Methodological memo
A few details about the process
This first online course on Brussels is an original and unique project!
It is the first time that a free, accessible online course has been made available to the general public by the Brussels Studies Institute: the interdisciplinary research platform dedicated to Brussels, which brings together researchers from five universities (ULB, VUB, Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles, UCLouvain, KU Leuven).
The initiative is also distinguished by its trilingual character. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are usually only offered in one language. The choice for multilingualism - one of Brussels' specific characteristics - prompted the use of the free platform Moodle, which made it easy to create a multilingual course.
The primary objective of this course is to deconstruct preconceptions about Brussels in order to help students discover the various facets of this city-region: be they historical, geographical, sociological, political, administrative, urban planning-related, etc. Just like the Brussels Studies Institute itself, this project presents a formula for the co-creation of knowledge through constant and original dialogue with users and the wider Brussels society. The chosen online format allows users to send their suggestions, remarks and comments at any time so as to ensure the course is as interactive as possible and to refine the quality and diversity of the knowledge offered.
In order to highlight these features, we have chosen to name this course "BrOOC", which stands for Brussels Online Open Course.
The six sections have been built around frequently occurring representations of Brussels:
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1
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"Brussels, capital of what?": The various territorial and administrative realities are so interwoven that we sometimes get lost in them. This section proposes to clarify the different possible meanings of "Brussels". |
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2
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"There's a bit of Brussels for everyone!": Every inhabitant of Brussels has their own perception of the city. It differs from one district to another, from one person to another... This section aims to look at these diverse perceptions in a structured way. |
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3
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"Brussels, the second most cosmopolitan city in the world?": Throughout its history, Brussels has always been a magnet for people from all over Belgium and the world. The multicultural nature of Brussels is particularly rich and serves here as a starting point for an analysis of the Brussels population. |
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4
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"Brussels, the city of traffic jams?": Mobility in Brussels and its periphery is often experienced as a nightmare by its users; it is now at the centre of many debates. To follow them, it is necessary to understand the main issues at stake, which cannot be reduced to a mere transport issue. |
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5
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"Brussels, a permanent construction site?": The major construction works that have disrupted the daily lives of inhabitants since the 19th century are world-famous; they have even given rise to the descriptive term "Brusselisation". To fully understand the rationale and impact of these longstanding construction sites, it is essential to recall both their ambitions and outcomes. |
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6
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"Brussels, administrative city and spy nest?": Brussels is characterised by the presence of numerous regional, national and international administrations and institutions, which inevitably attract... a lot of spies! A far cry from the famous novels, films and other detective series, the presence of secret agents can be explained merely by the remarkable concentration of places of power and decision-making. The aim of this last section is to provide a clear insight into the political role of Brussels in Belgium, Europe and (more generally) the contemporary world. |
Each of the six sections is accompanied by interactive exercises that invite the user to test their understanding and put into practice what they have just learnt. This interactivity is what makes the BrOOC so enriching, since it allows the visitors - who are invited to contribute to a better understanding of Brussels - to be both students and active participants. The course is aimed at final-year secondary school students, students arriving in Brussels, residents of Brussels and visitors who are passionate about the city and its history. But it will also be of interest to future historians, geographers, political scientists, urban planners, architects and economists. Each student can choose their preferred topic from the course and work through it at their desired level of reading and interactivity, while always retaining the possibility of exploring the various aspects offered in more depth.
The bibliography used to develop this BrOOC reflects Brussels itself: extremely rich and diversified. The database compiled by BRIO, the Centre for Information, Documentation and Research on Brussels (VUB) has been extensively utilised and remains an exceptional source of references for anyone interested in knowing more about the research on Brussels. In addition, the free online journal Brussels Studies offers a wealth of studies on a range of Brussels' topics, which have been widely utilised for the course. Frequent references to these articles are provided.
In order to keep an optimal balance between reading fluency and the referencing of sources, we have refrained from proliferating the references. Only certain resources (that provide more information) are explicitly mentioned in the BrOOC (mainly for tables, graphs and other figures).
For the development of this English version of the BrOOC, it was necessary to define an editorial line concerning the names of Belgian institutions and administrations. In order to maintain the greatest degree of clarity, the official names were systematically freely translated into English (when no official translation existed). We have also indicated in brackets the official name(s) of the organisation in French and/or Dutch. As always, whenever possible, a link to the organisation's website was systematically added.
This Brussels Open Online Course was created at the request of Yvon Englert (then rector of the ULB), with the support of Caroline Pauwels (rector of the VUB). The funding provided by the two universities was supplemented by support from the Brussels-Capital Region. The entire project was coordinated by: Serge Jaumain, Professor of Contemporary History at the Université libre de Bruxelles and former President of the Brussels Studies Institute; Joost Vaesen, Professor of History and Didactics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel; and the geographer Benjamin Wayens, research logistician for the Interdisciplinary Network of Brussels Studies (EBxl) and lecturer at the ULB.
A project of this magnitude could not have been carried out without the cooperation of many people, each of whom contributed to this BrOOC at one time or another, and whom we would like to thank. Among the many researchers specialising on Brussels, we must particularly thank Michel Hubert (Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles); Christian Vandermotten, Andréa Réa, Dirk Jacobs, Laura Calabrese and Jean-Louis Genard (ULB); Rudi Janssens and Eric Corijn (VUB).
As for the BSI team, the project management was undertaken by Iadine Degryse, Nicolas Jolly, Dimitri Zurstrassen. They were supported by Anneloes Vandenbroucke, Dirk Moors, Simon Boone, Caroline d'Andrimont, Cécile Balty, Maëlle Didion and Anthony Marchal. Several students also participated in the research and writing work.
The translation of the BrOOC into English was done by Nicolas Cacciapaglia and Christelle Umugwaneza.
The technical formatting was provided by the ULB Pedagogical Support Centre with the help of Nicolas Roland, Eric Uyttebrouck, Jérôme Di Egidio, Guillaume Gabriel, Julien Di Pietrantonio and Clément Larrivé. We would also like to thank the Royal Belgian Geographical Society (Société Royale Belge de Géographie) and its graphic designer and cartographer Quentin Rombaux, for the production or adaptation of numerous diagrams and maps.
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