The Royal Museum for Central Africa has been organizing true fly (Diptera) training courses for more than 15 years. Initially, these trainings took place in Tervuren, Belgium with a focus on pest fruit fly species (Tephritidae). In the last decade the trainings took place in Africa and also covered trainings on fly families with an important role in pollination, such as hoverflies (Syrphidae), nose flies (Rhiniidae), and tangle-veined flies (Nemestrinidae).
The Colonial Sources (CoSo) project aims to develop a digital platform as a gateway to archives and knowledge about the shared Belgian, Burundian, Congolese and Rwandan colonial past. The CoSo portal will, for the first time, bring together existing but still fragmented collections and information on the Belgian colonial period. It will also offer educational tools based on often asked questions about Belgian colonialism. The platform targets both researchers and a broad public.
Maarten Couttenier’s latest book, Anthropology and Race in Belgium and Congo (1839-1922), was published by Routledge earlier this year. It examines the history of physical anthropology in Belgium throughout the 19th century and shows how the notion of ‘race’ shaped various forms of European nationalism as well as imperialism in earlier and later Belgian (attempts at) colonization.