Key information

Key contact details coming soon

Travel Update regarding the Belgian Strike: Week of 9–12 March

Dear Civitates Forum Participants, we wanted to keep you informed about industrial action in Belgium next week that may affect your journey.

Rail travel (Mon 9 – Wed 11 March)
Train services across Belgium (SNCB/NMBS) are expected to be significantly reduced from Sunday evening (8 March, 22:00) through Wednesday evening (11 March, 22:00). If you are travelling by train on 9 or 11 March, please download the SNCB app and monitor your train in real time throughout your journey, as services may change at short notice.

Flights (Thursday 12 March)
Brussels Airport and Charleroi Airport are expected to experience major disruptions on 12 March. The Civitates Team has already been in direct contact with all grantees whose flights are affected, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

We are keeping a close eye on developments, particularly around the rail strike on 11 March, and will be in touch should anything change that requires your attention.

Travel

By Air:
Bruges has 3 major airports: Brussels International Airport, Brussels South Charleroi Airport, and Ostend–Bruges International Airport (OST).

From Ostend–Bruges International Airport:
The closest airport to the city centre is Ostend–Bruges International Airport, which is located just 25 km (16 mi) from the city center. The airport offers a quick and easy route to Bruges

From Brussels International airport:
To get to Bruges by train from Brussels Airport, you must take a train from the airport station to either Bruxelles-Midi (or Bruxelles-Central) and then transfer to another train heading to Bruges. The entire journey takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

From Brussels South Charleroi airport:
To get to Bruges from Brussels South Charleroi airport you can get a bus to Brussels to Brussels Midi, then transfer to another train heading to Bruges. The entire journey takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

The most efficient public transport option is to take a Flibco bus directly to Bruges, which takes about 2 hours. Buses depart every two hours from the airport.

By train from Brussels city:
The average journey time from Brussels Central to Bruges (Brugge) by train is 1 hour 7 minutes, although on the fastest services it can take just 1 hour. Direct trains are usually available every day on the route to Bruges (Brugge)

PLEASE NOTE: cost of travel (for grantees) will be reimbursed by Civitates.

Venue & hotels

Conference venue

Concertgebouw Brugge
’t Zand 34, 8000 Bruges
Belgium

Hotel for grantee partners

GRAND HOTEL CASSELBERGH
Hoogstraat 6, 8000 Brugge
BELGIUM

Hotels for foundation partners

Le Bois de Bruges****
NH Brugge****
Hotel Portinari****
Radisson Blu Brugge****
Dukes’ Academie****
Novotel Brugge Centrum****
Grand Hotel Casselbergh****
Hotel Navarra****
Boutique Hotel Sablon****
Hotel Dukes’ Palace*****+
Hotel De Tuilerieën*****

Code of conduct

1. The Civitates team is committed to adopting the following behaviours when interacting with its partners:

Respect & mindfulness: we strive to respect the boundaries between the work of funders and your work as an organisation. If, at any point, you feel that we are overstepping these boundaries, we encourage you to reach out to us. We value open dialogue, welcome constructive criticism, and are committed to learning and improving in our role as funders.

Professionalism: our behaviour as a funder is rooted in integrity, transparency, mutual respect, and a deep commitment to effectively and ethically supporting our partners.

Active listening & Open-minded & Understanding: we seek to engage with partners in a thoughtful, respectful and empathetic way to understand their needs, challenges and perspectives.

Trustworthiness: we seek to begin every partnership with foundation of trust, believing in the integrity, expertise and commitment of our partners

2. Civitates asks its partners to commit to these behaviours to foster a respectful and effective collaboration while maintaining autonomy and integrity.

Regular attendance: active participation at meetings, workshops, and check0ins are crucial for partners to fully benefit from the opportunities, learning and support provided.

Open-minded & Respectful: partners are encouraged to listen to one another and engage with respect. We expect partners to demonstrate open0mindedness and respectful behaviour towards others.

Privacy and Chatham House Rules: please note that this Forum operates on Chatham House Rules to encourage open and honest discussion. In practice, this means participants are free to use the information shared during the event, but they must not reveal the identity or affiliation of the speaker(s), participants(s), or attribute specific comments to individuals. This rule fosters a safe space for candid dialogue while protecting the privacy of all.

3. Behaviours not tolerated at Civitates

Sexist or misogynist behaviours and comments
Verbal, physical, sexual harassment and assault
Racist comments and behaviours
Homophobic and transphobic comments and behaviours
Ableist comments and behaviours
Other from of hate speech and harassment

4. Procedure

If you or someone you know feels at risk, please refer to the Civitates Forum website guidelines on how to report a concern.

You can also contact us at: +32 491 14 57 35 or forum@civitates-eu.org

How to report a concern

If you encounter any safeguarding risk during the Civitates Forum event, we encourage you to first seek your point of contact at the event which are the three meeting facilitators: Katalin Bartos, Oswald Konig Tafur and Tamas Hovanyecz. If you would feel more comfortable doing so, or if the issue involves one of the first points of contact, you can contact this number +32 491 14 57 35 by call or text.

They will then bring the issue to Civitates staff safeguarding point of contact, who will make the time to listen to your complaint in a safe and quiet space, making sure to respect your confidentiality and take the issue with the seriousness it calls for.

While we encourage you to first seek resolution with Civitates staff, if you feel the grievance is of a serious or sensitive nature, we work with an external Whistleblower service to whom formal complaints can be submitted. AAB People is a third party independent company who provides different avenues for exposing unethical behaviour and other forms of wrongdoing or malpractice.

Reporting can be done in three ways:

Call AAB People on its global telephone line +44 122 437 9303
Use the AAB People online reporting tool.
Email AAB People at report@seehearspeakup.co.uk

AAB People operates globally and has interpreting services available for non-English speaking callers. The global telephone line is operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.