Search results

The Territorial and Socio-Environmental Transformation cluster brings together researchers who seek to understand and support—even stimulate—the transformations that human societies must undertake in the face of major contemporary challenges.

The transformation of our societies is affecting the construction of our lives and life courses. These are traversed by a dual movement of de-standardization and de-institutionalization, leading to a gradual detachment from social roles, but also to a rise in social, cultural and gender uncertainties and inequalities. The "Transitions and Ages of Life" cluster studies the way in which these life courses are recomposed according to new social constraints and normative imperatives. It thus focuses on the fragility of populations at any age of life, and also on the repercussions of political devices and measures on the construction of life courses.This cluster brings together researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds who analyze both the normative transformations affecting life courses and life-age transitions..

The Chair is dedicated to the study of security, from both traditional and critical approaches. Its axis of rotation is the analysis of safety performance - at cultural, organizational and technological levels - and its relationship to social order. Here, safety is approached primarily from a transdisciplinary angle. This localization of safety, at the intersection of several disciplinary influences, directly structures the theoretical and methodological orientations of the studies conducted within the Chair.

Image Democratic Transformations Cluster See content Image Territorial and Environmental Transformations Division See content Image Pole Transitions and Ages of Life See content Image Center for Vulnerabilities and Societies (V&S) See content Image Tocqueville Chair See content

For more than 30 years, the Department of Flexible Scheduling at the Faculty of Economics, Management, Communication, and Political Science (EMCP) at the University of Namur has been helping adults returning to school to acquire new skills. In 2023, the Department launched a brand-new program: a Master's degree specializing in sustainable development management and economics. This one-year program addresses environmental and societal challenges by training professionals to support the ecological and economic transition. 

This is a first in Wallonia! The Citadelle de Dinant now offers an augmented reality tour that plunges visitors right into the heart of its history. At the helm: the French company Histovery, specializing in heritage reconstructions, with scientific support from Axel Tixhon, professor in the History Department at UNamur.

The study of memory phenomena in ancient societies has been a growing field of research since the 1990s, and has been particularly dynamic over the last decade. Awareness of the impact of memory, due to its plasticity, on social and political actors in the ancient world opens up new perspectives for analyzing attested phenomena and events. The conference proposes to study the use of memory and its specific dynamics in the context of political competition, in various spheres and covering a broad chronological framework, from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD, with the aim of encouraging dialogue between respective specialists.Organizers: Simon Lambert (F.R.S.-FNRS Research Fellow), Pierre Assenmaker (Professor, UNamur), and Françoise Van Haeperen (Full Professor, UCLouvain)Information and registration: simon.lambert@unamur.be

Organized by the Children's Rights Unit of the Vulnerabilities & Societies Center. Information and registration

Nathalie Burnay, professor at the EMCP Faculty and researcher at the Transitions Institute, has just been awarded prestigious WELChange funding from the F.R.S-FNRS for her interdisciplinary research project dedicated to extending careers. This is a highly topical social issue, which she is tackling in collaboration with a team of demographers from UCLouvain.

Program 12:45 | Welcome13:00 - 13:10 | Introduction by the Center's Co-Directors: Stéphanie Wattier and Géraldine Mathieu:Combating sexual violence - Legal approaches13:10 - 14:00 | FIRST ROUND TABLE: SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDRENModerator : Nathalie Colette-Basecqz (professor at UNamur)The sexual self-determination of online minors in the light of their vulnerability | Géraldine Mathieu (professor at UNamur), Emma Bourcelet (assistant at UNamur)Child sexual assault allegations and civil accommodation litigation | Michaël Mallien (lecturer at UNamur), Céline Derclaye (assistant at UNamur) and Pauline Mailleux (assistant at UNamur)Sexual violence committed by members of the Church | Stéphanie Wattier (professor at UNamur) and Romain Mertens (lecturer at UNamur)14:05- 14h55 | SECOND ROUND TABLE: SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST OTHER VULNERABLE PERSONSModerator: Stéphanie Wattier (professor at UNamur)La libération de la parole des personnes en situation de handicap victimes de violences sexuelles | Justine Dehon (coordinatrice et chargée de projets pour le service Handicap & Santé)Les violences sexuelles à l'égard des personnes âgées | Albert Evrard (lecturer at the Institut catholique de Toulouse)The administrative approach to sexual violence on higher education campuses from a disciplinary angle | Marc Nihoul (professor at UNamur)Sexual violence committed during the Rwandan genocide: 30 years later, new convictions by the Brussels Assize Court | Elise Delhaise (lecturer at UNamur)Obstetric violence and the question of consent | Charlotte Lambert (assistant at UNamur) and Margaux Thiry (assistant at UNamur)The assessment of physical injury to victims of sexual violence | Pauline Colson (lecturer at UNamur)3:00 pm | Coffee breakcafé15h20 | THIRD ROUND TABLE: COMBATTING SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON THE GROUND TESTIMONIALSModerator: Géraldine Mathieu (professor at UNamur)Introduction to psycho-traumatic mechanisms linked to sexual violence | Gwendoline Faravel (project manager and peer-aidante) et Céline Campanella (psychologue)Présentation de la Lawyers Victim assistance | Pascale Poncin (avocate) 17h10 | Conclusions17h25 | Verre de l'amitiéInfos pratiquesLa demande d'intervention pour les frais des magistrats a été introduite auprès de l'IFJ (en cours).- €95.00 incl. VAT: conference registration with book - Free registration for UNamur students and members I want to register

The lack of primary care is a major public health issue. In 2022, it was estimated that 52 municipalities in French-speaking Belgium were facing a severe shortage of general practitioners. This is a worrying situation that the University Observatory for Rural Medicine (OUMRu) has been addressing since 2023, with the aim of identifying concrete solutions. Working alongside a doctor and a health geographer, Amélie Pierre, a sociologist and lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Management and Communication SciencesPo (EMCP), is studying the factors that influence access to healthcare, particularly from the patients' point of view. She emphasizes the need to take into account the realities experienced by vulnerable groups.

The success of female Cistercian monasticism in the Southern Netherlands in the 13th century - over forty houses in the dioceses of Liège and Cambrai - is a powerful indicator of the aspirations of a society in transformation, enthusiastic about new forms of spirituality and religious life. For all that, the phenomenon remains surprisingly little studied, despite the wealth of archaeological and historical sources. The program Thursday, December 11, 20259:30am: Welcome10:00am: Introduction by the symposium organizing committeeSession 1 - Chair: Marie-Élisabeth Henneau (Université de Liège)10:30am: Alexis Grélois (Université de Rouen-Normandie, GRHis) - L'appartenance des moniales à l'ordre cistercien (XIIe-XIIIe siècle): False debates and real questions11:30am: Coffee break11:45am: Michel Dubuisson (Abbaye de Villers asbl), Patrice Gautier (Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire), Louise Hardenne (Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire) - L'abbaye de La Cambre dans la filiation villersoise12:35pm: Lunch breakSession 2 - Chair: Jeroen Deploige (Universiteit Gent)1:40pm: Marie-Christine Laleman (City of Ghent), Els De Paermentier (Universiteit Gent)- The Byloque Abbey in Ghent: between archaeological memory and archival wealth2:30pm: Pierre-Hugues Tilmant (SPW, AWaP), Marie Verbeek (SPW, AWaP), Sarah Cremer (Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique), Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani (Université de Namur/Archives de l'État à Namur)- Dossier de fondation de l'abbaye Notre-Dame du Vivier: l'archéologie permet-elle lever un coin du voile?3:20pm: Coffee break3:40pm: François De Vriendt (Société des Bollandistes) - Memory and devotion in the female communities of Hainaut and Namurois. What place for local figures and traditions?4:30pm:Robin Moens (FWO/KU Leuven) - (What) spiritual walls? The spirituality of mulieres religiosae enclosed in and outside monastic space17:20: end of first day18:00: verre de l'amitié offered by SPWFriday, December 12, 2025Session 3 - Chair: Geneviève Laurent (SPW, AWaP)9:00: Philippe Mignot (SPW, AWaP) - Clairefontaine Abbey: archaeological data on the origins9:50am: Vincent Debonne (Vlaamse Overheid-Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed), Robin Moens (FWO/KU Leuven)- Sisters a little slower than we thought. The Cistercian abbey of Val-des-Vierges near Oudenaarde10:40am: Coffee break11:00am: visit to the former abbey of Notre-Dame du Vivier, accompanied by AWaP archaeologists12:00pm: lunch breakSession 4 - Chair: Mathieu Piavaux (Université de Namur)1:00 pm: Virginie Boulez (SPW, AWaP), Alain Marchandisse (FNRS/Université de Liège) - La Paix-Dieu 1240-1244. Foundation of a Cistercian abbey under the episcopacy of Robert de Thourotte. Dialogue of historical and archaeological sources13:50: Marie Demelenne (Musée royal de Mariemont), Patrice Gautier (Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire), Jean-François Nieus (FNRS/Université de Namur)- The hermit, the lady and the clerics. Aux origines de l'abbaye de L'Olive (Morlanwelz)2:40pm: coffee break3:00pm: Emmanuel Bodart (Archives de l'État à Namur) - L'abbaye de Félixpré près de Givet. New revelations on its foundation and endowment (1246-1266)3:30pm: Paul Lambrechts (Herita vzw) - Herkenrode Abbey, a millennium of history: how to interpret myths, excavations and sources, and how to incorporate them into a project for the future?4:00 pm: Benoît Rouzeau (Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Trame UR 4284/ LAMOP UMR 858)- General conclusions4:30 pm: end of symposiumProgram in PDF format Organizing committee Aurore Carlier - Société archéologique de NamurPatrice Gautier - Musées royaux d'Art et d'HistoireXavier Hermand - Université de NamurFiona Lebecque - Société archéologique de NamurJean-François Nieus - FNRS/Université de NamurMatthieu Pignot - FNRS/Université de NamurNicolas Ruffini-Ronzani - Université de Namur/Archives de l'ÉtatPierre-Hugues Tilmant - SPW, AWaPMarie Verbeek - SPW, AWaP Practical information The Study Days organizing committee would like to thank the owners of the Abbey Notre-Dame du Vivier for their welcome and for making the premises available.Surrounding these Study Days revolves a multitude of events dedicated to the Abbey Notre-Dame du Vivier de Marche-les-Dames. To find out more, see the program at www.lasan.be I register it