Wallonia. It makes sense that this village is part of Wallonia because for example most people speak French but it also comes with some bo...

  The hills of the Westhoek give depth to the landscape. I remember very fondly how my dad and me would drive to Kemmel with my grandma, to buy bread and to enjoy the view on the Kemmelberg. Conversations were always connected with the landscape. My dad would tell stories about his childhood, those would come alive by driving through the different places. I remember being grateful whenever I would be there with my grandma. I remember the tour my uncle gave me around the Westhoek, we would have endless conversations. When walking from Oostduinkerke to Nieuwpoort, my grandpa would explain how he placed the white sheets for the airplane that would take photos when he worked for the Flemish Land Company (Vlaamse Landmaatschappij). All my family members are passionate about at least one of the many landscapes in this diverse region. Kris and Luc from ‘Tuinsappen Lombarts Calville’ (http://www.tuinsappen.be/) share their passion for the fauna and flora in the valley of the Wijtschatebeek...

I was raised in a small town in Liège right next to the border with Maastricht. I had one bus every 2-3 hours, the last bus was at 6p.m., bad bike roads, over the weekends it was nearly impossible to use public transport and going to school was always problematic. Moreover, learning to drive the car was just not an option for me. The worst part about it all was having a dad living in the Netherlands and me depending on public transport to go see him. This is what drew me to this topic and which motivated me to look for ways to improve mobility.  During this excursion I learned that I’m not the only one struggling with this issue. I saw two young women sitting at this bus stop and they told me a similar story to mine. I learned about all the bike routes made for tourism or just being of a bad quality making them practically useless to go to school or work. I’ve learned that I’m not the only one who has to make the best of a bad situation.  Learning to drive is not an option for...

The excursion stop at the company Made In Inox was a real added value to this excursion. First, the proudness of the company owners about their smisse is great to see and totally justified. Above you see a photo of their smisse. I do appreciate that it was there since it is an amazing piece of history. Also the photos, old objects and sources from their ancestors and the smisse are an amazing tool in giving us a look into the history of their family and life’s work. I especially appreciate it since the brother of my grandad had an old farm full of old tools and a workshop. It makes you truly relieved that life is easier now.   Another thing they are justly proud of is their social engagement -which they call “Duaal Leren”- of inviting children to learn about spatial insight and small technical skills and letting older youth work in their workshop and acquaintance the work floor. It reminds me of Henk’s talk on “local social energy”. Socially engaged people make initiatives like “D...

 De Panne is a municipality in the Western corner of Belgium, close to the Belgian border. Although not the biggest of coastal cities it is worth mentioning that it has it's own place in history. At the coast we can find the statue of Leopold 1, the first king of Belgium. This is not a coincidence as De Panne was the first place where Leopold 1 set foot on Belgian soil. Since then the small fisher village has evolved into a tourist hub, where it takes advantage of its position at the border. The village evolved in the latter stages of the 19th century into the tourist hub we know today. As it lays on the largest tramtrack in the world it is well connected with all the other Belgian holiday destinations at the coast. The economy especially booms in the summer where we see an increase in population from 11 000 to 60 000, with the mayor describing this as his own Werchter, as the tourists treat their stay in De Panne as a festival.  The city his proximity to the border can be see...

Industrialisation has led to the spectacular growth of cities in the 19th century, to the extent that industrialisation and urbanisation are often considered inseparable, the one automatically leading to the other. The conceptual merging of industrialisation and urbanisation ignores the longstanding connection between agriculture and industry, and keeps us from imagining industrialisation as a rural phenomenon. In the Westhoek however, rural industrialisation is beyond dispute. Whether large companies like Picanol or Clarebout, or SMEs like Made in Inox, almost all industrial production has its roots in or is still intensely connected to agriculture-related activities.  Whereas in Northwestern Europe cities have gone through a long period of de-industrialisation, rural industries have had the chance to maintain themselves, some even growing into international players. In this region of the world, a division of labour seems to pit the countryside as the place of essential, productiv...