From January to March 2009, 16 evenings of discussion are being organised in order to reflect, together with as many Brussels people and Brussels-lovers as possible, on the challenges facing the Brussels region. On 25 April the main ideas that have emerged from these debates will be put to political figures at the Kaaitheater. This grand finale will be an encounter between city-dwellers, the organisers and experts of the Citizens Forum, journalists and politicians.

The fourth academic study of the 21th century by the RITS delves into poverty: artists, academics, journalists, students and other wild creatures set the ball rolling in the direction of the public.

The artistic duo of Ivo Provoost and Simona Denicolai attacks the petrified codes of daily life with gentle subversion, the excitement of activism, mature scepticism and fun. Danai Anesiadou presents her performance One measures a circle, beginning anywhere, a mixture of theatre, autobiography, black magic and avant-garde film.

What is our current attitude towards the future and what effect does this have on contemporary performance and media art? Diggin’ the Future debates and presents such artistic practices as internet activism, network art, retro-futurism, digital performances, immersive technologies and virtual worlds such as Second Life. China experts will talk about ‘instant future’, a term for a cultural context where present and future coincide.

An event that focuses on the notion of the manifesto. With Frederik Leen (Museum of Modern Art in Brussels, on the avant-garde at the end of the sixties), Jan Lauwers (Needcompany, on turning points in the development of theatre), Jan Ritsema (director; on Jérôme Bel’s work), Eric Sleichim (BL!NDMAN, on contemporary music) and Maarten Seghers & OHNO COOPERATION's installation So Man. You can also watch videos by Lawrence Weiner (US), Adrian Paci (ALB) and Deimantas Narkevicius (LIT), and there’s music too!

Stelarc is an Australian performance artist. The basic principle of his ideas is that the body is an obsolete, outdated machine. He regards the protheses, robots or interventions he designs as an extension of the bodily machine’s capacity. In his lecture-demonstration, he examines three of his works of art.

How can we work on scenarios for the future in such harsh times? Beyond dystopia, beyond the apocalypse! How can we work on the future the way we would really like to, as a community. What would the transition to a low-oil society look like? Sometimes utopian, sometimes real, but always full of imagination.

In the twentieth century, mobility became the symbol of freedom and progress. But at a time of greenhouse gases and peak oil, the symbolic value of mobility is being rapidly reversed. And a different, more distressing form of mobility is making its appearance: that of climate refugees.

Opening debate with Ken Livingstone (former mayor of London), Simon Reddy (C40 Cities, Climate Leadership Group), Evelyne Huytebroeck (Minister of the Environment), Alain Deneef (Citizens’ Forum of Brussels), Tom Kestens (musician / People for Earth)

The DWB literary magazine feels the world going wrong and is devoting its fourth 2008 issue to the topic of ‘commitment’ in literature. At 7 pm on 9th November it will be holding a literary intervention that will not leave you unmoved. Afterwards you can attend the concert Amongst ourselves we rarely speak.