A varied City Council on Monday!

A wide range of local issues were discussed at the last City Council meeting.

Etterbeek has committed to join the Panathlon, a program to promote "fair play," which allows very concrete measures to be taken. Through awareness workshops with both male and female athletes, the focus will be on introducing the concepts of justice and fair play in sport.

The City Council also signed a three-year agreement to fund a local traffic safety coordinator. The role of the coordinator will be to support Etterbeek's municipal administration in drawing up, implementing and monitoring a "Municipal Road Safety Action Plan," in accordance with the commitment made by each municipality in the "Regional Road Safety Action Plan 2021-230." Specifically, this regional plan aims to reduce risks by improving the safety of road infrastructure, by focusing on speed control, by better identifying accident risk zones and reducing their impact, by encouraging cautious driving behavior, and by ensuring that vehicles comply with legal requirements. We wish him well in his new position and look forward to reaping the benefits of his work!

Another prerogative of the City Council is to approve the educational plans of the municipal schools, for which the City Council is the organizing authority. On Monday, the Council was presented with the educational plan of the Constantin Meunier Arts and Crafts Academy, an opportunity to update the internal regulations and adapt the educational offer to the expectations of the target audience. This is a more ceremonial point, but we wanted to highlight the existence of these periodic instances to reflect on the improvement of services and the quality of education in institutions under municipal supervision.

We were also delighted by the approval of the renewal of the municipal subsidy for the purchase of washable sanitary napkins. Specifically, this subsidy meant a 50% discount on the purchase of washable sanitary napkins. The initiative, led by alderman Pieterjan Vanden Boer, was so successful that the budget for 2023 was quickly exhausted and it was decided to adjust the premium and increase the budget to maintain access to this support.

Finally, we were pleased to adopt an agreement between the municipality and the association Pro Vélo to organize two pilot sessions for electric bicycles. We all know the benefits of electric bikes: it's extremely fast when moving around town, emissions are virtually zero, and you don't have to worry about traffic jams (and you're actively helping to reduce them) without sweating a drop. Nevertheless, the price remains an obstacle, and it is quite understandable that those hesitant to make the switch from a car to an electric bike would like to have a full test of what their new daily life would be like. That is what this agreement is for: offering 2 2-week trial sessions, with if needed training to learn how to move through the streets of the municipality so that everyone can feel completely safe on the road. If you have any doubts about switching from four wheels to two, don't hesitate to let the municipality know!