Ensuring the Future

After a decade of institutional and organisational turmoil, the PPS Science Policy and its constituent federal science establishments are looking to the future. While the global pandemic we have just experienced has highlighted the complex relationship we have with science as citizens, between real dependence, sometimes blind trust or distrust fed by approximation and rumours originating from social media, it is more important than ever to have a clear message, to educate, explain and interest our compatriots in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) professions, their concrete achievements and their impact on our everyday lives.

The various institutions that make up the PPS Science Policy are once again joining forces to present a thematic exhibition in the sumptuous setting of the Palais Royal, demonstrating that science and the arts together play a crucial role in the future of our citizens, our country and, more broadly, our planet. The PPS Policy and the vast expertise it includes among its members, ranging from geology to art history, astrophysics, archaeology, biology and archival science, to name but a few subjects, want to respond once again to the expectations and questions of citizens on this future that some believe to be uncertain.

This is why, through a series of exceptional pieces illustrating the rich heritage of the federal collection and a series of didactic panels presenting emblematic projects of the different science policy departments, the "Ensuring the Future" exhibition will directly address citizens and explore themes as diverse as monitoring global warming, observing the Earth, digitising the collections, maritime research and polar missions.

Preserving the future implies knowing, understanding and learning from the past and the present to ensure the more responsible and sustainable management of tomorrow's world. This is precisely the purpose of the day-to-day work of the PPS Science Policy teams that fund or actively participate in research in Belgium. In this way, we are developing new projects for the decades to come and are once again resolutely and actively focusing on Belgian society so we can play our role as a public service to the full. By making the most of our heritage, investing in state-of-the-art research infrastructure and further developing our excellence in fundamental and applied research, we are helping to build Belgium and the world of tomorrow. And this is what we intend to demonstrate to you through the "Ensuring the Future" exhibition.

Arnaud Vajda
Chair of the PPS Science Policy Steering Committee