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Filter Café Filtré Atelier vzw

In 2018, continued insight into the harmful effects of air pollution on our health gave rise to mass campaigns by parents, schools and children in Brussels and Flanders against unsafe and unhealthy school environments. With actions, from school gates to the A12 motorway and the Brouckèreplein, Filter Café put air quality on the political agenda.In 2019, the non-profit organisation of the same name was created, which continues to work with its Atelier on the constructive representation of a car-free, liveable and climate-proof city.

The PANO report in 2018, in which a Greenpeace investigation into the air quality in and around Brussels primary schools presented worrying results, led to major concerns and outrage among parents and school boards. School streets were closed every Friday morning, creating space for playful campaigns to draw attention to poor air quality and the precarious situation of active road users in the city. The flame soon spread to other schools in more than 30 cities. More than a year of campaigning has put the issue of air quality firmly on the city council's agenda. In one of the key points of the Filter Café manifesto, it argues not only for temporary school streets but also for the permanent redesign of public spaces. For this reason, the Filter Café Filtré Atelier was established. With the Atelier, Filter Café wants to put issues on the agenda in a co-creative way. Through design workshops, they zoom in on different places in the city. Recently, in collaboration with Bral, Heroes for Zero and AWB, the Andere Atelier was set up, in which this collective of citizen movements contributes to the Traffic Safety Action Plan with a Vision Beyond Zero. The workshops every time involve local residents, experts, architects, government services and other actors. The aim is always to develop constructive design proposals that fit into a car-free, liveable and climate-proof city.

theme
mobility, care
innovative aspects
good citizenship, cultural change, organisational form, solidarity
scale
street, district


slideshow
Fighting for clean air and road safety
Brussels residents, children and schools take action for a school environment providing road safety and good air quality, and point out the urgency of more sustainable forms of mobility.

Inspirational poster Filter Café Filtré
imageInspirational poster Filter Café Filtré
The organisation's website features tips and tricks on how to reclaim the street, for example cutting out a banner that symbolically filters pollution from cars passing underneath.


Inspirational poster Filter Café Filtré


photo: Filter Café Filtré

Visualisation Gillis Bareel Square - before and after
imageVisualisation Gillis Bareel Square - before and after
Het Andere Atelier is the result of an initiative by the citizens' movements Filter Café Filtré Atelier, Heroes for Zero (a collective of local groups concerned about traffic safety) and the urban movement Bral. Through design exercises, they took a critical look at the Brussels Region's mobility plan and imagined the city of tomorrow.


Visualisation Gillis Bareel Square - before and after


photo: Filter Café Filtré

Workshop Air For Schools
imageWorkshop Air For Schools
Filter Café Filtré Atelier and Architecture Workroom Brussels joined forces in 2018 to create the Atelier "Air for Schools". The Atelier creates a constructive climate in which workshops are organised in which parents, children, school management, local residents, experts and architects reflect on spatial solutions for their neighbourhood and their city. The ambition is to broaden the debate on school streets and to make a quality leap on different scales: the school building, the street, the district, the city and the region.


Workshop Air For Schools


photo: Tim Van de Velde

Filter Café Filtré and Architecture Workroom Brussels have a plan ready for a green canal zone with children in mind
articleFilter Café Filtré and Architecture Workroom Brussels have a plan ready for a green canal zone with children in mind
Reducing the number of cars in the city will free up space. The space freed up can be used for other forms of mobility and space for children to play and people to spend time. Filter Café Filtré and Architecture Workroom Brussels worked together on a plan for the Brussels Canal Zone between Sainctelette and Ninoofsepoort, in which they formulated seven realistic dream scenarios for a green canal zone in Brussels, from quick wins in the short term to a structural transition in the longer term.


Filter Café Filtré and Architecture Workroom Brussels have a plan ready for a green canal zone with children in mind


photo: Architectura, 2019

Brussels is still gasping for air:
articleBrussels is still gasping for air: "Cleaner air is still not clean enough by a long shot".
Air pollution has become much more prominent on the (political) agenda over the past 20 years. Although air quality has also improved in Brussels, we still exceed the European limit value for nitrogen dioxide and the World Health Organisation's health advisory values for particulate matter. In Brussels, various citizens' organisations and public bodies are making efforts to measure air pollution more accurately.


Brussels is still gasping for air:


photo: Sara de Sloover / Bruzz, Brussel 2021

Filter Café Filtré reaches a pivotal moment,
articleFilter Café Filtré reaches a pivotal moment, "but our work is not done yet".
In 2019, 114 schools and cultural institutions held a nine-week campaign for cleaner air in Brussels, initiated by Filter Café Flitré.


Filter Café Filtré reaches a pivotal moment,


photo: Nieuwsblad.be, Brussel 2019

Summer streets showcase the city of tomorrow
articleSummer streets showcase the city of tomorrow
During the summer of 2020, Picardstraat was transformed into a summer street for five weeks, where a variety of activities took place for all the residents. Citizens and experts testify about the factors that made the summer street such a success.

The battle for the street
articleThe battle for the street
The ambition is there, the reality is still often obstinate. The current state of affairs regarding the change to sustainable mobility and pleasant, safe streets for soft road users in Brussels by policy makers and experts.