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Where physical and digital infrastructure meet amphibians and other beings in Neder-Over-Heembeek

In short:

On January the 10th, 2026 we will be using cycling and walking as a research method to explore two areas in the north of Brussels, where human development and the natural world collide. We look at the way tools and systems are used to record data, count species and their relationship with infrastructure. In these landscapes we see everyday, we want to show hidden layers.

In the morning we cycle around the canal and the river Zenne/Senne, starting at Maison de la Creation NOH. We look at the history, past and present of buildings, waterways in relation to plant and animal life, including humans.

In the afternoon we meet at Korte Groenweg 99 Petit Chemin Vert to walk. We combine two ways of looking at that area: through the eyes of migrating amphibians and by means of naming species. Both methods of looking have their problems, which we will touch upon and make new stories. Rotterdam based artists from Varia and Blise Orr will join us in making them. A part will be in English, we will include spontaneous translations.

As we know this area for about two and a half years, we offer a recent point of view. This is a story open for change over time, hopefully with more voices and narratives.

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Please enroll by sending an e-mail to wendy@constantvzw.org
> lunch is available if you mail us before 06-01-2026
> please provide information around food allergies
> mention what part of the day you will join (morning, meal, afternoon)
In case of bad weather, we will provide an alternative programme

10:30-12:30 Bicycle tour around the canal
Departure @ Maison de la Creation Neder-Over-Heembeek, Sint-Nikolaasplein 3 Place Saint-Nicolas
Tram 10, stop Zavelput
12:30 -14:00 Vegetarian lunch
thai cuisine at Maison de la Creation (reservation required by mail)
14:30 - 17:00 Performing the past and Linnaean stretching
Departure @ Korte Groenweg 99 Petit Chemin vert (entrance sports complex)
Tram 10, stop Nelson Mandela

Accessibility
> Lunch in Maison de la creation is wheelchair accessible
> The bike tour has some steep hills
> The walk is mostly on roads, a section is quite steep. Another part is a more narrow dirt track that can be muddy. There is an accessible tramstop nearby.
> We provide child care in the afternoon, walking along the same path, please mail us before 06-01-2026 so we know

Language
> The main language of communication is English.
> Whisper translation to French and Dutch can be organised on the spot.

Full story:
The workshop looks at a multilayered corner of Neder-Over-Heembeek which we have been closely following for the past year under the header of Otherworldly communications.

In the morning we wander around by bike near the canal, touching on key sites of change and friction between humankind and the more than human world. Through past, current and future projections we get a faint feeling of what once was and of what can be. Canals, castles, viaducts, datacentres, the (natural) landscape gets shaped in different ways over time. We can only catch a glimpse of how organisms and particular species perceive and experience that world.
In the afternoon the walk starts at the Sports centre in Neder-over-Heembeek (NOH Mandela stadium). At a slow pace, we focus on ways of helping amphibians migrate without them being present. We travel back in time and highlight key points on the route in which the animals have encountered struggle, unrest and altercations due to decisions made by urban planning. We look at data, counting species and the relationship with infrastructure. Varia gives a cartographer’s twist to the walk as they temporarily change location in their ’Common dirt’ series*, from Rotterdam to Brussels.

Throughout the walk, participants are encouraged to record, observe and consider new ways of looking at the everyday landscapes they encounter. One method explored will be engaging with the app Obsidentify. After a very brief introduction to the classic scientific Linnaean and Latin based methodology of categorising the more-than-human world that is the foundation of the obsidentify platform, participants are then invited to engage critically with the information the application provides. Rather than accepting the identifications and expert responses at face value, they are encouraged to question, reinterpret and play with these classifications. By resisting the ‘expert’ labels generated by the app, participants can begin to reclaim their observations and form a compelling argument against these so-called truths. Though digital by design, participants are welcome to explore these topics together in this informal group setting. No smartphone is required for this workshop.

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Organised by Blise Orr, Yoana Buzova & Niek Hilkmann, Wendy Van Wynsberghe, sos_amfibies_NOH@collectifs.net*
Kindly hosted by Maison de la Creation NOH and GC Nohva

*Bios

Blise Orr’s practice critically breaks through the boundaries of architecture as a discipline and reconsiders how spatial design influences ideologies of ecology in relation to our post-natural environment.
(https://covepark.org/residencies/subsidised-winter-residencies-10/)

Yoana Buzova & Niek Hilkmann animate Common dirt, an ongoing series of events organised by the Varia collective, in which they take a critical look at the interconnections between biology and technology in Rotterdam. Each season, they explore how these two influence each other and how developments in nature and urban policy become entangled during a walk.
(https://varia.zone/en/common-dirt-presentation.html)

Photo by Greet De Gendt