On Saturday, November 26, 2016, the deliberative panel “Canal Citoyen” took place at the Sports and Cultural Center “Pôle Nord”. This event was an opportunity for a small number of citizens living or working around the Brussels Canal to meet, debate and, above all, formulate concrete proposals on the political issues of the Canal Territory.
The day started with an introduction with Guido Vanderhulst (founder of La Fonderie in Molenbeek and president of Bruxelles Fabriques), Thierry Hendrickx (internal evaluator at the City of Brussels), Cataline Sénéchal (coordinator of the social cohesion unit in Anderlecht) and Aly Sassi (director of the Proximity Unit of the Molenbeek Social Exclusion Unit).
The interventions of these different experts completed the information that the panelists had already obtained through the reading of a document elaborated by Particitiz, addressing in particular the historical, demographic, and socio-economic aspects, as well as the current problems of the neighborhoods bordering the Canal.
The citizens then participated in three debate sessions, around three themes that they had selected at the time of their registration:
- “How can citizens (re)appropriate public space?”
- Is the lack of social diversity in certain neighborhoods a problem? If so, how can it be resolved?"
- “What would be your dream design for the Canal Territory? How can we create a living space that is attractive from a tourist point of view but also for its inhabitants?”
The discussions, in tables of 5-6 citizens supervised by facilitators trained in group deliberation, allowed proposals to emerge that were presented at the end of the day to political representatives of the main municipalities bordering the Canal: Mrs. Françoise Schepmans, Mayor of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Mr. Yvan Mayeur, Mayor of the city of Brussels, Mr. Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven, 1st Alderman and Alderman for Urbanism, Environment and Sustainable Development of Anderlecht, and David Cordonnier (representing Mr. Vervoort), Councillor for Social Cohesion.