No Longer “Walloon Exceptionalism”. The Decline of Leftist Parties in the Walloon Region of Belgium, 2014-2024

This paper is a contribution to the somewhat scarce literature on the scientific evaluation of small business policies, and evaluates public support measures for private external consultants to SMEs in the Walloon Region of Belgium. A critical analysis of the supply and the demand, an evaluation of the efficiency and the effectiveness of policy measures, and real policy recommendations are presented. The rationale for offering subsidized private external consultancies as a mixed product was confirmed by the SMEs in the Walloon Region. In general, the consultants received favourable evaluations from the SMEs. However, our empirical findings corroborate the shortcomings reported in the literature on the supply of publicly financed advisory services. We found a profusion of support services, which led to confusion, a lack of conceptual integration of services, the exclusion of certain categories of SMEs, and adverse selection where the consultants push forward their own solutions. Subsidized private external consultancies to SMEs are effective in the Walloon Region, in that SMEs refer to their positive qualitative impact. However, they have no significant influence on net job creation, turnover, or financial indicators. These findings reflect the qualitative targets of the SMEs in using private external consultancy and their singularity. To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the support measures for the use of private external consultancies by SMEs in the Walloon Region and to avoid adverse selection, we recommend that the neo-Austrian approach is adopted. This means that the real needs of the entrepreneur and of the SME, and symmetric power relations between SMEs on the one side and public authorities and consultants on the other side, determine the publicly financed advisory process.

An international comparison of four quantitative risk assessment approaches—A benchmark study based on a fictitious LPG plant

Development of a new crossbreed based evaluation for carcass quality of Piétrain boars in the Walloon Region of Belgium

Inbreeding Depression for Global and Partial Economic Indexes, Production, Type, and Functional Traits

11 Unravelling the role of frontline personnel in socioeconomic integration programmes developed by Work Integration Social Enterprises in the Walloon region of Belgium was published in Ecosocial Work and Sustainability Transitions on page 200.

Since 1999, maps (at 1:10,000 scale) of zones of karstic constraints have been established in the Walloon Region of Belgium (the southern part). These maps sort areas in terms of karstic hazards (negligible, low, moderate and high). They were drawn based on geological settings, field observations, background knowledge and geostatistical forecasts. Nowadays, these maps are used as background documents in physical planning over covered karstic areas. Indeed, the local government now requires to conduct geophysical and/or geotechnical investigations previous to building construction over moderate and high karstic hazard areas. In this context, we conducted several 2D, quasi‐3D and 3D resistivity tomography surveys using a total number of electrodes ranging from 100 to 1000. 3D resistivities were measured using a cross‐ diagonal survey with a combination of dipole‐dipole, pole‐dipole and equatorial dipole arrays. The inversions were computed within Res2DInv and Res3DInv. The results of these investigations allowed pointing out resistivity anomalies interpreted as effects of karstic features. When possible, boreholes are then drilled over and away from the detected anomalies to confront geophysical results. Finally, geophysical results are used to adapt construction projects.

Although understorey biomass is negligible in comparison to overstorey biomass, understorey vegetation supports the majority of biodiversity within forests. The diversity of  plant species in the understorey is important for pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, which use the available resources for food and shelter. However, the future of understorey vegetation is uncertain due to the impact of climate change and human activities.  Climate change and forest management are known to be among the most important factors affecting the diversity and abundance of understorey plant species. Most studies on understorey vegetation has often been limited in scope, either focusing on a small number of specific plant species or large-scale studies of plant functional types. In this study, we take a more comprehensive approach by combining the results of a species distribution model with a dynamic vegetation model to simulate the evolution of understorey vegetation at the species level. We select a set of 30 species important for pollinators. In order to cover a large climatic gradient, simulations are performed over the Walloon region in Belgium and the Eisenwurzen region in Austria. The climate dataset is provided by the regional climate model COSMO-CLM, which has a 3 km spatial resolution and covers the period from 1980 to 2070 under different greenhouse gas concentration scenarios (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5). Additionally, we investigate the effect of different forest management practices (thinning and clear-cutting) on overstorey and how they impact understorey vegetation. Overall, the study aims to provide new insights into the current and future state of understorey vegetation with a focus on the impact of climate change and forest management on key pollinator resources.

Flood risk assessments are an objective and quantitative basis for implementing harmonized flood mitigation policies at the basin scale. However, the generated results are subject to different sources of uncertainty arising from underlying assumptions, data availability and the random nature of the phenomenon. These sources of uncertainty are likely to bias conclusions because they are irregularly distributed in space. Therefore, this paper addresses the question of the influence of local features on the expected annual damage in different municipalities. Based on results generated in the frame of a transnational flood risk assessment project for the river Meuse (Western Europe) taking climate change into account, the paper presents an analysis of the relative contributions of different sources of uncertainty within one single administrative region (the Walloon region in Belgium, i.e., a river reach of approximately 150 km). The main sources of uncertainty are not only found to vary both from one municipality to the other and in time, but also to induce opposite effects on the computed damage. Nevertheless, practical conclusions for policy makers can still be drawn.

Residential rents are analysed in the Walloon region in Belgium. In this region, affected by urban sprawl, households rent accommodation in urbanised areas as well as in their peripheries. While there is no statistical difference between the average observed rents per square meter in urban agglomerations and suburbs, does it mean that these areas compose a single market with identical rent determinants? Or that the same level of rents is determined by different drivers? The paper analyses the regional territorial structure and aims at determining the geographical rental submarkets based on urban / peri-urban delimitation. Traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) techniques are applied. With the latter method, the spatial autocorrelation in the residuals decreases, but remains significant. Particular attention is payed to the spatial distribution of the GWR coefficients. The Chow test and the weighted standard error provide an evidence of the existence of spatial-structural submarkets in the agglomerations and in the peri-urban areas in the biggest residential urban complexes of the region. The calculated market rent of a hypothetical standardized dwelling reveals a substantial dissimilarity between two areas: the rent of a typical dwelling is higher in peri-urban zones, up to 43.5% according to the OLS and up to 17.7% according to the GWR. With more recent dataset, we found that this tendency, which contradicts the classical urban theory, increases in time.

Abstract. The Walloon Region in Belgium played a leading role in the world economy and in the industrial sciences and engineering since the 19th century. Several relicts, such as important industrial buildings or sites, are spread over a large area and are still dominating the current landscape. Some of these remnants are preserved as monuments, representing the industrial, cultural and ecological transition of the region during the last two centuries. Since 2012, UNESCO recognized the importance of four of the best preserved 19th and 20th century coal mining sites and classified them as World Heritage ("Major Mining Sites of Wallonia", Le Grand-Hornu, Bois-du- Luc, Le Bois du Cazier and Blegny Mine). The four recognised mining sites together form a strip of about 170 km long, containing important examples of the so-called 'neo classical architecture’ from the early periods of the industrial era in continental Europe. Motivated by this recognition and by the huge touristic and educational potential of the sites, a partnership between the Walloon government and Ghent University was organized. In this first stage, the collaboration focuses on the site of Bois-du-Luc in the municipality of La Louvière, containing a large series of dwellings, several equipments built between 1853 and 1923 by the Société des Charbonnages du Bois-du-Luc, workshops and heaps. Consisting of numerous buildings dating back to the period between 1838 and 1923, this site is one of Europe’s oldest collieries. The collaboration between the Walloon government and Ghent University – Department of Geography fits in the hands-on training which students in land surveying and geomatics receive during their Bachelor studies. For the students it is very interesting that their practical exercises are not limited to the university campus, but that they are involved in a real measurement campaign. The project consists of a series of intensive land surveying campaigns, resulting in highly detailed and accurate maps of the site, including the inside domain of the buildings. Already available aerial photographs are processed to obtain a 3D model of the site and the wider region. In March 2013, the first campaign took place. During this first campaign, a topographical network was set out and a series of detail points were measured for the detailed topographic mapping. The topographical network was well-planned and covers almost the whole site, forming a set of permanently materialized reference points for later measurements. Besides, a large number of ground control points (GCPs) were taken for the 3D reconstruction of the area, based on high resolution airborne imagery. This enables the students to familiarize themselves with photogrammetric principles in a practical exercise. Both the topographic maps and the 3D model fit within the large scale geographic reference map of the Walloon Region. In this contribution, the results of this intensive trans-regional collaboration on the preservation of the sites are presented. This paper will discuss the first deliverables from the project and the advantages for the responsible government, the cultural heritage organisations (Ecomusée du Bois-du-Luc) and the students. The main focus here is on the educational context of the project. Furthermore, future projects on the same site will be discussed.

A simplified framework to assess the feasibility of zero-energy at the European community scale in 2030

This paper examines how local actors set the sustainability agenda. By relying on the economies of worth, we explain how actors dwell upon multiple worlds to evaluate what is valuable, what is not valuable, and to promote their views. Empirically, we draw evidence from the Walloon region in Belgium, by investigating how multiple actors discuss their views in an attempt to set a sustainability agenda. We outline the multiple worlds that actors refer to during their interaction, the moments of critiques and how a compromise is shaped where the green world is given a significant prominence. Furthermore, we identify a set of mechanisms that facilitated the multi-actor interaction to shape a collective compromise as a continuous process. Points for practitioners (1) Local governments play a crucial role in sustainability policies due to their proximity to local communities, enabling the development of tailored solutions, and direct engagement with citizens to address local environmental and social challenges. (2) Agenda-setting in local sustainability policies is intricate and frequently contentious due to the diverse values, interests, and preferences of all involved stakeholders. (3) Drawing on Boltanski and Thévenot's orders of worth theory, this paper offers researchers and practitioners an approach to unpack and understand the varied values, interests, and preferences of all involved stakeholders. (4) This paper identifies and elucidates three mechanisms (reflection, engagement, and alteration) that facilitate interactions among stakeholders, allowing them to reach a compromise on a shared sustainability agenda.

Technological innovations, such as Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) provide a non-destructive and non-invasive solution to support the processes of detection of water leaks in water distribution networks. Sensport is an initiative funded by the Walloon Region in Belgium. The purpose of the project was to use a Ground-Penetrating Radar in conjunction with intelligent and embedded systems to provide a feasible, low cost and non-invasive solution. We introduce the value in detecting water leaks on roads and underground pipes in cities. This contribution presents an agile development life cycle to obtain the human-computer interface in a mobile device e.g., tablet-like) to visualize water leaks in an area being studied. The visualization mechanisms that have been used contemplate the data processing as images and 2D/3D representations on mobile devices.

Farmer perception of runoff and erosion and extent of flooding in the silt-loam belt of the Belgian Walloon Region

Reduction of pesticides use is one of the main objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy developed in the framework of the European Green Deal, aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly [4]. The operational target is a 50% reduction in use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030. The Walloon Region in Belgium is committed to a strong prevention policy to reduce the impact of pesticide residues on human health and the environment, with a particular focus on water resources. This target will be measured based on i) the quantities of active substances by using an unbiased index and ii) the hazard properties of plant protection products (PPP) gathered in a negative list for the water resource. In order to be able to monitor PPP applications at farm level, several indicators have been used, such as the French widespread indicator “TFI” (Treatment Frequency Index). Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that this index implies a systematic bias in the evaluation of active substances used. Therefore, to quantify the pesticides used by farmers, a derived unbiased index called “ISAC” based on Active Substances per Crop has been developed and is now applied to compare several weeds control strategies. A focus on water resources preservation can be realized by selecting problematic active substances (such as chloridazon, metamitron, dimethenamid-P, ethofumesate, lenacile, …) into the ISAC, therefore obtaining an index of pressure on water resources (ISAC’eau). Theses indexes have been applied on Walloon farming practices related to weeds control through herbicides use on sugar beet crop. In conclusion, the use of the Unbiased Impact Index allows relevant comparisons between different strategies that can in fine help to propose alternatives for reducing herbicides use in sugar beet and their impact on the water resources. Obviously, it is necessary to investigate how to manage weeds with less or no herbicides in arable farming while maintaining the productivity, which implies considering agronomic performance such as yield, and crop net profit.KeywordsHerbicidesSugar beetISACWater resources