Jaarverslag-Itinera-2015-Pdf

Annual Report 2015 1 2 3 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents Message from the Chairman 6 Message from the CEO 10 About Itinera 14 Publications 18 Itinera News 21 Itinera Analysis 22 Itinera Opinion Series 24 Itinera Bytes 33 Lectures and Presentations 34 Events 46 Press Coverage 52 Television 54 Radio 56 Newspapers and Magazines 58 Online Press coverage 86 The Itinera Institute 122 Board of Directors 124 Staff 125 Figures 128 Contact Information 130 4 5 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Message from the Chairman From its start in 2006, Itinera’s ambitious mission has been to open the minds of the men and women that are engaged in political decision-making. The basic question we had was our concern for a sustainable prosperity for future generations. The families and entrepreneurs that took the initiative to set up Itinera were worried about the focus and performance of Belgian policy-making. We no longer wanted to be observers, we wanted to contribute to better outcomes for the whole Belgian society. Itinera managed to surprise many with a series of remarkable books, publications and events, boasting in-depth analyses and robust recommendations from independent academics with an outstanding reputation in their respective fields. It inspired a great number of entrepreneurs to support its work. Authorities need a flux of creative and evidence-based ideas, in order to tackle the issues they are faced with. And that is exactly what Itinera did: it formulates ideas that are ready for impact. Today, authorities would tend to agree that the country needs entrepreneurial initiative that creates societal value, jobs and prosperity. There is an almost common understanding that wealth distribution needs to rest on wealth creation rather than on sovereign debt, and that our children and grandchildren deserve better than to be the paymasters of our generation. I applaud the determination of the families, entrepreneurs and enterprises that became our financial partners and joined forces with us since 2006. It is the precondition of what Itinera can achieve, and I would like to reiterate our gratitude and recognition for your continuous support. With the project ‘Itinera 2.0’ that we initiated last year, we want to ensure that Itinera is ready to take on the challenges for the next decade. The team defined its new vision and dynamism, and the report on 2015 proves that the decisions the renewed Board took as from 2014 have shown the way forward. We strongly need independent and high-quality expertise with a long term focus, without being hindered by day-to-day hurdles. It inspires all political parties and civil society to take better decisions with regard to large societal domains. We want to continue in that direction. 6 7 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Message from the Chairman As entrepreneurs and families, we know very well that we need to invest if we want to reap the benefit of our ideas and strategies. Therefore, 2016 will not only be the year of Itinera’s 10th anniversary, but also the year in which Itinera wants to ameliorate its financial basis. I warmly welcome the positive reactions we received from many families, entrepreneurs and enterprises to join the founders of the first decade and to support our endeavor. Belgium is confronted with more challenges than ever before. We need to be better prepared for the future if we want to preserve the first class role that Belgium has had locally and internationally ever since the aftermath of the Second World War. More than 11 million fellow citizens, with more diversity and more expectations, deserve that we, entrepreneurs in Belgium, are able to continue and expand our support of Itinera without a direct return for our actual business, but with a better long term-perspective for our children and grandchildren. Bart Verhaeghe Chairman of the Itinera Institute 8 9 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Message from the CEO Last year, you expressed confidence in the plan ‘Itinera 2.0’ that we initiated in 2014. We expressed our willingness to be a dedicated team of fellows, driven by excellence and teamship, and to gain more focus in our work. These are the main drivers of Itinera 2.0, and they underpin our resolve for the next decade. We present the 2015 annual report, on the first year of implementation of the renewed strategy that you endorsed last year, and we thank the members of the Board and all our financial partners for your continuous support. We now exploit the benefits of Itinera House at their full potential, as top decision- makers of various political parties and members of civil society easily find their way to our inner debates, participate in our exchanges of ideas and join us for dialogues on our analyses and recommendations. The team grew smaller in the sense that we now have less permanent fellows, but wider in the sense that we expand our team with ‘visiting fellows’ from different horizons, with a specific emphasis on deepening our expertise and widening our circle of influence in the whole of Belgium. We liaise with academia in North and South, and pay special attention to full national coverage. Our focus is on societal value creation by entrepreneurs as the driver for prosperity, combined with good governance by public authorities, and committed citizenship by all citizens. The need for sustainable value creation is great, and it requires a stable and foreseeable environment that promotes entrepreneurship and accountability. This is not self-evident in a country that is known for its complex structures and decision- making. Itinera is a think- as well as a do-tank: we want to spread the word as well. Therefore, we published four books over the course of the last year, we had an unprecedented number of inner debates, conferences and face-to-face discussions with all of our country’s political protagonists, we addressed large audiences throughout the country, and we found our way to the various media as well. As per our strategy, we use social media not for interventions in day-to-day polemics, but for the promotion of our publications and events. 10 11 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Message from the CEO For the first time, we present a 3-year plan for Itinera, in order to envision and iterate our intentions for the years ahead. With 3 years to go before the next federal elections, and 2 before the next local and regional elections, we want to weigh in on the strategy and governance by all authorities in ‘the Belgian region’. We will feed the electoral debates with substantial roadmaps in 2017 and 2018, for the elections in 2018 and 2019. Itinera has become a recognized and strong brand, and our intention is to be a mature policy institute in Belgium. We inspired a Greek entrepreneur who adopted the Itinera model to start a think tank in Greece, and we are building a European network with comparable think tanks in countries from which we can learn as well. On behalf of all fellows, I would once again like to thank the Board and all our financial partners. Some of you have shown extraordinary confidence in our work, with very important contracts or donations indeed, and I assure you that we will perform in a robust and performant manner, in accordance with your high expectations. We are grateful for the chance that you give us to play this role as independent influencers in the complex Belgian environment on ever more complex issues. As the Chairman said, we do hope that we deserve your confidence for broadening and widening our financial basis, so that your fellows and visiting fellows will be able to continue the effort in the next decade. Leo Neels CEO 12 13 ____________________________________________________________________________________ About the Itinera Institute Mission ‘Novel non-partisan policy pathways’ High quality and independent expertise production house: analysis & policy recommendations with a LT perspective and policy recommendations Pivotal place for societal debate: forum, exchange, sharing, involvement Collaborative model in order to promulgate, enable, activate the use of insights/ recommendations/ pathways 14 ____________________________________________________________________________________ About the Itinera Institute Vision WHO WE ARE “A forum for policy expertise and exchange, funded by entrepreneurs, companies & citizens, who care about long-term values and value creation”: Value creation by companies/inclusive society/committed citizenry VISION “Think-tank for inclusive future prosperity.” MISSION “Quality independent expertise-based recommendations, strategic vision, LT perspective, concrete solutions, open debate, and collaboration.” LT = now + 20 y 15 ____________________________________________________________________________________ About the Itinera Institute Values Committed professionalism Impacting contributions Collaborative dynamism 360° Integrity Modus Operandi : teamship 16 17 Publications 18 19 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Itinera Books 26/01/2015 – Official book launch & press 21/03/2015 – Presentation of the book at the City conference at ‘De Warande’ in Brussels, Hall of Antwerp, followed by a speech of the with an introduction by the Minister of mayor Bart De Wever and the mayor

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