The five-year Ernest-John Solvay Prize, one of the FNRS's most prestigious honors, was awarded this November 24, 2025 to Jean-Marie Baland, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Namur since 1991. The prize, awarded every five years, recognizes researchers whose work has marked their discipline by its originality and impact.

"Jean-Marie Baland combines theoretical rigor with field studies conducted in countries such as India, Nepal, Kenya and Chile. His research tackles key issues such as economic development, poverty reduction and environmental protection," emphasizes the FNRS jury.

As a specialist in less developed countries, Jean-Marie Baland has devoted his work to the analysis of informal institutions, a subject for which he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2009. His research also explores the determinants of deforestation, the consequences of poverty, and more recently, the causes of infant mortality in South Asia, or domestic violence.

What's always motivated him?

"The desire to understand the world. My motivation in my research has always been to produce knowledge before wanting it to have a societal impact. The usefulness of research is of course important, but personally it's not what drives me forward. Of course, the results of my research are regularly used to shape public policy, for example. But that's not an end in itself for my work as a researcher ", he stresses.

Jean-Marie Baland's academic career has been studded with prestigious distinctions: Chaire Francqui (2008), Distinguished Fellow Award at Harvard (2007), member of the Academia Europaea (2012)... So many accolades that testify to his scientific influence.

But one of his proudest achievements is the creation of UNamur's Center for Research in Development Economics (CRED), founded with Professor Jean-Philippe Platteau. Jean-Marie Baland is a member of the Centre de recherchéche en économie du développement (CRED). A center now internationally recognized for its expertise in development economics, applied microeconomics and environmental economics, contributing to research with a strong societal impact. "The CRED today includes five academics and some fifteen researchers," says Jean-Marie Baland. The economist is also one of the founders of the Master of Specialization in Development Economics .

To the generation of future economists, Jean-Marie Baland addresses this wish:

"Interested in fields that make sense to you! And work as part of a team, even with people who think differently from you. For me, this experience of human interaction has been a very rich experience," he concludes.

These prestigious prizes, awarded every five years by the FNRS, were presented this November 24, 2025 by King Philippe to one researcher and five researchers from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. They confirm the international recognition and crown the exceptional careers of these scientists, in all disciplines. The Excellentieprijzen of the FWO, Flanders' equivalent of the FNRS, were also awarded on November 24 by His Majesty the King. At the ceremony, Véronique Halloin, Secretary General of the FNRS, congratulated the winners, thanking the 42 members of the international juries, as well as the sponsors who make these awards possible. She also spoke of "essential issues for scientific research and society as a whole", insisting on the need "to maintain the level of funding for fundamental research, to keep its full place for strategic research but also for the human and social sciences."

The findings are nuanced: "Unsurprisingly, today's elected representatives are very much rooted in an electoral and representative logic. Many are wary of citizens' ability to get involved beyond electoral processes. Obviously, there are differences between elected representatives and political parties. To simplify, we can say that the further left a party is and the younger its elected representatives are, the more open they will be to extra-electoral mechanisms", explains Vincent Jacquet.

So, the question is whether those in power are really integrating these citizen processes into their political decisions. "In politics, things change slowly. So it's not surprising that we're not seeing major reforms in the short term. But that doesn't mean the results aren't taken into account," nuances the political scientist. In some cases, the recommendations of citizens' assemblies feed into public policy. In others, they go unheeded. He points out, however, that the lack of impact has less to do with a desire for manipulation on the part of elected officials, than with the fact that participation is thought of alongside decision-making circuits.

To strengthen their impact, three levers are identified by the researcher:

• Inscribe assemblies over time to feed public action over the long term.
• Define upstream the timetable and the way in which decisions will be made in relation to citizens' recommendations.
• Guarantee support for the recommendations by politics or civil society.

The Irish example is often cited. Citizens' assemblies paved the way for referendums on marriage for all and abortion. "It was the interaction between the deliberations of an assembly drawn by lot, social mobilization and the organization of a referendum that enabled these reforms to be carried through."

A reminder that these devices do not replace representative democracy, but can enrich it, provided they do not remain at the symbolic stage.

The Digital Sessions are an initiative launched by the NaDI, the digital research institute at UNamur. The latter brings together researchers from the Faculties of law, informatics and EMCP.

To stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration, NaDI has launched a call for projects. One of the selected projects? Les Séances du Numérique, an original format in which fiction becomes the starting point for debate. Each meeting begins with a film screening, followed by an interdisciplinary conference on a digital-related social issue.

The ambition of these sessions is simple: to educate about digital issues through fiction, and to confront a variety of viewpoints.

This format extends the experience of the podcast Pop-Code already hosted by Anthony Simonofski and Benoît Vanderose, but with an added dimension: interdisciplinarity and direct exchange with the audience. After the film, everyone can question the experts and enrich the reflection.

Digital technology will be at the heart of future screenings, with a dynamic that is both collaborative and rooted in current affairs:

1. Fostering collaboration between several NaDI centers to bring disciplines into dialogue (as was the case at the first session with CRIDS and PReCISE).
2. Bouncing off themes linked to current events to guarantee the relevance of exchanges.

Four sessions will be offered per year, open to all, with one priority: reaching out to citizens. The films are there to give the event a cultural and scientific outreach.

Eventually, the team would like to diversify its formats: screenings in cinemas like Caméo, broadcasting series, even playconferences where we play a video game during the debate. The idea: to use fiction in all its forms to kick-start discussion.

• Fanny Barnabé, lecturer at CRIDS / NaDI
• Anne-Sophie Collard, professor at the EMCP Faculty
• Anthony Simonofski, professor at the EMCP Faculty
• Benoît Vanderose, professor at the Computer Science Faculty

In collaboration with the Knowledge Confluence and the Administration de la communication

Democracy is by no means a fixed concept. It is the subject of debate, especially today. Louis Carré, Director of the Department of Philosophy and member of the Espace philosophique de Namur (Institut ESPHIN), proposes a three-dimensional definition: a political regime, a state of law and a way of forming society.

"Etymologically, democracy is a political regime that consists in giving power to the people," he reminds us. "Our Western democracies today are based on the idea that the people are sovereign, without governing directly. From this arises a tension between ideal democracy and real democracy."Vincent Jacquet, professor in the Department of Social, Political and Communication Sciences and president of the Transitions Institute supports the point: "Democracy is an ideal of citizen self-government, but it is in tension with more centralizing, authoritarian logics. [...] Our political systems are crisscrossed by these different tensions, with both authoritarian logics increasingly present, including in our own country, and logics of participation that are sometimes accompanied by a great deal of hope and disappointment too."

The second pillar according to Louis Carré: the rule of law. Democracy guarantees the fundamental rights of all citizens through the constitution. But here again, beware of paradoxes: "One could indeed imagine laws passed by a majority of representatives or by a referendum, but which contravene fundamental rights" the philosopher stresses. Democracy cannot therefore be summed up by the majority principle alone.

Finally, democracy is also a way of forming society. It is based on real pluralism: diversity of opinions, beliefs and values. "This presupposes the existence of a relatively autonomous public space in the face of the power in place, which at times challenges the decisions taken by the governments that have been elected,"insists Louis Carré.

In this context, what is the university's responsibility? Louis Carré begins by reminding us of a simple fact: a large proportion of our elected representatives have passed through university benches. But its teaching mission doesn't stop there. "It's about training enlightened citizens, not just rulers. Universities must offer quality higher education, open to as many people as possible", he asserts.

"Democracy does indeed presuppose citizens capable of debating, reflecting, problematizing issues", adds Sephora Boucenna, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Training Sciences and member of UNamur's Institut de Recherches en Didactiques et Éducation (IRDENA). It's all about training reflective minds, capable of questioning their times.

Universities also train those who, tomorrow, will educate future generations: teachers. And here again, democracy is at stake.

In addition to teaching, universities also have a research and social service mission. It produces knowledge that can enlighten public policy, but also question it. This critical function presupposes real independence from politics. "To analyze democratic mechanisms with lucidity, including those that governments put in place, the university must retain its freedom of research and speech," insists Vincent Jacquet.

This critical function of the university presupposes strong independence. In Belgium, however, university funding is largely a matter for the political authorities. "Celane must not mean being placed under tutelage", warns Louis Carré. "Conducting critical research that doesn't satisfy short-term sponsors requires independence, including in terms of resources. We need a large number of researchers who can analyze different types of dynamics. The more we cut research funding, as is the case today, the fewer researchers we'll have and therefore the less capacity for independent analysis and diversity of perspectives, insists Vincent Jacquet.

The "Université en colère" movement, recently launched within the universities of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, intends to denounce the effects of definancement. Its representatives are calling for "guarantee the conditions for the development of an open, independent, quality university accessible to the greatest number. Faced with the social, economic and political challenges of our time, and because other choices for society, and therefore budgets, are possible, it is more essential than ever to strengthen the institutions and players at the heart of knowledge production."

Democracy is therefore not limited to elections or institutions. It is based on collective vigilance, carried by citizens, knowledge... and the places where this knowledge is built. In this respect, universities are an essential link in the chain of democratic vitality. Provided it remains independent, accessible and open to society.

"Democracy is not just a matter of institutions. It's about citizens who bring it to life and organize themselves to assert their perspectives at different times", insists Vincent Jacquet. A clear invitation not to remain a spectator, but to participate, with lucidity and exigency, in the construction of a common democratic future.