Flemish Brabant is set to have a net zero carbon footprint by 2040, according to the provincial authority, citing a study to confirm the plan's technical and social feasibility. Towards this end, the municipal authorities are being called upon to achieve a 20% cut in their CO2 emissions by 2020.

It took the author Stefan Hertmans 30 years before he dared to open the notebooks containing his grandfather’s memoires. Three years later and his grandfather has become a fictional character and the memoires a book.