Videos

Away with bare boxwood bushes! The infamous boxwood moth went on a rampage in Flanders in recent years 🐛🌳 But don't panic! Meet Japanese holly, a robust alternative that is immune to these voracious caterpillars. The catch? The soil in many Flemish gardens is not acidic enough for this shrub to grow well. Bioengineer Esther Geukens will therefore tinker with the plants and the soil so that Japanese holly can thrive here.

In 2021, a major water bomb fell in Wallonia, and in recent summers we have constantly struggled with heat waves and periods of drought. But did you know that our gardens can help protect us from the effects of climate change? Valerie Dewaelheyns sheds some light on how to turn your garden into a climate garden, which will help protect you from the effects of climate change.

We are facing a little green problem: the southern green stink bug, an insect from Ethiopia, is on the rise in our country. And that's bad news for our vegetable growers. Fortunately, Margot Geerinck is working on a solution. The protagonists: ichneumon wasps & fungi!

Milk is a source of many delicacies, such as cheese and ice cream. Unfortunately, milk also has a smell to it... Cows produce ammonia and methane through their breath and manure. These harmful gases are mainly released when cows are in their stables. In his Ph.D., Kobe Coorevits is looking for a way to accurately and affordably monitor the emission of these gases in dairy barns.

Less than 10%... That's how much of all the plastic is recycled today. The rest is incinerated or ends up in landfills or -worse- in our oceans... The problem is that with current recycling methods, the quality of the plastic decreases with each recycling cycle. So is there no method to recycle plastic repeatedly without losing quality? There is: chemical recycling, aka the 'reincarnation' of plastic. Annelore Aerts (VITO) explains how that works.

What if we could give mining waste a second life? Mining produces a lot of waste, so-called mine tailings. These tailings still contain some leftover valuable metals, Nor Kamariah is researching new approaches to extract these remaining metals from the mining waste, while cleaning these tailings all at once. These clean tailings can then be recycled as construction materials. 

Did you know that the sea can penetrate our lands and water resources unnoticed? Today, we find that saltwater in our polders, up to several kilometers inland. This salt water can make agricultural land and water supplies unusable. To find out exactly how far inland and how deep the saltwater problem reaches, Wouter Deleersnyder and his colleagues use a helicopter, a giant metal detector, and their knowledge of physics & geology. How all of this works, is explained by Wouter in this video.

Saving good microbes from starvation. That is the aim of the research carried out by Marina Perdigao Elisiario (VITO - TU Delft). This is necessary because the microbes she works with can help us in the fight against climate change. They are very good at converting greenhouse gases such as CO2 and carbon monoxide into biofuels. Unfortunately, with the current techniques, they die of starvation too often and too quickly. Marina is working on a new technique to overcome this.

Flanders is a water-scarce region. We must therefore handle our water resources carefully and monitor their quality well. That is why researchers such as Ruth Vandeputte (VITO) are building the 'Internet of Water', a network of sensors that will continuously measure water quality in the whole of Flanders from 2023 onwards and transmit it in real time. Ruth tells you more about it.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could use a sponge to suck carbon dioxide out of the air and help stop global warming? That's what Yoran De Vos (VITO) is hoping to achieve. But his sponge is nothing like an ordinary kitchen sponge.

Insects and fruit, it doesn't seem like a very successful combination. And yet, insect breeders and their 'critters' can help strawberry farmers to grow more and healthier strawberries. Lise Soetemans (VITO) explains how.

Our poo and pee are too precious to waste, says Angelou Papangelou. The phosphorus in our excrement and in animal manure can serve as the food of our food and shouldn't go to waste. That's why Anastasia Papangelou is mapping the nutrient stocks and flows in the country, so that we can put our poo and pee to good use!