We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
Brussels Inspiration Bureau
Social Links
Instagram 56K Followers
Facebook 57K Followers
Twitter 10K Followers
  • Our Story
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Contact
56K
57K
10K
We Love Brussels
We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
  • Community news
  • Building the platform
  • Community of city admirers
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Get in Touch
Become our contributor. Join the team!

Sign up for our newsletter

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

  • brussels bloggers
  • community
  • culture & creativity
  • local makers & shakers

BrusselBlogt: Meet the Dutch-speaking bloggers in Brussels

  • Boro Milovic
  • July 4, 2018
  • 3 minute read
We sat down with Tom Van Bogaert, one of the curators of BrusselBlogt, a Dutch-speaking Brussels blog platform. He told us more about this initiative and how it contributes to the sparkling Brussels blogosphere. 

1. Can you tell us a bit more about BrusselBlogt, when did it start and how many people are involved in it?

BrusselBlogt started in 2006 as a platform for Dutch-speaking bloggers in Brussels. The founder was photographer Peter Forret, who was inspired by an online initiative in Ghent: Gent Blogt. He gathered other enthusiastic writers and after several meetings at the bar and a lot of drinks, the blog began. Amazing that it still exists after so many years! Our colleagues of Gent Blogt stopped in 2015.

Of course, as time goes some people left and others joined us. I got in touch with the blog when I moved from Berlin to Brussels in 2007. Now I am one of the authors and I take care of the coordination and the final editing of the articles. We are a team of five to ten regular bloggers and we also publish a lot of guest contributions. Bloggers are free to choose their subjects as long as there is a link with Brussels. Residents and visitors can share their experiences and discoveries with each other. We are not a real news site. We prefer a more personal approach: opinions, reflections, reviews. Every week we choose the best pictures from Brussels. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Our main language remains Dutch, but especially on social media we have also followers who speak other languages. BrusselBlogt can be a good help to learn some Dutch, actually.

2. Your blog shares stories about city life, culture, interesting shops & restaurants but also critical notes about things that should be improved. Do you feel that bloggers are in a way also activists and contribute to the struggle for the better city?

Our point of view is that we relate with Brussels. We love the city and want to show that. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t criticize the city, on the contrary. Brussels can do better and we support improvements. We had blog posts about the difficulties of cyclists in Brussels, rubbish on the streets and the complexity of the political institutions.  Recently we shared the campaign of concerned parents fighting for a better air quality in schools.

It’s our small contribution to a better quality of life in our beloved city.

3. You are dominantly a Dutch-speaking blog site but you often interview other (English an French speaking) bloggers. Do you feel that, just like in real life, there are also ‘bubbles’ in the Brussels blogosphere and is there any way we could improve that situation?

Brussels is a super-diverse society with a lot of nationalities, cultures and languages. It is a real richness of the city. It’s true that we live in different bubbles and  we don’t interact enough with each other. Now, you can’t blame anyone for hanging around with other people who share the same language, interests, values. The blogosphere reflects real life. But it is very important to have an open spirit and to discover other communities and areas in Brussels. Collaborations between different blogs can help to to gather Brussels citizens with another background.

4. What are some of your favorite blogs in Brussels and if there should be one new blog/blogger (that currently does not exist) in our city – what should it be about? 🙂

I would suggest Bruzz. Okay, it is more like a news medium, supported by Flemish Community, and I am not fully objective, because I work as a freelance journalist for the magazine. But I think that they do a lot of efforts to bring great content in English and French. For example written interview and reviews, videos and radio shows. You can even receive the print magazine for free in your mailbox.

I like the variety of the Brussels blogosphere. Bloggers share their best addresses for art, music, food and fashion, tell you about their experiences , or just show ‘window cats’. I made a selection on http://www.brusselblogt.be/rubriek/special/blog-bxl.

What do I miss? Perhaps a humoristic view on Brussels, with satire, caricatures and funny videos. But I do like Belgian Solutions! 🙂

Total
2
Shares
Like 2
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Like 0
Share 0
Boro Milovic

Boro is the founder and editor-in-chief of WeLoveBrussels. His interests revolve around EU affairs, cultural diplomacy & place branding, digital strategy and entrepreneurship. He is a passionate supporter of cities, regions & united Europe.

You May Also Like
View Post
  • culture & creativity

Encounters in Flagey: Higgi and the young choristes of Flagey Academy

  • Editorial Team
  • January 31, 2023
View Post
  • culture & creativity
  • Events diary
  • fashion city

Art Nouveau in the Spotlight of the 68th BRAFA Art Fair

  • Dorka Demeter
  • January 29, 2023
View Post
  • culture & creativity

Constantin Meunier, founding beauty in darkness

  • Laurent Glorieux
  • January 28, 2023
Brussels Inspiration Bureau

Exploring the best of Brussels since 2014.

Discover more!
Our columnists & bloggers:
Aleksandra Rowicka
Addicted to cultural life of Brussels, fashion photography and dark…
Aris Setya
Indonesian living in Brussels. Passionate about photography. Love…
Boro Milovic
Boro is the founder and editor-in-chief of WeLoveBrussels. His interests…
Dorka Demeter
Dorka is a Hungarian expat living in Brussels for 10 years. Admirer of…
Emilia Valbum
Expat from Copenhagen living in Brussels. EU + global politics nerd on…
Fadi Dalati
A urologist by profession, and a photographer by passion. I try to…
Julia Zelle
Half-Italian, half-German girl who has just moved to Bruxelles.…
Karolina
Karolina is a blogger sharing stories on European cities, local…
kateinbrussels
I am Kate. I've lived in Brussels for 16 years and am still discovering…
Meredith @ellesbxl
Meredith Geldof is a Flemish girl who moved to Brussels and enjoys…
Tireless_Traveler
Nath is born and raised in Brussels but with a serious case of…
Download our free guide!
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Missed our printed edition?
Press Club Brussels Europe
As seen in
25 most popular instagram accounts in Belgium

Views & opinions expressed across this website are solely that of the authors and contributors themselves and may not reflect the position of WeLoveBrussels. The editorial or publisher of WeLoveBrussels cannot be held responsible for expressed opinions or unintended errors and oversights if any.

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

Instagram 56K Followers
Facebook 57K Followers
Twitter 10K Followers
WeLoveBrussels
  • Our story & more
  • Get in Touch
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal notice
Brussels Inspiration Bureau. Your guide to city life, culture, business, travel, Brussels events agenda & cultural diplomacy.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT