The Brussels issue is in some ways unique, but it also offers interesting leads for comparative research. As a result, no research centre can limit itself to a single university or discipline. It is obviously important to develop a research network and to set up collaborations with national and international institutions and scientists studying multilingual capitals or other aspects of the metropolitan issue. On the one hand, all similar-sized European cities are evolving towards multicultural cities. On the other hand, the Brussels administrational model has incorporated a number of elements to pacify the different communities, which might serve as an example for other multicultural cities and ‘divided’ cities afflicted by conflict. The demand for the possibilities of conflict management and resolution remains a hot topic against the background of flourishing nationalism and continued conflict in certain polarised cities. In the past, this has already resulted in comparative research projects and cooperation with Jerusalem, Laval, Montreal, Hong Kong and Macedonia.
BRIO wishes to continue its research network that was established by the Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Brussels of the Vrije Universiteit and the Study Centre for Enteprise of KUBrussel and EHSAL, both key BRIO groups. This implies that BRIO will try to continue the cooperation achieved within the scientific research community of the Fund for Scientific Research – Flemish Research on Brussels and other multilingual (capital) cities (2001-2006). This cooperation with Flemish and French-speaking university centres and foreign research groups has resulted in the organisation of symposiums and seminars, exchange projects of researchers and/or research results and joint publications.
