Big things are happening in EA Belgium!
Our first Leuven event in over a year took place, bringing EA discussions back to this vibrant university city.
You might have noticed we've been more active on Instagram lately, sharing glimpses of our community and events. Follow @eabelgium if you haven't already!
We're also launching something new: the EA Belgium Sprout Initiative! 🌱 Think small, impactful projects that could grow into something bigger. We've got three exciting sprouts ready to go, from tracking Belgium's protein transition to showcasing high-impact careers.
🗓️ And mark your calendars: our third annual Summer Retreat is coming up on 26-28 September. ☀️ (Though we might need to rethink that name by then!) More details to follow.
We have events coming up in Brussels, Ghent, and Leuven. Check out what's happening this month below!
📆 Date: Thursday, May 29
🕒 Time: 19:30
📍 Location: WASBAR, Leuven (could change!)
Join us for a relaxed and interactive meetup in Leuven to shape the future of our local Effective Altruism group! Whether you're new to EA or already involved, this is a chance to meet like-minded people, share ideas, and discuss what you would like to get from the group. Together, we’ll brainstorm goals, activities, and ways the group can support us in doing the most good. Your input will help co-create a vibrant and impactful EA community in Leuven. 🌍✨
📅 Date: Friday, June 6
🕒 Time: 19:00
📍 Location: La Monnaie, Brussels
💶 Cost: €20
This event is not organized by EA Belgium, but by the VUB.
At the request of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Australian bioethicist and philosopher Peter Singer – one of the most influential thinkers of our time – is coming to Brussels. A committed humanist and outspoken atheist, Singer has spent over fifty years reflecting on suffering – what it means, and what we can do about it. Poverty, illness, animal cruelty: he doesn’t shy away from the tough questions. Even when the answers make us uncomfortable.
📅 Date: Tuesday, June 11
📍 Location: Online
🕘 Full-day program – join the parts that interest you most
💶 Cost: €25
(This event is not organized by EA Belgium)
On June 11, philosopher Peter Singer will join forces with The School for Moral Ambition to launch a global movement: Profit for Good.
The idea is simple but powerful: what if businesses structurally used (part of) their profits to solve the world’s biggest and most neglected problems? From extreme poverty to climate change to factory farming. During the online conference, you’ll hear from entrepreneurs who are already doing it. You'll also hear from Peter Singer, Rutger Bregman, and organizations like Founders Pledge and Doneer Effectief, who will share how effective giving can become part of a business model – and how individuals can support this movement from any role. Whether you're a student, a professional, a policy thinker or simply someone who wants to align money with impact – this online conference is for you.
🔗 Register here 👉 https://www.moralambition.org/profit-for-good-conference-live-stream
📆 Date: Tuesday, June 17th
🕒 Time: 19:30
📍 Location: The Sister Brussels Café
Join us for an interactive problem-solving session where we'll help each other work through our biggest challenges and bottlenecks. Whether you're facing a career decision, trying to maximize your impact, or stuck on a personal or professional obstacle, this is your chance to get fresh perspectives and actionable advice.
What to bring: One specific challenge or bottleneck you're facing (career, impact, personal projects, etc.) and an open mind for creative problem-solving.
Perfect for anyone looking to make progress on important decisions or obstacles in their life. All backgrounds and experience levels welcome!
📆 Date: Tuesday, June 17th
🕒 Time: 18:00
📍 Location: Private address near Gravensteen (register to see)
How to Talk About Doing Good (Without Putting People Off)
If you care about making a positive impact - through donations, climate action, ethical lifestyle choices, etc - you’ve probably wrestled with how to talk about it. As philosopher Peter Singer has argued, normalising conversations about doing good can inspire others to reflect and act too.
But we've all experienced the awkwardness that can arise:
The climate-conscious person trying not to lecture colleagues who drive an SUV
The vegetarian who's friends are always apologetic for eating meat
The effective altruist unsure how to share their giving philosophy without seeming self-righteous
In short: how do we discuss doing good with others - without sounding preachy?
📆 Date: Saturday, June 21st
🕒 Time: 14:00
📍 Location: Guingette Maurice
Date might still change depending on the weather!
Join us for a relaxed afternoon picnic in the park, a perfect opportunity to meet like-minded people in a casual, outdoor setting. We'll gather for good food, great conversations, and some fresh air away from our usual indoor meetups.
What to bring: Your own food and drinks, plus a picnic blanket to share the space comfortably.
Want to grab a coffee, play board games, or just chat about EA in a relaxed setting? Our EA Belgium WhatsApp community is the perfect place to suggest casual meetups!
No need for big plans. Just drop a message if you feel like getting together, and see who’s up for it. Whether it’s a spontaneous dinner, a coworking session, or a walk in the park, let’s make it happen!
We’re excited to launch the EA Belgium Sprout Initiative: a new way for motivated volunteers to contribute to impactful work through small, time-bounded projects we’re calling sprouts.
This initiative grew out of our recent event in Brussels, where community members brainstormed dozens of project ideas to help tackle pressing problems. From that list, we’ve selected three especially promising and feasible sprouts to kick off the program.
These sprouts are early-stage experiments: small enough to be done in a few weeks or months by a small team, but with the potential to grow into something much bigger.
We’ve selected three sprouts to kick things off:
Developing protein transition indicators for Belgium : Help track the shift from animal to plant-based proteins in Belgian supermarkets.
Showcasing high-impact careers: Interview professionals and share their stories to inspire students and career-switchers.
Organising wellness workshops: Host workshops that support the wellbeing and motivation of people working on important problems.
Each project has a dedicated WhatsApp group you can join to learn more or contribute, whether you have a few hours to spare or want to dive in deeper.
👉 Check out the full description of the initiative and how to join here.
After more than a year, we hosted our first Leuven event on April 29th! We're thrilled that Leuven is back on the map. The turnout was fantastic, and the discussions were great.
Thanks to one of our volunteers, Tahmid, we have become a lot more active on Instagram! Follow us here 👉 https://www.instagram.com/eabelgium/
We held our quarterly strategy session recently. Over the coming months, we'll be looking at what our strategy is, how we can better attract members, engage more people in effective altruism, and better improve our internal organization.
Research Analyst
The Good Food Institute (Remote)
Various Roles
Eurogroup for Animals (Brussels)
Biotechnology Industry & Engagement Internship
Centre for Future Generations (Brussels)
Director AI Safety
Openchip (Ghent)
Intern in EU and Global Health Policy and Governance
Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels)
Connect with other EAs and join our WhatsApp-community to stay up to date on news, events and opportunities! Want to get involved with Effective Altruism Belgium or have some ideas for new projects? We'd love to hear from you! Especially if you’re not from Brussels and you would like to start events elsewhere. Feedback is always welcome too.
Kind regards,
The EA Belgium team
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