Highlights 2019

KVAB

– The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (KVAB) B has four classes, including the Class of Technical Sciences KTW which has been a Euro-CASE member since mid-2018, alongside the Belgian sister academy ARB. KVAB is represented on the Euro-CASE Board by its former President, Joos Vandewalle. Brussels and the premises of the Palace of the Academies has offered enormous added value as a central meeting place in Europe.
– In 2019 the Class of Technical Sciences KTW celebrated its tenth anniversary. Over a very active decade, the Class produced many important society related positioning papers, on themes such as mobility for tomorrow, privacy in an age of the internet, social networks and Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, data science and healthcare, learning analytics, corporate digital responsibility and research driven science. The class also set up “thinkers’ programmes”, engaging international “thinkers” on current societal issues such as societal values in digital innovation, food, democracy and disinformation, the limits of transparency, the doctoral space revisited, water and climate.
– Three permanent reflection groups stimulate the debate on (1)
Energy, (2) Art, Science and Technology, (3) Responsible Research and Innovation and Ethics in Science. Some of the most successful symposia were: “Energiezuinigheid bij decreet, waar stopt het bij nieuw- en vernieuwbouw?” (Energy efficiency by decree, where does it stop with new and renovated buildings?), “The Belgian energy system: a bright future?”, ‘Kunst en Wetenschap in Symbiose’ (Art and Science in Symbiosis), leve[n]dekunst’ (living Art).

– In 2019, the ARB hired several researchers to work on specific projects for a period of 1-3years, leading a diverse range of projects in line with scientific fields covered by the ARB inlcuding Greek archaeology; public investments; restitution of cultural heritage; biology.
– The ARB has established a Québec Chair, in partnership with the Québec Government Office in Brussels. Each year, this chair will henceforth welcome two eminent Quebec personalities from the world of science or culture who will not only be able to give lectures within the Academy but also meet their Belgian colleagues.
– The Collège Belgique, the Academy department responsible for organising scientific conferences for the general public, has installed a new headquarters at the General Delegation of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, boulevard Saint-Germain, in Paris, where a dedicated cycle to augmented humanity was organised throughout the year.