Sébastien Brunet : the power of imagination

The worst is never certain, and the best is always to be built. In an era at a crossroads, political science professor Sébastien Brunet tries to convince citizens and politicians to embark together on an exercise in imagination, and thus sow the seeds of the future we all find desirable.

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It was in the former basin of the Cité Miroir in Liège, now "a place of memory where the past comes back to us to nourish and build tomorrow", that Sébastien Brunet tried to sketch out not the future, but the means to achieve the one we want. His foresight work is carried out both at the University of Liège, as a specialist in crisis management and emergency planning, and atIWEPS, the Institut Wallon de l'Évaluation, de la Prospective et de la Statistique , of which he is General Administrator. of all the possible futures, some are of course already inevitable," notes the political scientist. Others, on the other hand, are uncertain, and still others have yet to be completely constructed. To make them happen, it's crucial to reinvest our creative capacity, in an age that often tends to believe that everything is already mapped out. But not everything is decided in advance! These futures are out there, still accessible!

And it's to help them take shape that Sébastien Brunet is keen to enable our democratic systems to extricate themselves from the present. the challenges of the ecological transition must lead us to think in terms of the long term," says Brunet. But we live in an age that is subject to the tyranny of the present. Political decisions have a great deal of difficulty escaping from this short-term vision dictated, in particular, by the electoral agenda. "

People power

The political scientist therefore advocates more frequent recourse to citizens' assemblies, time-spaces where we can extricate ourselves from this pressure of the immediate. when conducted with authenticity, these assemblies are particularly fruitful," he explains, " because you come across a collective intelligence and expertise that you don't see elsewhere. Far from the politicians and university professors usually involved in decision-making processes, we come across experts in use, i.e. citizens who know the world in a different way. And when we get them to interact, some wonderful proposals emerge! These assemblies really have a lot to teach our democracies," he continues.

They are also an invaluable tool for putting the human back into a democracy that is often perceived as being driven solely by technical and economic issues, far removed from everyday concerns. there's a great sense of powerlessness among the population in the face of today's challenges, and people are turning away from politics," explains Sébastien Brunet. And it's obviously at this time of the year that we need it most! We therefore need to reconnect the two, both externally, by multiplying mobilizations and demonstrations, and internally, by renewing the political world. "

According to Sébastien Brunet, there are very simple tools for this, such as limiting the maximum number of mandates a person can hold over time. instead of making a profession out of it, we should allow those who wish to do so to enter politics for a period of their lives, but also to leave it, by returning to their civilian activities," he explains. This would make it possible to mix experiences, welcome different expertise, and also limit the power of lobbies, which would then have to regularly renew their influence with new people. "

Act now

Paradoxically, the political scientist believes that this question of the future will become an essential component of public debate in the years to come. i think there will be a growing awareness of the need for solidarity with future generations," he says. If we want to change things, we have to start working on it now, and I think we'll have to do so with the coming crises. It's not just a matter of reacting in the heat of the moment, but of building a solid response over the long term," he adds with a smile.

As for the man himself, he hasn't waited until tomorrow to get to work on making things possible. Sébastien Brunet is deeply involved in l'Université d'été Climactes, the third edition of which was held this year at Sart-Tilman. the idea is to stimulate projects by young adults wishing to reduce our ecological footprint, by enabling them to become economically viable," sums up the researcher. In addition to creating an activist network, all these businesses will have positive consequences for citizens, the environment, biodiversity, the climate ..." This is the kind of support he personally provided during the first edition of the event.

The territory of possibilities

Sébastien Brunet has made this social project his personal driving force. caught up in routine, we sometimes tend to forget that another world is possible," he remarks. But I still think that the field of possibilities is always open! Because in reality, everything is really there, ready to be harvested to help build tomorrow

In his view, this cannot be achieved without the university. if globalization is a phenomenon that is here to stay, one of the challenges of our time is to re-anchor ourselves in our territory," points out Sébastien Brunet. It's the role of the University to make us aware of the territory on which we depend, and to reconnect us with it: with the people who live there, but also its environment and biodiversity. "

And when it comes to Belgium, Sébastien Brunet looks ahead to... 2030. in 2016, I asked my students at sciences politiques to imagine what Belgian democracy would be like fourteen years later," he confides. We sealed these scenarios in a time capsule, which we will reopen together, future and former students, in 2030. We'll then compare their work with reality..." Who still doubts the power of imagination?

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