National Activities - Belgium The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts

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National Activities - Belgium



The first academy in Belgium was founded in 1772 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The Imperial and Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters of Brussels was the imperial power's instrument for organising and controlling intellectual life in the Austrian Low Countries. This institution did not survive the French occupation of the Belgian regions. William I, king of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1815, re-instituted the academy in 1816. It found its permanent place in the social order only after Belgium had become independent in 1830. In 1845 it acquired the title "Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique", and it was divided into three classes: science, humanities, and fine arts.

From its independence onward, Belgium was officially bilingual (Dutch/French), although French was preponderant in higher education. Therefore, the academy was primarily a French-speaking institution. Gradually, however, Dutch acquired an importance approaching that of French. In Flanders - the northern part of Belgium -, Dutch replaced French in higher education in the 1930s. The logical outcome was the creation in 1938 of the Dutch-language "Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België". From then on the academy's function was to encourage science and arts in the Flemish part of the country while the Académie Royale continued to fulfil the same function in the French-speaking part of the country.

The statutes of the Academy were revised by Royal Decree of December 2, 1998. The Academy is an autonomous, independent and multidisciplinary learned society for the practice and promotion of science and culture. H.M. the King is patron of the institution.

Activitiees

• At request of the legislative or the executive power or at its own initiative the Academy advises on matters of social importance.
• The Academy contributes to the radiation of science and culture of the Flemish Communitiy on a national and an international level.
• The Academy serves as a focus of collaboration for scholars inside the country and a link between them and foreign scholars. Therefore it organises meetings, symposia and colloquia, it offers publication opportunities to young scientists and scholars, promotes international relations with the help of foreign Academies (agreements with different Academies as well within the framework of ALLEA, ICSU, International Academic Union) and it carries out long-term publication projects.
• These activities may be carried out by any of a number of committess, that include the Belgian Academy Council of Applied Sciences (BACAS) that studies the impact of technological development on society and prepares reports and provides advice for the government and leaders of industry, including a recent report on biotechnology in relation to renewable bioproducts.