Foyer is a non-profit organisation based in Molenbeek (Brussels), which deals with diversity, interculturality and social cohesion at the local, regional and international level. At Foyer we work for a society that is positive about diversity and in which everyone, regardless of his or her origin or background, fully participates in social life. This translates into a wide range of activities and projects.

Since it runs workshops on media awareness and citizenship education for youth, Foyer is well-placed for, and highly interested in, testing and piloting the RETOPEA docutubes with its audience.

Key Personnel

Loredana Marchi, Principal Investigator is Executive Director of Foyer. She studied Arts and Philosophy at the University of Trieste. Before becoming director, she founded and coordinated Dar Al Amal, a women’s centre in Molenbeek. She also founded Cittadinanza Migrante, an organization that works with the parents of Italian children enrolled in bilingual education projects in Brussels, and co-founded a centre for low-threshold mental health care. She was and is part of various advisory boards on diversity, integration and women’s rights. In 2015 she was awarded the Filson Steers Mariman Prize for Education in Flanders.

Johan Leman is President of Foyer. He is emeritus Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Social Sciences at KU Leuven, where he taught “Migration and Minority Policies and their Anthropological Implications”, “Ethnicity and its Application to Mediterranean cultures”, “Interethnic Majority-Minority Relations in Europe”, “Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, and Criminological Issues” and “Anthropology of Religion”. Qualifications: Religion in migration; ethnicity; migration and integration policies; human trafficking and migrant smuggling; the Mediterranean. From 1981 until 1989 Johan Leman was CEO of Foyer. He also worked as a senior executive member of Foyer and Chief of Cabinet of the Royal Commissioner for Migrant Policy in Belgium and as Director of the Federal Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition against Racism.

Widukind De Ridder has a background in (higher) education, a PhD in History, and currently conducts workshops on interreligious dialogue in Brussels (VZW Foyer), participants of which are secondary school students from all walks of life.

Ann Trappers has worked at Foyer since 2009. She holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology, specializing in immigrant integration. She has done research on current migration and integration trends in Belgium and Europe. At Foyer she is part-time programme coordinator and part-time staff at the Roma and Travellers Service.

Relevant publications and/or other products and services

Leman, J. (2015). Is Molenbeek Europe's Jihadi Centre? It is not that simple, The Guardian, 18.11.2015.

Leman, J. (2009). The 'Empowering' Impact of the Internet (or the 'Virtual') on Europe's Immigrant Muslim Minorities. In: Timmerman C., Leman J., Roos H., Segaert B. (Eds.), Between Spaces: Christian and Muslim Minorities in Transition in Europe and the Middle East., Chapt. Part III. Brussels: Peter Lang, 193-201.

Leman, J. (2002). 'Belgium: the triangle of peace-education, legislation, mediation’, in Salomon G. et al. Peace education: the concept, principles, and practices around the world. Erlbaum Publ. pages:165-176

Leman, J. and L. Marchi (1991). ‘Les familles marocaines et les institutions éducatives et scolaires belges: itinéraires et stratégies’, in Gaudier, J.P. and P. Hermans, eds., Des Belges marocains. Brussels, De Boeck Université, 137-170.

Palace of the Normal and the Strange (Gewoon Vreemd Paleis/Palais du Normal et de l’Etrange) (product) is a permanent interactive exhibition in Molenbeek that makes children reflect on diversity and prejudice. In 2013 the original exhibition was supplemented with a section on democracy, inaugurated by the then President of the European Council and in 2015 by a section on media.

Relevant previous projects or activities

Foyer offers the following workshops to children and teenagers:

- How Real is the Virtual?
A workshop for young people aged 9 to 12 or 12 to 14, consisting of a short film that invites youngsters to reflect on possible manipulations of images on the web, facebook and the like. They discover that manipulations can occur in subtle ways, by changing rhythms, colours and sounds. The film is followed by an interactive application that allows participants to manipulate some images themselves to experience what it feels like and how easily it can be done. This workshop takes 90 minutes and exists in French and Dutch.

- Foyer TV:
Youngsters (14 years of age or over) meet up on a weekly basis to make reports, sketches and short documentaries for their YouTube channel “Foyer TV”. They are coached by a professional filmmaker, but they do all the work themselves, from writing the script to filming and editing. Foyer TV is a bilingual workshop.

- Peeking Into Cultures:
A guided visit to the places of worship of various religions in Molenbeek. At each location the participants are given information about the religious or spiritual tradition in question but also about the community that gathers there to worship. Originally aimed at an adult audience, a second version of this activity is currently being developed that is more interactive, dialogue-based and aimed at teenagers. It will be offered in Dutch and French.