TITLE OF THE PUBLICATION
“Living in Belgium”, guide for people who arrive in Brussels and Wallonia
SURNAME AND NAME OF AUTHOR(S)
Jonathan Willems, Agence Alter
PUBLISHER
Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Wallonia, Commission communautaire française de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.
PLACE AND DATE OF PUBLICATION
Brussels – January 2014
LANGUAGE OF THE DOCUMENT
French, Spanish, Turkish, English
LANGUAGE OF THE REVIEW
English
THEMATIC AREA
Integration of immigrants students
DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS
The guide “Living in Belgium” is addressed to foreigners and people from out of Europe who arrive in French-speaking Belgium (Brussels and Wallonia).
It aims to help them in their first steps and provide them basic information on how Belgian society works.
In concrete, this, 76 page guide gathers useful informations and necessary first steps upon arriving in the country. It also includes advice and links to places where to find help and information.
It is organised in ten chapters corresponding to the needs encountered upon arriving in the country: accommodation, healthcare, employment, education ….
The chapter dedicated to education explains how school works in Belgium. Immigrant families will find basic information on compulsory school, the organisation of education, education networks, costs, possible supports in case of difficulties at school …
COMMENTS ON THIS PUBLICATION
This tool contains key information for newly-arrived people.
It is concrete and practical: user’s guide, different colours for each chapter to help location, illustrations, pictograms and boxed text to find one’s way and highlight the important information. Words and terms that are a bit complex are written in mauve and explained in the glossary of the same colour at the end of the document. The content is simple. It is written in the form of answers to questions newly-arrive people ask themselves.
This tool is perfectly adapted to immigrant families, many of which are not used reading and writing.
This guide does not mean to be exhaustive. At the end of the document, it directs to a large number of resource bodies at the local level and to different information and support places for newly-arrived people.
The guide is available for on the website “Vivre en Belgique”. It is translated in six languages (Arabic, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Turkish).
WHERE TO FIND IT
Website “Vivre en Belgique”: www.belgique-infos.be
Name of Compiler
Martine Prignon
Name of Institution
AEDE-EL
Role in the institution
Counsellor
