How to mobilize as many people as possible to get together to make the city liveable? Carry out an online campaign or take to the streets? What’s the perfect deal between activism and too little free time? How do we give space to citizen disobedience, otherwise known as illegal activism? Can we best lobby officially or unofficially? 

ARGH! So many questions come up when you as a citizen want to engage on behalf of the city and have an influence on the urban landscape.

In the run-up to a new political policy (local elections, folks!!), we citizens take things into our own hands. We have noted in the last two years that many engaged urban residents are joining together in bottom-up activist citizen initiatives and fighting for better air, more bicycle paths, fewer parking lots, improved relief policies and a different approach to public space and vacant properties. Sometimes the approach is completely averse to the political process, and sometimes people work cautiously with policymakers in the hope of exerting an influence. 

BRAL is an urban movement devoted to a sustainable Brussels, and is uniquely well-informed about how the Brussels landscape is shaped and reproduces itself. Together with BRAL for a full evening, we delve into the activism and citizen initiatives and allow citizens (at last, no politicians!) to have their say.

We have invited ten activist practices, citizen initiatives that experiment with the city and with different methodologies. Using a specific (participative) method that will be determined together with these initiatives, you – the engaged, activist citizen with or without a concrete plan – can get started. When you leave Beursschouwburg late in the night, after CITIZEN = KING, you will know how to take your city into your own hands. Where politicians fail, citizens take over. Oh yeah, YOU = KING!

17:00 WELCOME & PITCHES BY CITIZEN INITIATIVES
w/ Collectactif, Library Lumumba, Jardin Navez, ...

18:00 A CONVERSATION WITH ACTIVIST CITIZENS ON
- Strategic thinking
- Politics, yes or no?
- Volunteering: a never-ending story?
- (Il)legal activism
- Brotherhood, sisterhood, neighbourhood!
w/ POOL IS COOL, TouTpubliek, BXLRefugees, Woningen 123 Logements, Green Connections, ...

19:30 DISCUSSION: (how) can we save our democracy?
w/ Manu Claeys & Lotte Stoops

20:00 WRAP UP & ACTIVIST GOODBYE