Martina understands that childhood is one of the most important times in our lives. It is our past, which gives us equilibrium as grown-up as we all remember great and happy moments of our childhood. But it is also our future: our education made who we now today.

Understanding this, Martina created Imaginell a green and social toy company which provides play and DIY eco-boxes to children: “My Magic Box,” a treasure box a child’s favorite toys that they build themselves. In this box the children will find a little message from a foreign friend mate: an Indian child who, thanks to the purchase of the treasure box, is receiving a school bag and books to help his or her education. There is also a little book titled “Going to school in India” which illustrates the differences of life here in Europe and that experienced by children growing up in India. The book is provided by a NGO with which Martina cooperates and its purpose is to open the mind of the child to show him or her that life is not always the same everywhere.

Imaginell is an environmentally friendly company as the products have a green life cycle: they are made from cardboard made with recycled paper, with non-toxic colors and without lacquer. Their production is locally based in Germany in order to carbon footprint generated by transportation. This links very well to the Hub’s approach to green business: with low energy floor, organic paint, sustainable tables, bio & fair trade food the Hub goes a long way to reduce its carbon footprint. Imaginell has also a social purpose because it aims to create empathy between young children across the world in order to help them to grow up more tolerant and sensitive to social issues and intercultural environments: this is a huge step for the creation of a better world. As she collaborates with a local Indian NGO Martina embraces the Hub value of sharing experiences and co-working.

Martina is one of the oldest Hub members and here, from the very start of her activity, she found motivation and support. She could launch her product thanks to the Hub members who tested her first prototypes and also gave their opinions about the user’s guide. Isolation can be very dangerous for entrepreneurs who often work alone at home: with the Hub, Martina integrated into a community where she is listened to if she has troubles and in turn can do the listening. Martina has organised conferences at the Hub relating to social entrepreneurship in Belgium, and, in the course of conversations, she often gives strategic advice or help in creating business plans to other members.

Written by Juan Martinez

The current mainstream economic system is based on efficiency and results at any costs: are well being and fulfillment to be sacrificed just in order to be efficient?

Michel is exploring the role of Human in our system and brings alternative solutions in order to be efficient including what he refers to as the human factor. He created a competence platform about Sustainable Human Development in implement this notion in economic sectors in the perspective of creating human added value. One of his creations, among others, is Triple Accounting which allows to financially evaluate Human Capital in order to know which or what value we can generate all together. Through workshops and with his collaborator, Olivier, he manages to inject organisations the notions of well being and personal development as success factors at work, always aiming to change our vision of what working really is.

As Michel tries to implement change and new ways to make business (whilst always considering the human factor), he’s connected to the Hub mission of introducing social change and strengthening its message to the world. In his work Michel injects the notion of co-creation and community, a human and social connection that the Hub is also implementing and encouraging. According to Michel, the Hub is the seed of the tomorrow’s world. He shares the belief that a world will emerge where Hub values play a key role in society.

In the Hub Michel found a space of intermingling cultures, nationalities and professions which is really stimulating and where social relations and sharing moments are stronger than in other more traditional work spaces. In the Hub he found a workspace but also Olivier Chaput his collaborator. One thing he likes in the Hub is to see people evolving and fulfilling their goals, which for him is a real present.

Written by Juan Martinez

Martin is a serial “darer”: indeed, he dared to go on stage and he dared to make this world a better place to be, to transgress the codes and bring a personal view on communication about sustainable development.

Martin launched Théâtre Carbonique a couple of years ago where his aim is to use laughter, improvisation and stage performance to talk about the social and environmental impact of our activities, and all this for everyone’s pleasure. He performs with his company in organisations, fairs and also in neighborhood events. A few examples of the themes he treats are change, food, sustainable agriculture, climate change and also biodiversity. As the practice and tools of theater are very resourceful he decided to uses his skills also in communication in order to provide group facilitation in projects’ processes. Thanks to him and his techniques, a collaborative, creative and friendly conversation is very easy to have.

Beyond its form and content, Martin’s Théâtre Carbonique is a sustainable project. As Martin testifies, so is its communication: his activity is based on local communities instead of targeting a mass audience and thanks to this small and familiar approach groups are able to inter/re-act. All is dematerialized and no resources are used: the only material needed is imagination. It’s a very interesting way to consider sustainable development; as its based on human beings and not material support! Martin considers his vision of sustainable development is linked very closely to the Hub’s one because the human dimension is taken into consideration; they both promote the will and desire to live or work together without jeopardising other beings within the capacity of knowing limits. Moreover Martin is focused on the human being because, according to him, it is him or her who must act.

The Hub is for Martin a physical place where he can settle outside of his home in a comfortable zone that is also a workspace. From a human point of view, the Hub is for him a space for encounters and special occasions. Martin is also Hosting at the Hub; he takes care of the people and the space. Finally he is even our resident actor having been the star of a recent Hub movie where he not only brought his skills in comedy and theater but also his energy and lightness. If you’re having a bad day, this Hubber is sure to cheer you up!

Written by Juan Martinez

Be the change you want to see in the world!

Olivier works with Exposantd.be, a non-profit organization which facilitate the organisation of sustainable events. His work entails guide and advising for the set-up of these sustainable moments and also transition processes (cf Transition Initiatives). Through his work he manages to show people that it is terrific to live differently like to eat good healthy local food, to share transports, reduce waste and make sure they are valorised ; They support these changes that makes you happier.

Olivier also works part-time as collaborator in UHDR UniverseCité (see page13) with another member, Michel De Kemmeter. Here both parties are creating a wonderful work by sowing the seed of human sustainable development in companies and organizations; personal development and wellbeing at work are success factors and, in improving labor conditions, they reduce stress and burnouts!

He feels his activities are connected to Hub values because he thinks that both embody Gandhi’s sentence “be the change you want to see in the world;” the Hub makes it possible for you to change and feel fulfilled. Olivier’s activities aim to give visibility and effectiveness to sustainability and make this realistic with a human touch. He is thankfull to the Hub, for the opportunity it gave to share the Deep Democracy training. It was a nice springboard.

Olivier sees the Hub as a possible source of inspiration because of the amount of encounters you can have just by being in the space. He always loves coming here and has a lot of fun participating in events and talking with new people. When he wants to invite somebody for workwith emergence and creativity, it’s always in the Hub because the Hub emits valuable energy and the place is beautiful. Finally, here at the Hub he met one of his collaborators, Michel de Kemmeter, with whom he’s currently working in UHDR UniverseCité. Olivier considers himself as the “busy good friend” to the Hub; he would like to come more often but always gives visibility to the Hub when he has the opportunity.”

Written by Juan Martinez

Why do Giraffes inspire Stien so much ?

Giraffes have a very particular system. As Stien says, “they have a big heart, a small brain and a very sophisticated pressure-regulation system in between.” Giraffes are one of the most non-violent species on earth: for her they symbolize observation, awareness and comprehension instead of hasty and unnecessary action. Stien helps people in becoming giraffes. She is a facilitator for groups, companies and individuals: she provides them with a safe place where people can be themselves and have meaningful conversations and gatherings. Stien is also a coach and uses what she calls “Human Design” as a tool; she offers a helpful hand to those who are ready for an authentic dialogue with themselves, whilst understanding and transgressing the struggles and convictions of the mind. She offers them a point of view and a language that allows them to understand themselves and others.

Stien believes that, as individuals and groups, we are all cells in the same body: we all have a specific and unique “function” and carry at the same time the blueprint of the whole in us. She helps people to unlock their unique potential. We all have our own set of resources, but often we don’t use it correctly. This is what links her passion to the values of the Hub: according to her sustainable solutions and transition are also needed when it comes to lowering the waste of human resources and potential, in favour of alignment, awareness and true communion.

Stien works a lot at home or on-site, so for her the Hub was not that much about finding a space to work. Nevertheless she confesses that it is cool to have meetings with clients at the Hub or to spend some hours there in between two appointments. The community aspect and the hosts always give her the feeling of coming home whenever she arrives. And as she likes discovering people and finds it very interesting to observe things from different angles, she also appreciates networking events. She did some work for the Hub as a facilitator, hosting meetings, conferences and even a team retreat, and also member Hosts. But most of all, what she brings to the Hub is her belief in people: the Hosts, the members and all of their passions.

Written by Juan Martinez

Linking technology & social impact

For 4 years Laia worked for a Spanish innovation centre, I2BC (The Institute of Innovation for Human Wellbeing), whose objective is to improve quality of life and wellbeing through the innovative use of information and communication technologies. Laia ran European projects which aimed to measure how new information and communication technologies are improving social issues such as social exclusion or disability awareness. Today Laia is launching herself as an independent in order to work for different organisations but always in the field of ICT for inclusion in Europe. She is also still keen to lead studies on the link between technologies and their social impact.

All her projects are collaborative ones and in this way she thinks her activity is linked to Hub values, as the Hub is a co-working space where a lot of social innovators are collaborating. She shares the same philosophy as the Hub about openness, transparency and sharing as her research studies are used for European and social purposes where anyone can access them.

Laia not only found friends in the Hub but also a bunch of people with whom she feels connected. Thanks to the different events organized at the Hub, such as Sexy Salad and Hub Express she had spent some great moments in the space. She likes the diversity there is in the Hub; a lot of Hub members are doing so many different things and in that way they complement each other. Laia is a very engaged member and care-holder who continually contributes her ideas for the Hub’s future; she tries to bring additional visibility to the Hub community and its members by talking about them in the European Commission and with her other European-wide networks.

Written by Juan Martinez

Does everything have a price? Is everything quantifiable by money? For Leander, after pondering these questions, this is where complementary currencies enter the scene.

After completing a Master degree in Neurobiology and another in Philosophy, for which he focused on economics and the writings of A.F. von Hayek, Leander launched himself into a career as an independent consultant in the up-coming field of complementary currencies. After finding like-minded people at Hub Brussels with whom he studied and learned, he started to develop an exchange platform for Hub members, who provided the perfect environment to test this art. And so the xchange Hub was born. What is a complementary currency? Well, it’s an additional currency completing what the main currency (money) can’t measure. It is also put in place when money is not the best way account for our exchanges. The Hubee, one of Leander´s two currencies, allows members to exchange their services without using money. It is a quantitative currency where one Hubee equals one hour of someone’s time no matter what the activity being exchanged – similar to a time bank. The exchanges need not be direct so a member can “bank” his Hubees and choose to spent them on a service from another member at a later date. The second Hub currency, the Huney, is a qualitative currency measuring the community spirit and the engagement of Hub members on a human scale; you can give Huney to somebody because you had a nice time with them or because they brought value and quality to your day and/or your project.

Leander would like to export these kinds of currencies to other similar organisations in order to add value to human sharing. In addition to his Hub project he is also developing research and training tools; giving courses and workshops in help other in applying these new social technologies in their own communities.

According to him, the Hub manages to establish a connection between business, community & friendship and with his currencies Leander helps the Hub in doing this successfully. The Hub tries to bring “something else” to this world in order to make it better: this “something else” is captured his currencies, they provide a way to visualize, measure and manage the social capital created by the Hub and its members.

For him, the Hub is nearly synonymous for Brussels because most of the people he knows here he met through the Hub. Thus it is no surprise that he collaborated with the Hub to create the xchange Hub platform. Another bigger leverage for the Hub´s claim; Another World is Happening as with Hubees and Huneys it is possible to balance the system with something money just can’t measure.

Written by Juan Martinez

Florence is a sailor; she helps you navigate the deep water of your mind and brings you safe and sound back to dry land, feeling better than you were before.

Florence uses her skills in three different types of seafaring; coaching, training and hypnotherapy. With coaching & training she strengthens your professional and personal skills and with hypnotherapy she helps you in correcting the things that cast a shadow over your everyday life. With these tools and practices Florence wants you to feel better in your professional and personal life. Her coaching sessions are mostly for entrepreneurs and managers and focus on management, leadership but also well-being and intercultural issues who want to improve their potential.

When working as a hypnotherapist she uses hypnosis and hypnotic language to solve personal issues such as phobias, addiction but also lack of self-confidence; she reaches the conscious and the unconscious via voice messages and fixes the problem at its source. During business trainings she provides meditation and guided visualization sessions in order to avoid unconscious habits that could be leading you to underperform in a professional environment. For example, is well used to organising trainings in management and leadership with women who are climbing the leadership ladder in order to helps them find their own style. Then, during personal trainings she uses NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) which is globally a way to reprogram our mind and body to avoid bad trends we have developed so that you can change your life for the better. At the end of this process, when she anchors you, you can be sure that your internal waters looks more like a peaceful lake than a rough sea.

After 10 years working in management consultancy she had the impression something was missing in her work environment, an X-factor which is unfortunately forgotten many times today; the human factor. That’s why, today, she concentrates on re-establishing the human factor in personal development. Proposing an alternative way of working, the Hub (which emphasises informal collaboration, cooperation and community) is consequently the right place for Florence.

Florence has recently become a member and so far she admits it is difficult to measure the real impact of her involvement in this community. But one thing is sure; she came to the Hub in order to meet people doing the same kind of work as her or people who could be complementary to her. Hub is a great workspace where she can have contact with people with ways of thinking different from the mainstream. She’d like to bring a little something to the Hub, participating to the Hubble Bubble space in order to provide hypnotherapy sessions for the members so watch this space.

Paul has plenty of ideas and could defiantly be defined by some as a “serial entrepreneur”… but he’s not: Paul is a serial innovator!

From the assessment that people are dependent on a global economy and the capitalist system, Paul, with his collaborator, Pierre, decided to find a solution to this modern slavery condition with “Grow Good;” grow your own garden. With Grow Good Paul wants to sow the seeds of independence in people’s minds; vegetable patches are political protests against industrial agriculture. With your own vegetable garden you produce and consume locally and, above all, you know what you’re eating and how it grew! Grow Good helps people to grow their own garden by offering them a garden in a recycled design-box: no need to have green fingers and to be born in the countryside, Grow Good tells you everything about how to take care of garden.

Paul also started a company with two partners who he met at the Hub (Webbit), Bernardo, a film director, and Natalie, a photographer. Together they are producing promotional films and providing a cinematic approach to film in order to tell your stories in an artistic and beautiful way.

Paul is part of a Flemish organization called “Verkeersplatform Tervuren” dedicated to mobility and transportation issues. It gathers citizen’s feedback about urban life and tries to develop solutions with local authorities in order to create a stronger link between people and politicians in order to improve democracy. He joined this organization out of an interest in sustainable urbanism and because of his conviction that we need to act at a more local level.

Finally, Paul has still a lot of ideas like writing a book and making a movie but these are still “under construction.” He’s about to publish a book on presentation skills and his future book ideas are; 1. a book to help people with their career transition – there’s a tidal wave of untapped potential because most people are afraid to change or don’t know where to start; 2. a book about environmental practices. His film script is about the alternative to industrial agriculture.

Paul’s activity is obviously linked to Hub values because both parties want to make things and create differently in order to introduce change in our mentality. Grow Good is a green company but also has an awareness-raising purpose about how we live. His activities in general aim to make us re-think the way we do things.

Paul not only concretely found in the Hub three of his current business partners but also so many other things from development of a workshop and design concept called “Trash is Cash” (a workshops where participants bring clean trash and then rework it into something functional, new and beautiful), refreshing people who are creative and action oriented, nice Hosts and a great space different from any other. He’s a very engaged community member and the Hub would not be the same without him and his enthusiasm for our community.

Written by Juan Martinez