As of September 2011, VISITBRUSSELS will be managing a Brussels Fund for Scientific Conferences, a fund jointly founded by the Brussels-Capital Region and the City of Brussels.
This fund has the threefold aim of promoting scientific research in Brussels, developing its profile as an innovative force, and increasing the number of conferences that we host.
Organising a scientific conference is not an easy task, even though scientists are keen to promote and share their knowledge on an international stage.
For some time now, VISITBRUSSELS has worked closely with organisers to help them plan their conferences and guide them through the twists and turns of the whole process, which is often alien to their day-to-day work.
VISITBRUSSELS was lacking two vital tools needed to make this support even more effective and so increase the number of scientific conferences that take place in Brussels.
On the one hand, organising a conference often requires the creation of an asbl (association sans but lucrative, not-for-profit organisation). An asbl without any history cannot always secure credit from a bank to handle its first expenses before it starts receiving money from the first visitors: drawing up the programme, deposits to book the venue, preparing and sending out brochures etc.
On the other hand, a large number of scientific conferences are put on in Brussels, but only Belgians attend them because of the lack of resources available to promote them internationally.
The fund that has been created will resolve these two issues:
- · Offering scientific conferences an advance funding option if they do not have access to credit
- · Offering scientific conferences put on in the Brussels Region only attracting Belgians an allowance for each new international participant.
The creation of this Brussels Fund for Scientific Conferences is the response to a specific demand from the industry.
The ultimate aim of this fund is to increase the number of international visitors to conferences organised in Brussels. This will be achieved by the following two methods:
- · Stimulating the creation of scientific conferences by offering advance funding for the expenses involved in preparing for the event and booking hotels or meeting rooms
- · Boosting the international scope of existing conferences by focusing on the international promotion of scientific conferences associated with research projects.
City and Region: 50/50
Together, the Region and the City of Brussels will equip VISITBRUSSELS to make sure it is able to run this fund.
VISITBRUSSELS has put together a dedicated team that will work with organisers as they put their applications together to help give them access to the different possibilities offered by the fund.
This application will also help conference organisers get approval for their business plans from conference professionals.
A panel of judges who will decide on the successful applications has been put together and is made up of representatives from:
- · Innoviris for the scientific aspect;
- · Brussels Invest & Export to analyse the business plans;
- · ABE to analyse the business plans;
- · VisitBrussels for how the conference will function and communication;
- · EFAPCO for approval of how the conference will function.
This panel will meet up each month to discuss the applications.
Forms are already available on the website www.visitbrussels.be/fund
The plan is to go on to work with universities to refine this business model. The goal is to develop an effective tool for organising scientific conferences.
This Brussels Fund for Scientific Conferences will help to develop two major pillars of our economy: science and tourism. As a result, Brussels’ image will be reinforced
- · among scientists, researchers and academics
- · in industry and among other financial players involved in scientific projects
- · within all professions involved in conferences: hotel owners, venue owners, service providers, organisers etc.
