During the COVID-19 response, the spatial dimension has not received the attention it deserves. Yet over the centuries our built environment has been planned as a spatial vaccine. A healthy environment is laid down in standards, rules and plans. Basic facilities are available collectively and...

Retail outlets were taken by surprise today at the number of enthusiastic customers who showed up this morning. Today was the first day that shops could be open following a near two-month closure to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Mondays are generally slower shopping days, and retailers also...

Johanna Tilly was in the final stage of her second pregnancy when the country went into lockdown. The yoga teacher, doula and coach, originally from Germany, had been preparing for a natural birth at the new Chirec Delta hospital in Auderghem. Confinement meant many cancellations although her...

Shops throughout Belgium are allowed to reopen this Monday - but there are several new rules you need to be aware of, and disruption on Brussels public transport due to a sudden strike. Access to shops will be limited to a maximum of one customer per 10m² of retail space, with a maximum shopping...

A way of giving money directly to artists and other creative people struggling because of the coronavirus crisis has been set up by the artist support network State of the Arts. State of Solidarity Relief matches calls for help with pledges of money, and then connects the two so that gifts can be...

Vienna-based Wizz Air is launching a new route to and from Brussels South Charleroi Airport on 1 July. The airline will operate five flights a week between Charleroi and Vienna, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. This new route will compete with the night train service...

Belgium’s only guide horse has had to give up his service to Bruges resident Monique Van den Abbeel following ingesting the leaves of a maple tree, which are poisonous to horses. Dinky is a miniature horse and has been trained as a seeing-eye companion to the visually impaired. Guide mini-horses...

Mental health campaigners are inviting people to light a candle “in a virtual moment of togetherness” on Saturday 9 May at 05.30. The action replaces the planned dawn walk in Brussels, cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. As part of the global movement that raises awareness of suicide and self-...

Geel Hospital in Antwerp province found a novel way to allow friends and family to visit Covid-19 patients. Lift operators raised two visitors at a time up to the patient’s window. The 30 patients chosen to receive visitors had been in the hospital for multiple weeks. To allow them to finally see...

As Winston Churchill famously said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Belgian animal welfare organisation Gaia, together with partners worldwide, is calling on international institutions to draw lessons from the corona crisis and work towards a global ban on wildlife markets. Although it’s not...