SPIROU & Me

32 Pages·2017·1.95 MB·English

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wallonia and brussels
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Discover a region that combines
technical knowhow with quality of life
SPIROU & Me
meet the new woman at the helm
of the legendary comic
Prepare to be amazed: Wallonia’s top tourist
attractions in the spotlight
Making plastics smarter, greener & more efficient
.CONTENTS
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Editorial Wallonia and Brussels - Contact
AWEX Wallonia Export-Investment Agency
www.awex.be
With man-made waste polluting every corner of the
Earth, the plastic industry is under particular pressure to WBI Wallonie-Bruxelles International
www.wbi.be
reform its practices. In our special focus on the regional
Plastiwin cluster, we discover how the sector in Wallonia is Welcome Offices
responding to environmental concerns and exploring new www.investinwallonia.be
digital forms that will help shape the future. Remaining
with the ecological theme, we meet three companies
honoured for their innovative work in combatting global
warming. They each picked up a Green Solution Award
at the UN Convention on Climate Change in the autumn.
Looking ahead to the tourist season, the region is offering
a feast of offbeat activities, sights and accommodation
under the banner of Amazing Wallonia (Wallonie Insolite).
Keep a close eye on events coming up and take advantage
of some fantastic themed promotions. Editor Sarah Crew
Deputy editor Sally Tipper
Reporters Lisa Bradshaw, Leo Cendrowicz, Mari Eccles, Andy Furniere,
Don’t forget to download Clodagh Kinsella, Ian Mundell, Saffina Rana, Sarah Schug, Denzil Walton
Art director Patricia Brossel
the new WAB magazine app,
Managing director Hans De Loore
now available for Android and iOS.
Go to Google Play or iTunes and
AWEX/WBI and Ackroyd Publications
keep up-to-date with Pascale Delcomminette – AWEX/WBI
news and events in Wallonia Marie-Catherine Duchêne
AWEX, Place Sainctelette 2, 1080 Brussels, Belgium
and Brussels.
Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
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10 News and business updates
from around the region
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Profile: Florence Mixhel is the
first female editor-in-chief of classic
comic Spirou
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Liège information company
BHS Promotion wins praise for its
brochures
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Three local projects pick up
be prestigious Green Solutions Award
ht.
elig for work on climate change
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w Life-saving heart therapy
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© company Miracor Medical receives
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investment from Wallonia
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Meet Milota Hudecová-
Westerbeek, an interpreter in
Brussels
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Wallonia’s Plastiwin cluster
helps build a smarter plastics
industry in the region
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Liège exhibition explores the
bl
e As impact of science and technology
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a With 700 varieties of cheese,
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Fr Wallonia is leading the way in taste
©
and tradition
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Amazing Wallonia:
Celebrating offbeat tourism in 2018
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Local designers show off their
creations in Italy at Milan Design
Week
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Panorama: European heritage
label for mining site Bois du Cazier
e Ya 30 Our pick of cultural events in
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© Cover: Dossogne, Dupuis 2018
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.news
Air Belgium tAkes Foreign investment continues to rise
oFF At chArleroi
In 2017, foreign companies invested more than €682 million and generated 2,009 jobs in Wallo-
nia, divided between 89 projects, according to recent data from AWEX, the Wallonia Export-In-
New airline Air Belgium is taking off from vestment Agency. It was the fourth best year for foreign direct investment in Wallonia since
Brussels South-Charleroi airport for desti- 2000 in terms of job creation. Although fewer investment projects were started last year com-
nations in the Far East from mid-April. Its pared to 2016, the average amount invested and the average number of jobs created per project
fleet of four A340-400 aircraft is to provide a increased year-on-year. After France and India, the US was the third most important source of
direct long-distance service to cities in Asia foreign investment in 2017, accounting for about €100.6 million. Out of 89 projects launched
including Beijing and Shanghai. The compa- in 2017, 35 were greenfield investments, whereby a company builds its operations from the
ny’s inaugural flight will be to Hong Kong. ground up. Metronom Health, a US biotech company that specialises in diabetes management,
for example, chose to establish its international headquarters in Mont-Saint-Guibert. The re-
After obtaining its mandatory air operator’s maining 54 projects were expansions of existing activities. Continuing this trend, Google has
certificate from the Belgian Civil Aviation announced a €250 million expansion of its data centre in Saint-Ghislain for 2018. AmCham
Administration in March, Air Belgium CEO Belgium said it supported efforts to improve Belgium’s attractiveness for foreign investors and
Niky Terzakis said: “It’s a proud achievement was ready to work with all levels of government to build on these figures and continue the
for my wonderful team. Very grateful for all positive evolution for the whole country.
the hard work and determination.”
amcham.be
Despite being billed as a low-cost airline, Air
Belgium offers economy, premium and busi-
ness class service. The airport will need to
be adapted to meet the needs of long-haul
music collective scores hit With its APP
passengers, including new business class
facilities. Temporary solutions will be put
in place at first, with building work due to
begin in May and last a year. Charleroi air- Verviers musical collective Herrmutt Lobby
port managing director Jean-Jacques Clo- (HLO) is breaking into Western markets with
quet said: “Welcoming such a company to its app, PlayGround, thanks to a partnership
our airport strengthens our position on the with US start-up incubator The Refiners. The
international scene.” Walloon company was spotted at a technol-
ogy fair in Las Vegas in January. The app for
Air Belgium plans to recruit 300 staff directly iPhone and iPads allows users to play inter-
and will rely on another 300 ground staff at active songs by swiping and tapping on co-
Charleroi. The company has a starting cap- loured objects within a multi-touch graphic
ital of €20 million, divided among Belgian interface. A spokesperson for HLO said: “We
and European majority shareholders and are grateful for The Refiners’ trust and help
Asian minority shareholders. Its headquar- and are full of motivation and energy as we
O
ters are in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Walloon glimpse a future of opportunities on the US L
H
Brabant. market with our daring music-tech project.” esy
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airbelgium.com herrmuttlobby.com ©
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BrieFs
The EU-China Logistic is a new
cross-border business incubator at Liège
Airport. It is the first of its kind in Europe,
providing logistic and transport services
for Europe-wide e-commerce and link-
ing the Guangdong region export hub
with Wallonia’s transport hub Liège. The
incubator also offers free office spaces,
é
mailboxes, training to help companies af
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expand their activities and access to ap- ats
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propriate government services and to x
local partners. The incubator is a result Merli
of a partnership between Wallonia Ex- esy
port-Investment Agency AWEX, Logis- urt
o
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tics in Wallonia and Liège Airport. ©
Sonaca Aircraft and Namur-Suarlée
First cat cafe opens in Liège
Airport signed a 20-year contract
at the end of 2017 that will allow the
Charleroi aerospace company to build If you drop into Merlix Cats Café in Liège, you risk walking
its single-engine Sonaca 200 aircraft
out with a new furry friend. Not only is the cosy cafe, which
at the Temploux site. The subsidiary of
opened in March, filled with cute cats, they are all looking for
the Sonaca Group is seeking planning
new homes. Owners Camille Nuyts and Antoine Dedave work
permission to build a 2,000m2 assembly
hangar and a tarmac runway that would with the cat refuge Félin pour l’autre in Villers-le-Bouillet.
replace one of the two current grass “Clients don’t leave directly with a cat: there’s a period of
ones. The new business is expected to reflection when they have to come and see the cat a number
create between 20 and 40 jobs.
of times before filling a form that is sent to the refuge, which
manages the adoption,” Nuyts explains. A second kitty
Liège space optic company Amos
hangout is set to open in the city late spring.
has won a second major contract to
supply specialised equipment to Air-
merlix.cafe
bus Defence and Space. At the begin-
ning of 2017, Amos sealed a deal to de-
liver the scan mirror of the METimage
Earth Observation optical instrument.
In March 2018, it was asked to design
and manufacture the optics of the tele-
innovAtion meets Business At
scope and derotator, critical elements
of the second-generation EUMETSAT internAtionAl conFerence
Polar System, due to be launched into
orbit in 2021.
Innovation cluster GreenWin and the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) are staging
IBA, a worldwide leader in proton an international conference called Green Chemistry and White Biotechnology: From In-
therapy based in Louvain-la-Neuve, novation to Business on May 23 and 24. The fourth edition of the event aims to carry out
has signed three new contracts with an inventory of innovative technologies and green chemistry and white biotechnology
British company Proton Partners Inter- activities worldwide, to share knowledge and foster the creation of research and devel-
national to set up compact proton ther- opment projects in the sector. The event includes workshops on European projects and
apy solutions in the UK. Proton therapy, B2B meetings. White biotechnology is the use of livng cells from yeast, moulds, bacteria
which is at the centre of the company’s and plants to create industrial products that are easily degradable, require less energy
business, is a cancer treatment that tar- and create less waste.
gets cancer cells.
greenwin.be
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.profile
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The 36-year-old from Liège is
the new editor-in-chief of Spirou,
the Franco-Belgian comic that
first appeared in 1938. She joined
Spirou’s publisher, Marcinelle-
based Dupuis, a decade ago, and is
Spirou’s first female editor
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“
people think things will
become outdated, but they
find a way to adapt and stay
relevant
Sometimes when we have themes for an the digital generation, we are developing
issue – for example, we might do something apps to read Spirou on phones or tablets.
on cooking – then we encourage our writers Sometimes people think things will
to come up with relevant ideas. become outdated, but they find a way to
adapt and stay relevant.
There have been a number of live-
action films based on Spirou characters What has been the biggest moment of
recently. Have you been involved? your time at Spirou?
We didn’t have any input in the films After the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo
How did you get into the world of themselves. But we have covered the recent office in Paris, in January 2015, we came
comics? Spirou and Fantasio movie in depth: we together to make a special issue of Spirou.
I did a master’s degree in journalism, but published a special edition, which included We were all shocked and stunned that they
I wasn’t so keen on a career as a classical a “making of…” section, and photos of the should try to kill cartoonists. But we felt
journalist. It was fortunate: Dupuis was actors behind the scenes. we had to do something, as an homage
looking for someone, I was interested and out of solidarity. We wanted to express
and applied. But I admit that’s not what I Do comic strips still have a place in a our feelings. This was all in addition to
expected to end up doing. digital world? our regular magazine. We normally plan
Yes, comics do have their place. I was just weeks in advance, but this was done in
How do you choose your stories? at the Foire du livre book fair in Brussels, just four days, and over a weekend. It was
Our writers are always coming up with which was extremely successful. People not about politics but about dealing with a
storylines – we have 40 to 50 writers and like to read, they like to have something tragedy. Many readers felt this helped them
they are very creative. What I have to do in their hands. We still have a weekly cope; for example, we had one strip that
is see whether it’s a line we want to follow, circulation of 65,000, which is quite a lot. explained how to talk about the attacks to
whether it’s interesting and to our tastes. I think paper will always be there. But for a daughter. I was really proud of that.
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.WORK
Winner takes all
Promotions agency snaps up prize for tourism
brochure
By Mari Eccles
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wallonia and brussels magazine
If most people were asked to name the competitive. Last year, visitor information core work in print media, he says, and points
last time Belgium scored a win against centres around the world whittled down to the website and mobile apps the company
the US in an international competition, their chosen entries to 76 publications. Sea has created.
they’d probably say it was four years ago at Life’s closest competition came from two US
the football World Cup. Few may know that brochures, one advertising a whaling trip in According to market research tests the
a local company emerged victorious just a California, the other promoting a tour of a company has conducted over the past three
few months ago, when it beat competition potato chip factory in Pennsylvania. years, paper rather than digital content is
from not one but two American challengers. the most effective way to communicate with
For BHS Promotion, the award is recogni- visitors. “Information on the web catches
That champion is BHS Promotion – a vis- tion of the contribution of a small country the attention for a short while but then is
itor information company based in Liège and its tourism products within a large in- swept away,” he says. “But paper is conserv-
– which won the international prize at the ternational association, according to its able.” And even among tourist companies
Best Brochure Awards last autumn for its director, Jean-Yves Beeckman. He oversees that rely largely on digital or online booking,
nomination, a publication on Sea Life Blan- the company’s activities, which makes up often the companies will initially use BHS’s
kenberge. The marine park on the Belgian more than 80% of the national market and paper services to get their message out.
coast is home to more than 2,500 animals which he says have an “important presence”
including sharks, piranhas, seahorses and across the country. BHS Promotion, which If the digital revolution is unlikely to disrupt
rays. But the winning brochure focused on has been active for more than two decades, the way the company works, neither is the
Sea Stars, a family-friendly exhibition about produces 40 million brochures and posters recent international success. BHS Promo-
the ocean’s starfish. each year within Belgium and in France, the tions’ plans for the future are to keep doing
Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. what they’re doing. “We don’t have a great
The publications were judged on their con- novelty planned for the next year,” Beeck-
tent, headline and overall appeal. Henry It may seem a little churlish to ask whether man says. “But with plenty of ideas in our
Goldsmith of the International Association a company with that history behind it, and team, it’s rare for us go a full year without
of Visitor Information Providers said that one that’s just won an international award, adding a string to our bow.” For him, the
the BHS effort “best embodied the ideals is concerned for the future. But as the tide most important thing is that the company
required to make it an effective marketing of digitalisation marches on, do staff at BHS is seen as “stable and reliable” by its cus-
piece”, according to the judges. And while have doubts about their industry’s survival? tomers. “Whatever happens, we’ll stay a hu-
the Berlin ceremony may not have been man-size company.”
televised around the globe, the award is No, Beeckman insists. On the contrary, the
the industry gold-standard and fiercely digital breakthrough complements BHS’s bhs-promotion.com
“
Information on the web catches the
attention for a short while but then is
swept away
Jean-Yves Beeckman
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wallonia and brussels magazine spring 2018
.WORK
A fair COP
Three Walloon projects have been rewarded
for their innovation by the UN’s Convention on
Climate Change
By Andy Furniere
Three Walloon projects came home struction category, receiving the Grand sustainable and economically interesting
with a prestigious Green Solutions Prize for the building of their own highly building.
Award from COP23, the annual energy-efficient office at the Créalys sci-
meeting of the UN Convention on Climate ence park in Gembloux, Namur province. The Grand Prize in the Sustainable City
Change. The awards honour exemplary “The sustainable development philosophy category went to the Cité du Centenaire
buildings, districts and infrastructures guided the entire project,” says Cédric An- urban renewal project in Charleroi, car-
that contribute to the fight against cli- bergen, the company’s project manager in ried out by architecture and engineering
mate change. sustainable development. company Startech Management Group. A
neighbourhood with public housing first
From 1995, the parties to the UN Conven- The office is a Nearly Zero Energy Build- developed in 1959 is now being trans-
tion on Climate Change have met each year ing and uses no fossil fuels. It produces its formed into an eco-district, with a focus
to assess progress in dealing with global own renewable energy with a photovolta- on sustainability and protecting architec-
warming. These events now include the ic roof, which provides all the electricity tural heritage.
ceremony of the Green Solutions Awards, needed to heat and cool the building. The
organised by Construction21, a network building is partially below ground to ben- “We renovated forty-eight apartments
dedicated to the international sustainable efit from the natural thermal insulation, according to the passive housing criteria,
building and city sector. The competition while the choice of orientation ensures making them the most energy-efficient
offers visibility to pioneering solutions to natural light throughout the year and apartments in the Walloon public hous-
climate challenges. avoids overheating during warm periods.  ing sector,” say the architects behind the
project, Nathalie Abrassart and Marcel
Representing 19 countries in various con- The office is not only efficient but also Barattucci. “The twelve apartments of a
tinents, 150 entrants participated in the comfortable, with bright workspaces cre- new building are the first adaptable so-
2017 edition in Bonn, Germany, in No- ated using healthy materials. “Our staff cial residences in the Walloon sector that
vember. Wallonia stood out, with three can enjoy a unique level of comfort provid- are certified as passive housing.” Cité
prize-winning projects: from BSolutions, ed by the excellent temperature, air qual- du Centenaire is also a pilot project on
Startech Management Group and Home- ity, acoustics, space planning and quality the management of construction waste.
co. of the materials used,” says Anbergen. It By reusing or recycling much of the old
also serves as a show project, demonstrat- infrastructure, the project shows how
Architecture and engineering firm BSolu- ing the available options to customers in- waste should be valorised in construction
tions triumphed in the Sustainable Con- terested in building a high-performance, initiatives.
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wallonia and brussels magazine