Name: Belgian Science for Climate Action Conference - Achieving climate neutrality and just transition in Belgium
Start: 2026-03-17T08:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-03-18T18:00:00+01:00
Location: Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique

Belgian Science for Climate Action Conference - Achieving climate neutrality and just transition in Belgium

from Tuesday, 17 March 2026 (08:30) to Wednesday, 18 March 2026 (18:00)

Monday, 16 March 2026
Tuesday, 17 March 2026

08:30 Registration and welcoming coffee
Registration and welcoming coffee
08:30 - 09:30

09:30 Conference Opening by Frank Gerard, Climate and Environmental Transition Adviser at the Cabinet of the Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, and Sustainable Development
Conference Opening by Frank Gerard, Climate and Environmental Transition Adviser at the Cabinet of the Minister of Mobility, Climate and Ecological Transition, and Sustainable Development
09:30 - 09:40

09:40 Samantha Burgess (deputy C3S): State of the climate system : insights on European and global climate trends on warming, extremes, and impacts
Samantha Burgess (deputy C3S): State of the climate system : insights on European and global climate trends on warming, extremes, and impacts
09:40 - 10:10

10:10 Myles Allen (University of Oxford): Geological Net Zero: How we will stop climate change – eventually
Myles Allen (University of Oxford): Geological Net Zero: How we will stop climate change – eventually
10:10 - 10:45

10:45 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:45 - 11:15
11:15
11:15 - 12:30
Contributions

11:15 Barriers to efficient carbon pricing: policy risk, myopic behaviour, and financial constraints - Jelle Meus (KU Leuven)

11:30 Green Bonds in Belgium - Mapping stakeholders to improve their effectiveness - Félicien Pagnon (ICHEC Brussels Management School)

11:45 From risk bearing to risk prevention: Exploring the potential of insurance companies as investors in flood-mitigating nature-based solutions - Axelle Vincent (University of Antwerp)

12:00 A Dynamic Decomposition for the Environmental Kuznets Curve: a State-Space Framework - Siem Jan Koopman (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
11:15 - 12:30
Contributions

11:15 Critical Water Levels and Systemic Shocks: Impacts on Container Transport along the Rhine–Alpine Corridor - Edwin van Hassel (Universiteit Antwerpen)

11:30 Commuting by private car or by company car to Brussels: Signs of change? - Françoise Bartiaux (UCLouvain)

11:45 Scaling electric vehicle charging infrastructure: a data-informed policy strategy in Brussels - Nikolaas Van den Steen (VUB)

12:00 The impact of CSRD on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - A hands-on tool for calculating greenhouse gas emissions - Eline Bens (AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts)
11:15 - 12:30
Contributions

11:15 Progress toward climate neutrality: Monitoring materials, jobs, and economic impacts during transition implementation in Belgium - Julien Pestiaux (CLIMACT)

11:30 Where does Belgium stand in its transition to climate neutrality in 2050? Lessons from a progress monitoring tool - Emily Taylor (SPF Santé Publique et Environnement)

11:45 Mapping Belgium’s decarbonization landscape: from roadmap to real-world initiatives - Eric Lambin (UCLouvain)

12:00 Future of energy systems within planetary boundaries:A new methodological framework Integrating planetary boundaries into energy system optimisation for absolute environmental sustainability - Nicolas Ghuys (UCLouvain)
12:30 Lunch
Lunch
12:30 - 13:15
13:15
13:15 - 14:00
Contributions

13:15 Geosystem services: Overlooked ecosystem services and how to manage them sustainably? - Hannelore Peeters (University of Antwerp & Ghent University)

13:16 Piecing together the puzzle: can policy packaging make carbon pricing work? - Kris Bachus (University of Antwerp)

13:17 Global Assessment of Renewable Energy Droughts Under 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C Warming Scenarios - Amirhossein Aminimehr (University of Antwerp)

13:18 Reducing heat-related deaths during the July 2019 heatwave in Brussels through urban adaptation strategies - Fien Serras

13:19 Degrees of inequality: How educational attainment shapes mortality associated to non-optimal temperatures in different provinces of Belgium - Emmanuelle Kuijt (HYDR (Department of water and climate) VUB and DEMO (Center for demographic research) UCLouvain)

13:20 Safeguarding polar ecosystems: Evaluation framework recommends against 5 geoengineering concepts - Marie Cavitte (Water & Climate, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

13:21 How do climate future projections influence pro-environmental attitudes, behaviors, emotions and related psychological distress? A systematic review of experimental evidence. - Nathalie C. Castaigne (UCLouvain)

13:22 Convince or mobilise? Postures and configurations of climate scientists' receptions on X - Jérôme Morandini (Université catholique de Louvain)

13:23 Motivation vs. Means: The influence of financial capability on homeowners’ insulation decisions - Sofie Naeyaert (Ghent University)

13:25 CLIMATE LABELING FOR FOOD PRODUCTS - ANALYSIS OF CURRENT TRENDS & POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS - Jean-Jacques Dohogne

13:26 Health impacts of extreme heat in medically at-risk populations: A space-time stratified case-crossover analysis in Belgium - Endale Alemayehu ALI (Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven)

13:27 TreeWatch.net: Revealing the hidden response of trees in a changing climate - Flor Hiergens (Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium)

13:28 Integrating Distribution Patterns of Mycorrhizal Biodiversity into Climate-Neutral Land Management in Belgium and Beyond - Qian Li

13:30 Temporal dynamics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities under current and future climate scenarios in pear orchards - Vera Claessens (PhD student)

13:32 Do trees grow in volume and sequestrate carbon at the same time? - Kobe Happaerts (University of Antwerp)

13:33 Modelling the impacts of climate extremes on Africa's future power systems - Tinne Mast (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

13:35 Growth Dynamics and Physiology of Temperate Tree Species Under Environmental Drivers - Harold Hauzeur (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (ULiège))

13:36 Governing Just Transitions from the Top: Towards an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda on Polluter Elites - Tom Bauler (ULB)

13:37 Investigating the past to predict the future: assessing the climatic sensitivity of silver birch through radial growth variability - Lorna Zeoli (University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Terra-Forest is life, Gembloux 5030, Belgium)

13:38 High-resolution heat stress impacts and climate adaptation modelling for a just transition - Dirk Lauwaet (VITO)

13:39 The Climate Education Paradox: Why It Succeeds in Some Contexts and Fails in Others - Hugues Draelants (Université catholique de Louvain)

13:40 Leveraging prosocial research for pro-environmental behavior - Adrien Grondin (Ghent University)
14:00
14:00 - 15:15
Contributions

14:00 Renewable energy communities: decentralization and justice throughout the energy transition - Valeria Zambianchi (UC Louvain)

14:15 Where to locate wind and solar energy projects? A spatial mismatch between project submission and approval - Caroline Bottu (UCLouvain)

14:30 Quantifying the near-future wind energy production over the North Sea using a novel statistical–dynamical approach to GCM downscaling - Ruben Borgers (KU Leuven)

14:45 Cost of inter-farm wake losses in the Belgian North Sea - Ward Winters (KU Leuven)
14:00 - 15:15
14:00 - 15:15
Contributions

14:00 Green Words, Mixed Actions: Public Reactions to Inconsistent Environmental Politics - Luca Fehér (Université libre de Bruxelles)

14:10 How do we make pro-environmental decisions? Using eye-tracking to trace the processes underlying pro-environmental decision-making - Zoé Bollen (UCLouvain)

14:20 Investigating the “cognitive effort paradox” in pro-environmental behaviour using consequential experimental paradigms - Sarah Kusch (Ghent University)

14:30 Transitioning towards sustainable heating: A mixed-methods study of heat pump acceptance among Flemish homeowners - Emma Martens (imec-mict-UGent)
15:15 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
15:15 - 15:45
15:45
15:45 - 17:00
Contributions

15:45 A public database of future heat stress in 140 cities to examine the potential for heat reduction via climate-smart urban development - Dirk Lauwaet (VITO)

16:00 National climate scenarios for Belgium - Inne Vanderkelen (KU Leuven, Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium)

16:15 Delivering Usable Climate Information for Better Decisions: Bias Correction and Interactive Selection of Representative Climate Projections for Belgium - Sylvain Marchi (RMI)

16:30 From Climate Data to Public Health Action: A Climate Service for vector and Vector-Borne Disease monitoring and Management in Belgium - Nele Veldeman (VITO)
15:45 - 17:00
Contributions

15:45 Institutional Barriers and Strategies for a Social-Ecological Protection System in Europe - Pascale Vielle (pascale.vielle@uclouvain.be)

16:00 Just Transition pathways in Belgium: a policy perspective on Limburg’s transition through the strategic reuse of industrial heritage - Paul Boutsen (Het Vervolg / COALFACE)

16:15 What matters? Recognition justice in the development of the Flemish subsurface - Kyra Verbruggen (University of Antwerp)

16:30 Exploring Urban Futures Through the Lens of a Just Transition: Four Scenarios of Social-Ecological Inequalities in Brussels by 2050 - Deborah Lambert (VUB)
15:45 - 17:00
Contributions

15:45 Global climate and biodiversity targets on a limited and used planet - Cécile Renier (UCLouvain)

16:00 Seasonal shifts in temperate grassland productivity under future climate scenarios - Essomandan Urbain Kokah (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Université de Liège)

16:15 Land-use driven depletion of nutrient cations potentially puts a break on carbon accumulation rates in central African tropical forests - Viktor Van de Velde (UGent)

16:30 ICOS Belgium: from greenhouse gas observations to policy support - Marilyn Roland (Universiteit Antwerpen)
17:05 Venue closes
Venue closes
17:05 - 17:15
Wednesday, 18 March 2026

08:45 Registration and welcoming coffee
Registration and welcoming coffee
08:45 - 09:45

09:45 Heleen De Coninck (TUE/NL Klimaatraad): Societal transitions towards a net-zero world
Heleen De Coninck (TUE/NL Klimaatraad): Societal transitions towards a net-zero world
09:45 - 10:15

10:15 Katherine Richardson (University of Copenhagen): The climate change crisis cannot be tackled in isolation from other anthropogenic activities
Katherine Richardson (University of Copenhagen): The climate change crisis cannot be tackled in isolation from other anthropogenic activities
10:15 - 10:45

10:45 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:45 - 11:15
11:15
11:15 - 12:30
Contributions

11:15 Food’s Carbon Plateau: 30 Years of Stable Emissions amid Surging Demand - Charlotte Janssens (UHasselt)

11:30 Territorial food self-sufficiency under climate change through optimized crop rotations and STICS simulations - Tom Desmarez (University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech)

11:45 Are there insufficient Belgian fries? A multi-scale integrated evaluation of the sustainability of the Belgian potato industry - Wout Vierbergen (ILVO)

12:00 From Farm to Future: Europe's Vision for Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Agriculture - Imaneh Goli (Postdoctoral Fellow)
11:15 - 12:30
Contributions

11:15 State of art and legal pathways for Belgian federal climate governance - Aurélien Hucq

11:30 How to govern the climate crisis? An analysis of public preferences in francophone Belgium - Emilien Paulis (University of Luxembourg)

12:00 Governing the Flemish Subsurface: An Institutional Resource Regimes application for sustainable use - Syed-Mujtaba Masroor (University of Antwerp)
11:15 - 12:30
Contributions

11:15 A causal analysis of soil moisture-temperature coupling in the context of compound hot-dry events - Takumi Therville (University of Antwerp)

11:30 Extreme-rainfall events in a future climate over Belgium and its dependence on circulation types - Jozefien Schoofs (KU Leuven)

11:45 Will you live an unprecedented life? - Wim Thiery

12:00 Linking Emissions from Fossil Fuel Megaprojects to Lifetime Climate Impacts Across Generations - Amaury Laridon (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
12:30 Lunch
Lunch
12:30 - 13:15
13:15
13:15 - 14:00
Contributions

13:15 Carbon balance and fruit yield of pear trees under different climate scenarios - Shenglei HAO (Hasselt University)

13:17 Negative emission technologies: Enhanced weathering leads to substantial C accrual on crop macrocosms - François Rineau (UHasselt)

13:19 Geo-techno-economic assessment of CO2 capture, transport, and storage for decarbonising cement production - Kris Welkenhuysen (Geological Survey of Belgium, Institute of Natural Sciences)

13:20 Maturing CO2 storage opportunities in Europe to meet climate targets - Ceri Vincent (British Geological Survey)

13:21 19th-century residential timber frames: Structural reuse potential and development of a technical and heritage assessment protocol - Ophélie Noël (Uliège, Unité de recherche AAP)

13:22 Wikimpacts 1.0: A new global climate impact database based on automated information extraction from Wikipedia - Ni Li (Department of Water and Climate, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium)

13:23 Crop heat stress in the Community Land Model (CLM5) - Shannon de Roos (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

13:23 Reconstructing 3D cloud profiles from 2D satellite imagery using deep learning - Joppe Massant (Ghent University)

13:25 The neighbourhood energy cooperative in the just energy transition – A strategic niche management analysis of the Living-Lab Muide-Meulestede - Johanna E Liebrand

13:26 Develop effective climate smart agriculture knowledge and innovation systems to support the transition to climate smart agriculture across Europe - Jo Bijttebier (Dr)

13:27 Architectural levers: balancing comfort and carbon in inpatient design - Eleonora Rubinacci (architecte)

13:28 Mapping the Methane Gas Hydrates Stability Zone beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet from 40 Ma to the year 3000 - Emeric Babut du Marès (UiT Arctic University of Norway & Université Libre de Bruxelles)

13:29 From Stock to Flow: Historical Evolution, Typologies, and Strategies of Plastics in the Walloon Building Sector for a Circular and Low-Carbon Economy - Isabelle FOTSING METEGAM (Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Mons)

13:30 Overlooked opportunities: Phytoremediation between Remediation and Agricultural Practice - Marko Perisic (UHasselt)

13:31 International Cooperative Initiatives (ICIs) and Decarbonisation: Effectiveness of the Breakthrough Agenda - Mishel Mohan (Brussels School of Governance - VUB)

13:32 Young people disproportionately exposed to lifetime fire danger: a Portuguese case study - Rosa Pietroiusti (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

13:32 Carbon release from thawing subsea permafrost has potential to disrupt Arctic Ocean carbon cycle - Alexis Geels (ULB)

13:33 From Paper to Proof: Revealing Congo Basin Warming Through Rescued Climate Archives - Derrick Muheki (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Water and Climate)

13:34 TIGHTROPE – Timber right valorization and Forest and resource opmization - Tom De Mil (Université de Liège)

13:36 Opportunities to Engage with the IPCC - Bart Rymen (Belgian Science Policy Office (Belspo))

13:37 VERBE – Establishing a greenhouse gas verification system for Belgium - Thilo Heinecke

13:38 The Walloon platform for the IPCC: disseminating climate change science and supporting the Walloon adaptation strategy - Philippe Marbaix (UCLouvain)

13:39 Just & Green? Citizens Speak - Martin Vokálek (EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy) Rebeka Hengalova (EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy)
14:00
14:00 - 15:15
Contributions

14:00 Exploring options to strengthen the European multi-level governance framework for zero-emission energy-intensive industries - Simon Otto (Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB))

14:15 Carnot batteries for industrial electrification: overcoming the economic barriers of high-temperature heat. - Mattéo Hauglustaine (UCLouvain / UMONS)

14:30 Combustion of iron powder in the metal-fuel cycle for clean energy transition - Zakarie Bruyr (UCLouvain)

14:45 Unraveling CO2 value chain participation under negative emission pricing an industry relocation: a case study on Belgium - Flore Verbist (KU Leuven/VITO (EnergyVille))
14:00 - 15:15
14:00 - 15:15
Contributions

14:00 Challenges to deploy CCS in Germany and Belgium - Stefan Knopf

14:15 Boosting soil organic carbon sequestration using rock dust applications - Robrecht Van Der Bauwhede (KU Leuven)

14:30 How effective is enhanced weathering as a Carbon Dioxide Removal strategy? - Keziah Peppiette (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

14:45 CO2 storage as a necessary solution for decarbonising Belgian industry - Alejandra Tovar (Geological Survey of Belgium, Institute of Natural Sciences)
15:15 Coffee Break
Coffee Break
15:15 - 15:45

15:45

15:45 - 17:00
15:45 - 17:00
Contributions

15:45 Setting the Circular Economy on local government policy agendas: An analysis of Climate and Energy Action Plans in 262 Flemish municipalities - Michiel Pauwels (KU Leuven)

16:00 Urban Mining Screener: A Case Study of Material Intensity in Post-War Social Housing in Sint-Niklaas (BE) - Jude Al-Nasser (University of Antwerp)

16:15 MATERIALISING THE CIRCULAR CITY: PATHWAYS TO SCALE BIOWASTE-DERIVED CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IN BRUSSELS - Giulia Scialpi (architecte)

16:30 The role of digital twin on integrated circular strategies of brownfield renovation. Unveiling the challenges and opportunities - Adeline DEPRETRE (UMons)
15:45 - 17:00
Contributions

15:45 Towards climate neutrality in Belgium's residential building stock: integrating technical, socio-economic and environmental data for sustainable renovation strategies - Aurora Bertini (Sustainable Building Design Lab, Department UEE, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universite de Liege, Belgium)

16:00 Bottom-up and top-down environmental benchmark values to support roadmap development for Belgian residential buildings - Lise Mouton (KU Leuven)

16:15 Impact of an energy renovation obligation for homebuyers on house prices - Peter Reusens

16:30 Towards Climate-Neutral Urban Heating: A model-based comparative study for Local Energy Systems decarbonization - Julio Vaillant Rebollar (Van Marcke NV, Ghent University)
17:00 Best poster award and closing ceremony
Best poster award and closing ceremony
17:00 - 18:00