Smart society, part 2: how to strengthen our sense of community?
We read or hear it every day: the old political recipes no longer work for today's divided society. So how do we deliver a message of connection? How do we develop a long-term vision that reaches beyond the next elections? In the second part of ‘Smart Society’, we try to identify some relevant trends and technologies, so that 'connection' does not become a hollow concept.
We read or hear it every day: the old political recipes no longer work for today's divided society. So how do we deliver a message of connection? How do we develop a long-term vision that reaches beyond the next elections? In the second part of ‘Smart Society’, we try to identify some relevant trends and technologies, so that 'connection' does not become a hollow concept.
We read or hear it every day: the old political recipes no longer work for today's divided society. So how do we deliver a message of connection? How do we develop a long-term vision that reaches beyond the next elections? In the second part of ‘Smart Society’, we try to identify some relevant trends and technologies, so that 'connection' does not become a hollow concept.
What are we seeing? More division, and more radical. Today's critical citizen is outspoken, and the (social) media reinforce these divisions, be they factual or fictional. One thing is clear: the political waters are too deep for solutions across party lines. Therefore, we will look increasingly to the local authorities, which have the strongest connection with the citizen. This will be the support base to make important choices, to reach more people and to build society effectively.
What can we conclude from these few examples?
Today, enquiries among various stakeholders such as supra-local government and knowledge institutions, give us negative or wait-and-see feedback. Policymakers are often hesitant and react via their own existing experiences and recipes... and therefore often cannot see the possibilities and feasibility of these new trends and concepts in practice. Keeping an open mind is an essential part of being able to embrace a new trend or concept.
Belgium and more specifically Flanders, has a specific context when it comes to the trends, technologies, changes and challenges outlined above. The 3rd part of this article, "Smart Society", will map this specific context before we proceed to our (future) vision.
Latest insights & stories
CLEAN POWER FOR TRANSPORT
To fulfil climate targets, we need to make mobility greener. In doing so, we need to focus not only on making current mobility solutions greener, but also on shifting to more environmentally friendly forms of transport. Thus, the Clean Power for Transport action plan focuses on greening the vehicle fleet across all segments and rolling out the necessary infrastructure. For this, the Department of Mobility and Public Works also works together with foreign partners where possible for knowledge exchange and cross-border solutions.
MOBILITY AS A SERVICE
To promote sustainable combimobility, we are working on Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in Flanders. MaaS gives users access to multimodal transport solutions with greater user-friendliness, putting the end user at the centre. But organising mobility is a complex task. Users want control and reliability, but also freedom and flexibility. For this, we need reliable apps and agreements with providers and all MaaS actors. A full-fledged MaaS ecosystem, as it were. We are on the lookout for international knowledge sharing and cooperation to ensure combimobility reaches far beyond our own borders.
Vandersanden's new Pirrouet® factory extracts up to 2280 tons of CO₂ annually
Vandersanden, Europe's largest family-owned brick manufacturing company, has officially opened the first Pirrouet® factory in Lanklaar. It involves an investment of 32.5 million euros. The plant produces 20 million CO₂-negative Pirrouet® facing bricks annually when at maximum capacity. One ton of these bricks absorbs 60 kg of CO₂ during curing, and the entire production process is powered by green energy from the factory’s solar panels and wind turbine. “With the plant, we are making a significant contribution to CO₂ reduction and reinforcing our ambition to operate completely CO₂ neutral by 2050,” said Johan Deburchgrave, CEO of Vandersanden.