Brussels neighbours party against anonymity in the city

actie! (8) BRUSSELS NEIGHBOURS PARTY AGAINST ANONYMITY IN THE CITY BARBARA DEBUSSCHERE Next Tuesday, Brussels will not host neighbourhood parties but neighbour parties, under the heading 'Feest in het gebouw'. "Neighbours in the big city barely know each other. Everyone lives their own life and people are becoming ever more distant," says organiser Carl De Moncharline. With his project he wants to give people "a reason to really meet each other for once". Through 100,000 boomerang cards, posters and a website, and thanks to the support of the city and sponsors, De Moncharline has called on as many Brussels residents as possible to take off their blinkers on 27 May and get to know their neighbours better at a party. A Parisian success story is thus introduced in the capital. De Moncharline: "That success story did not begin so cheerfully. In 1999 an elderly lady died in a Paris apartment block and was only found after three months. The neighbours did not know each other there and so nobody had missed that lady. Since then one of the residents has organised neighbour parties every year, on 27 May. Everyone in the city is invited to celebrate with their neighbours." In France, neighbours from 126 towns already take part in the initiative, and in cities such as Oslo and Athens people will also raise a glass to their neighbours next week. "Brussels had to be part of it this time," says De Moncharline. He also brought the hugely popular roller parades from Paris to Brussels. "This kind of initiative is certainly needed, on top of neighbourhood parties and bals populaires or other events organised by the city or the district. For 'Feest in het gebouw' the ball is in the people's own court. That terrible event in Paris is a symbol of what is happening in all large cities. I am not saying that there is no contact anywhere between neighbours — I even know neighbours who ended up marrying each other — but generally speaking we live in a paradoxical period. Thanks to multimedia it has become easier to communicate from one continent to another than to have a chat with the neighbours. That dynamic has often disappeared and the hurried big-city dweller often prefers virtual contact to real contact with the neighbours. I even think that people, in their street or apartment block at least, effectively become shyer as a result. After work everyone withdraws and the next day there is again no time, and sometimes no nerve, for more than a quick nod in the corridor," says De Moncharline. By organising a specific action on a specific date you best encourage people to visit one another, according to De Moncharline. "Many people know that they are wrapping themselves more and more in anonymity and that this is not good, but usually you need a nudge to actually do something about it together. With 'Feest in het gebouw' I want to give a kind of vitamin shot to solidarity among neighbours," says De Moncharline. 'This is meant as a vitamin shot for solidarity between people' The positive and very numerous reactions already show that the French success will probably catch on here too. "At least 5,000 people are taking part, and that is only counting the reactions by email," says De Moncharline. In Ixelles an entire street will be closed off and residents will sit down to eat, each with their house number pinned on; in Boitsfort barbecues are organised under the garage doors, and there are also many Brussels residents who will simply honour the original idea and invite their neighbours over. Next year De Moncharline hopes to organise the action at national level. (BDB) Info: www.feestinhetgebouw.be