Leonardo arrived in Milano around his thirties in search of fame and fortune. The legend says that to be accepted at the court of Milano’s Duke, Ludovico il Moro, he brought a rare gift. It was a lira, a musical instrument that nobody knew how to play in Italy. Apparently, the gift impressed the court, because from that moment Leonardo lived and worked in Milano for almost 20 years.

So, there is no better occasion than the fifth centenary of his death to discover Leonardo da Vinci in the city that hosted him the longest. In order to do that, here it is a short itinerary not only to enjoy all the artistic, engineering and cultural production of Leonardo da Vinci but also to discover a Milano that you might not know.

Leonardo da Vinci’s statue

The itinerary can only start from the statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Piazza della Scala, exactly in front of the lyric theatre. The monument, offers a solemn and austere image of the scientist with four of his disciples. More than three centuries after Leonardo’s death, Milano still felt the need to celebrate the genius that gave so much to its city, calling a competition to make a monument to honor him. The competition was won by Pietro Magni, that finished the statue in 1872. The statue was made with white Carrara marble, while granite from Baveno was used for the basement. Located in the center of the city, this statue is the perfect symbol of the unbreakable bond between Leonardo and Milano.

The Last Supper

The second step brings us to one of the most famous and discussed masterpieces of Leonardo: “The Cenacle”, or “The Last Supper”. The enormous fresco is located in the refectory of the church Santa Maria delle Grazie. It was commissioned to Leonardo by Ludovico Sforza, that intended to place his burial in the Church.

The Last Supper was a traditional theme used to decorate convent refectories, used as a constant reminder to the friars that the life of the religious community is an extension of the life of Christ and the Apostles. However, Leonardo presented the subject in a completely innovative form and technique making radical and creative variations to the layout of the scene. Nonetheless, what has made the fresco so famous in the centuries, are the mysteries behind it, such as the “phantom hand” that holds a knife on the table or the suspicious resemblance between John and Mary Magdalene – of which also Dan Brown speaks.

Castello Sforzesco

From Santa Maria delle Grazie, let’s move to the Castello Sforzesco, defensive fortress and residence of the Lords of Milano. The castle’s “Sala delle Asse”, encloses another Leonardo’s fresco that represents vegetable plots with fruits and monochromes of roots and rocks. To celebrate the fifth centenary of his death, in the « Sala » visitors will be guided in reading the space through a scenic multimedia installation.

Inside the Castle there is also the Vinciana Collection of books dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci. However, the largest and most astonishing collection of Leonardo’s sheets is the Codex Atlanticus. It is possible to see the Codex during temporary thematic exhibitions that take place every three months both at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and at the Sacristy of Bramante, within the Santa Maria delle Grazie complex.

Leonardo Da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology

To discover the Leonardo engineer and inventor, you have to visit the Leonardo Da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology. Housed in an Olivetan monastery of the sixteenth century, it is the largest Italian scientific and technological museum.

The Museum’s collection of Leonardo’s historical models was born to celebrate the fifth centenary of the birth of Leonardo. The models on display in the Leonardo Gallery were made on the basis of the Vincian manuscripts. The exhibition of the models is enriched by a series of drawings of the artist. Leonardo’s drawings show not only his projects for machines but also surveys on existing works, improvement proposals or studies on nature.

The Museum also hosts a laboratory where it is possible to use some interactive models to understand their functioning and experiment with the artistic techniques used in the Renaissance.

Conca dell’ Incoronata

What not everybody knows, is that the sophisticated system of canals (« Navigli ») of Milano, was designed by Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, Ludovico il Moro asked him to find a way to connect the city with the Lake of Como. Leonardo, designed a system of locks to overcome the problem of the land’s unevenness making the navigation possible. The sketches of the project are now kept at he Navigli Museum.

At the Conca dell’ Incoronata, built in 1496, you can still see an ancient bridge in the Adda log and the sluice, without water, with its wooden gates. These are called « Porte Vinciane » because they are identical to those designed by Leonardo da Vinci and today visible in the Atlantic Codex of the Ambrosian Library.

Leonardo’s horse

Last but not least, you cannot miss « Leonardo’s horse ». A large bronze statue of a horse, inspired by Leonardo’s drawings. The work was placed here in 1999 in front of the beautiful Milano’s Hippodrome.

The importance of this work is given by the fact that Leonardo intended to create the largest equestrian statue in the world, a demanding job with which he planned to combine the skill and artistic flair with the technical knowledge of the period.

The idea of carrying out this work to celebrate the enterprises of Francesco Sforza came to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who thought of creating a life-size horse statue to be placed inside the Castello Sforzesco. After contacting various artists, the project failed to take off. The idea was subsequently carried out by his brother Ludovico, who entrusted the project to Leonardo. However, the hopes of completing the work vanished completely in 1499, with the fall of Ludovico il Moro. That year, Leonardo left Milan and the horse clay model was destroyed by the French soldiers who had chosen him as a target for their crossbows.

In 1977 Charles Dent, an amateur artist and art collector, decided Leonardo’s dream after five centuries. In 1999, the giant statue was finally ready and placed in the city where it was first thought of.

Until January 31st, Milano will also host several exhibitions dedicated to the renaissance genius. You can find the complete program here.

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The always larger distance between the producer and the consumer leads to an increase in pollution and a reduction of the genuineness and convenience of the products. In recent years, various forms of direct sales have become gradually popular. The aim is to promote local productions, destroying the distances between fields and tables, to present an alternative to the model of large-scale production and distribution.

In Belgium, the direct sales are supported by the GASAPs – groupe d’achats solidaires de l’agriculture paysanne (Solidarity buying group of peasant agriculture). Brothers of the French AMAPs, the GASAPs are the fruit of a citizens’ initiative which aims at supporting peasant agriculture. In fact, a GASAP is not simply a way to buy bio and genuine vegetables, but it is the direct sale, without an intermediary, of the products of the countryside.

How does a GASAP work

The core idea of the direct sale of local food is that producers make more profit by skipping the distribution ring, while the consumer can taste healthy, fresh and quality products at an affordable price.  With this model also the environment wins thanks to the lower CO2 emissions due to the decrease of transports linked to food distribution.

GASAPs work by establishing a partnership between “eaters” and producers who are committed to each other in the long term. Eaters finance a local producer that, for at least one year, will provide them with fresh and local products. In this way, this system allows a direct and supportive relationship with local farms working for agro-ecological agriculture, providing jobs in all the Belgian regions. To be part of a GASAP it is both possible to join an existing group or to create a new one, with friends or neighbours.

A GASAP is a self-managed system. Every two weeks, the producers deliver their products to the place of the permanence of each GASAP. Afterward, the eaters take care of their distribution. Eaters take turns ensuring management schedules, payments, and tasks that allow the GASAP to work.

In every basket, it is possible to find fresh, local and seasonal vegetables. Some farms offer also a “Super-GASAP”. In that case, the basket contains also meat, bread, dairy products, processed products, fruits, and much more… in some cases even chocolate mousse!

Food that has the taste of solidarity with the peasants

“These vegetables, these cheeses have the taste of solidarity with the peasants. They recreate links between the eaters and the producers. We reconnect with the reality of the earth, exit the supermarkets. There are products with lots of values, not just a monetary value”, the GASAP team says.

The payments for the GASAP have to be made at least 3 months in advance, to guarantee a regular income for producers and allow them to forecast their crops. The eaters commit for one year and pledge to find substitutes in case of departure of the GASAP before the end of the season.

Thanks to the support of the Ministry of the Walloon ecological transition, the GASAP Network will continue to raise awareness of the issues of direct selling, peasant agriculture and the link between eaters and producers.

By supporting local producers over the long term, GASAPs also support the Walloon economy and jobs. Thanks to their functioning based on regular meetings with the producers, they make it possible to discover vegetables, recipes, to understand agricultural practices, to meet other humanist citizens.

“Too often we do not know the women and men who feed us. We see their fields, we see their working tools, we appreciate the hedges that punctuate – or not – our landscapes. But too rarely we exchange with them on their exciting, but not valorized enough, jobs”, the GASAP team continues.

You can find more information on the project and discover the existing GASAPs around you, here.

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Since its independence, in 1991, the Kazakh economy has developed fast. During the meeting, the diplomat remembered how, 8 years ago, it was difficult to look to the Belgian and European model and to try to implement it in Kazakhstan. 8 years later things have changed. A new generation is leading the country, and it is ready to implement worldwide experiences and to be more open to new foreign investors.

In his opening speech, Kosherbayev mentioned the effort that the Kazakh government is making to attract potential investors. The National Company “Kazakh Invest”, which provides a “one-stop-shop” for investors, supplying them with assistance and information. The deputy minister also remrked that the Astana International Financial Centre is now operational. A financial hub guided by principles, norms, and precedents of England and Wales`s law and standards of the leading international financial centers. Also the weaknesses of the center Asia country have been pointed out, such as the leak of state guarantees or the long waiting time that is necessary to register new products.

Belgian companies in Kazakhstan

Twelve  representatives of the Belgian businesses were invited to share their expectations of a possible collaboration with Kazakhstan. Many of them already have Kazakh partners, and agreements were made with the deputy minister to ease their projects.

The fields where Belgian companies are more present in Kazakhstan are agriculture, new technologies, healthcare and energy. The Belgian Kazakhstan’s partners are the two export and foreign investment agencies, AWEX of Wallonia and FIT from Flanders. Every two years, these agencies introduce Belgian enterprises to Kazakhstan and organise business missions to the country.

In the last 28 years, the Belgian investments in the Kazakhstan economy amounted to €7.1 billion. 2018 has been a crucial year. In fact, compared to 2017 Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover with Belgium increased by 58% and amounted to €414million. However, according to Kosherbayev the Belgian-Kazakh relation is not at its full potential yet.

At the moment, 74 companies with Belgian capital have invested in Kazakhstan, between them Carmeuse, the mining company based in Louvain-la-Neuve, and Orfit industries, which deals with thermoplastic innovation, both present at the roundtable.

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But food waste doesn’t occur only when edible food is intentionally discarded by consumers after they fail to plan their meals properly and store food until it spoils or goes past the expiry date. At times, food waste can also happen due to oversupply in markets.

This is what gave birth to the idea for the app “Too Good To Go”. “Nobody likes seeing food go to waste, but the reality is that it’s very common for businesses and households to waste food. However, for us it became clear that something had to be done when we saw perfectly good food being thrown away after a buffet…food that was just ‘too good to go’”, the founders say.

The idea is really simple. Too Good To Go is an app providing a marketplace that connects businesses who have surplus food (restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets…) with costumers who want to rescue that food. Customers order a “magic bag” of surplus food at a discount on the retail price and then collect it from the stores in question in a pre-set collection window. The content of the “magic bag” is secret and different every time since it depends on the surplus food of the day.

So, an app that lets everyone do their bit to reduce waste, while also getting delicious food and supporting local businesses. In fact, the businesses get to reduce their waste besides having potential new customers try out their food and users can enjoy great products at a good price.

However, the biggest winner in this equation is the environment.

Food waste produces a large amount of methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2 – that it’s responsible for 8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, food waste also represents a great waste of freshwater and groundwater resources. It is said that a volume of water roughly three times the volume of Lake Geneva is used just to produce food that is not eaten. By throwing out one kilogram of beef, 50,000 liters of water were used to produce that meat is wasted. In the same way, nearly 1000 liters of water is wasted when you pour one glass of milk down the drain. Too Good To Go is able to save around 2.5 million kg of CO₂by saving 1 million meals. This equates to the amount of energy required to charge more than 300 million smartphones.

In Belgium, each year 3.5 million tons of food are thrown away, with an average of 345 kg of food per inhabitant, 15 of which are wasted at home. All this food waste represents a loss of 670 million euros per year. Since Too Good To Go Belgium was launched on March 1, 2018, 1,084,307 meals have been saved.

However, Too Good To Go exists beyond a smartphone, it also wants to contribute as much as possible to the creation of a global movement to fight against food waste. To answer this challenge, the Too Good To Go team has decided to work on 4 pillars that are built around concrete objectives to be held for 2020:

-To influence 50 million individuals: 47 million tons of food are thrown away each year by households in Europe, which represents more than half of the food waste in the European Union. So, raising public awareness on this issue and on ways to combat it, is the key to success. (Check their 6 tips to avoid food waste at home).

-To involve 75,000 businesses: finding solutions to reduce food waste is essential for all actors in the food chain. The app offers to partners the opportunity to generate additional income while exposing their business to a new clientele and establishing themselves as a committed player.

-To inspire 500 schools: Too Good To Go has developed a whole range of educational tools dedicated to food waste. If you’re a student looking for inspiration or a teacher looking for content, all these tools are at your disposal.

-To influence the legislation in 5 countries: food waste is no longer only recognized as a major problem, but also as a challenge to be solved. This growing awareness is thus making its way into the political agendas of an ever-increasing number of countries around the world.

Finally, if you are interested in the fight against food waste, you can consult their blog where they give useful advises on how to reduce food wasting and living in a more environmentally friendly way.

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Last weekend the third edition of Nuits Sonores & European Lab Brussels took place at Bozar. This is an urban festival born of the joint forces of BOZAR and Arty Farty. Four days (from Thursday to Sunday) of non-stop beat with a top-notch local and international line-up, numerous debates and plenty more.

The focal point of the festival was undoubtedly the BOZAR Takeover, on Friday evening. A combination of live performances, concerts and DJ sets in the beautiful and unique location of the Centre for Fine Arts. The evening brought more than twenty artists from all over the world together on three stages, turning BOZAR into Belgium’s biggest club for one night.

Every room of the labyrinthine Centre for Fine Arts was filled with beats and amazing light games. The main venue was the spectacular art deco concert hall (Henry Le Bœuf Hall) that for the occasion was converted into a huge dance floor. Between the names of the DJs spinning above the crowd in the royal box, there were: ڭليثر Glitter ٥٥, Dasha Rush, Octave One Live, and Paula Temple.

Henry Le Bœuf Hall during BOZAR takeover  – Credit Video: Simone Vespa

However, the Nuits Sonores were not just about partying, but also about talking and thinking. Club owners, artists and even philosophers had the chance to exchange ideas about club culture, activism and more. Also the artist-researcher Bogomir Doringer participated. After studying and filming dance floors all over the world and presenting his exhibition “Dance of Urgency” at Q21 in Vienna, the artist decided to continue his work at European Lab Brussels.

His project looks at the dance floor as a space for socio-political expression. According to him, the “Dance of Urgency” is a dance born of emotions that emerge at times of personal and collective crisis. It is a dance that empowers individuals and groups. The artist first moderated a debate on the topic and then he pointed his camera to the dance floor at BOZAR to integrate the Brussels party crowd in a live artwork.

The Nuits Sonores continued on Saturday night with The Loop, one of Nuits Sonores’ most impressive historical programmes. It is an exclusive musical journey in three locations in the vicinity of Brussels’ Canal: Kanal – Centre Pompidou, LaVallée & Be-Here. Local cultural operators collaborated with Nuits Sonores to give each venue its own individual musical atmosphere.

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The first thing to know is that there are several options when it comes to deciding which kind of accommodation suits you best.

Student housing. In case you are moving to Brussels for studying you can decide to apply for a student room in the campus of your university. Every university on its website has a section with all the necessary information about accommodation on campus and other houses facilities they provide. The price will depend on the university, but usually, student accommodations are cheaper and, therefore, very requested. So, be sure to send your application as soon as possible.

Room in a shared flat. Another option is to rent a room in a “coloc” (shared flat). This is the perfect solution if you don’t want to live alone and you wish to create your little family in Brussels. Anyway, every shared flat is different, with its own lifestyle and requirements. That is why normally you will have a small chat with the other roommates before being accepted. Also, the number of roommates can be very different, it can go from two up to seventeen people. After student houses, rooms in shared flats are usually the cheapest option. The price for a furnished room is normally between 380 and 480 euros, charges excluded.

A studio. If you prefer to live alone, then you should look for a studio, a small apartment for a single person. The prices are going to be a bit higher, but – hey – no one that steals your food or makes parties when you have to wake up early the next morning. For a furnished studio you pay on average between 500 to 750 euros, charges excluded.

In order to find a room or a studio, the best way is to do it through some Facebook groups. Here are some examples:

Bxl à Louer

Brussels room and flats to rent 

Rooms in Brussels (Expats, Interns, Erasmus, and Students) 

Wonen in Brussels

Recherche Kot/apartment/colocation à Bruxelles

There also some websites that can help you, such as:

Brik

MyKot 

Spotahome 

An apartment. If you are a group of friends looking for accommodation together, a good option could be to directly look for an apartment. You can always find it in the Facebook groups linked before, but the best option is the platform Immoweb, where you can personalize your research with your budget and special requests. In case, you can also decide to call on a real estate.

Keep in mind that not all landlords accept flat sharing, so always be sure to ask beforehand.

Other issues to keep in mind.

The deposit. When you start your renting contract you are going to be asked to pay a deposit. The amount of the deposit can be between one and three months of rent. When you will enter your accommodation it will be drafted a document that will state the conditions of the location. If once you leave the conditions are the same, you will receive the entire amount back. If instead, the location suffered any damage, then the landlord will deduct from the entire amount the sum correspondent to the harm. For the deposit, it is safer to create a blocked bank account, than will be unblocked once the contract is over, rather than give it in cash to the landlord.

Furnished, or unfurnished, that is the question. All kind of accommodations – rooms, studios, apartments – can be furnished or unfurnished. Rooms tend to be furnished, but, usually, apartments aren’t. If you are staying for a short term, of course, to find something furnished is the best option. The rent can be a bit higher, but your home will be ready from the day you arrive and you will not have any extra expenses. On the other hand, unfurnished houses or rooms can be a bit cheaper, but you have to take into account the initial expense for the furniture and the extra physical and mental effort it requires. However, it has to be said that in Brussels is really easy to find cheap second-hand furniture. You can go to second-hand shops, such as Les Petits Riens, or have a look to market place on Facebook. Moreover, in Brussels, there are many flea markets (brocantes). For example, at Marolles, in Place Jeu de Ball, there is a flea market every day until 2 p.m. and every neighborhood periodically organizes its own flea market. Last but not least, always have a look when you are walking in the streets: it is common to find good furniture for free.

Also, there is always the possibility that the person that is leaving the room or the apartment will directly sell you at least part of the furniture.

Scams. Unfortunately, scams are a reality in Brussels. Here are some tips on how to avoid it. The easiest victims of scam are those who can’t be in Brussels during the searching of the house. Of course, it is not always possible, but the best way to avoid scams would be to find a weekend in which book all the visits for the houses you are interested in or arrive a few days before the date you want to start renting in order to sign the contract in person and meet the landlord.

If it is not possible, here it goes the first gold rule: if something is “too good to be true”, then it’s probably not true, it’s a scam. If landlords must be reached electronically because they are in a foreign country doing “something”, and are unable to meet you (even for giving you the keys of the house), it is very likely that it is a scam. Don’t take any documents or ID they might send you as a guarantee, they might be false or stolen. Check the name of the landlord on the Facebook groups, if he has already scammed someone his name might appear. Also, check with Google Images the originality of every picture he might send you of the house if the house doesn’t exist he has to have taken from somewhere.

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