Partnerships

Public partners - Federal Government of Belgium
  • Belgian Federal Scientific Policy Office (Belspo)
    BELSPO coordinates the various scientific policies at federal level and is the supervisory administration of the ten federal scientific institutions (Institute for Space Aeronomy, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Royal Library of Belgium, Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, Royal Museums for Art And History, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Royal Observatory of Belgium, State Archives). The RMCA collaborates closely with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences with which he shares the same Management Committee.
     
  • DGD (Directorate-General Development Cooperation)
    The DGD is the AfricaMuseum’s main partner in financing its development cooperation activities. Its support helps strengthen the scientific capacity and national museums in Africa and helps disseminate knowledge in Africa to a wide audience and the scientific community. 
    Since 2016 the AfricaMuseum has been organizing the Prize Digital for Development (Prize D4D) with the support of the DGD.
     
  • Belgian Buildings Agency
    The Belgian Buildings Agency owns and administrates the buildings of the AfricaMuseum and the surrounding park. It is responsible for the renovation and restoration of the museum's old building, as well as the construction of the new reception pavilion and underground gallery. 
     
  • Belgian National Lottery
    The Belgian National Lottery is a key sponsor of the AfricaMuseum, supporting both the renovation project and the temporary and scientific exhibitions.
     
  • National Bank of Belgium
    The National Bank of Belgium has provided financial support for the renovation project.
Cultural and tourism partners
  • Visit Flanders
    Visit Flanders works to develop tourism in and to Brussels and Flanders.
    The AfricaMuseum, the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts and the provincial estate of Raversijde are participating in its pilot project for a "familievriendelijk erfgoed"(family friendly heritage), also supported by FARO and Herita. 
     
  • Visit Brussels
    Visit Brussels is the Brussels tourist agency. Its mission is to bolster and promote the image of the Brussels-Capital Region. The AfricaMuseum is considered by many tourists to Brussels as "worth seeing". 
     
  • BOZAR 
    BOZAR has hosted the AfricaMuseum for four years in its ‘Studio Congo’. The two institutions have established a firm partnership, which should continue after the reopening of the museum. The Afropean spirit is important to us.
     
  • Brussels Museums Council non-profit organisation
    The AfricaMuseum was one of the first museums to join this federative organisation of Brussels museums. It encourages museums to improve and diversify their range and promotes them via projects like Museum Night Fever, Brussels Museums Nocturnes (Late Night Openings), the Brussels Card, and the Brussels Museums Map. 
Scientific networks

The RMCA is part of dozens of international scientific networks in natural and human sciences. Here are a few examples.
 

GeoRiskA – Georisks in Africa

For many years now, the RMCA has been carrying out research projects on natural risks in the region of the East African Rift. As the projects progressed, the RMCA has developed a major network of partners, made up of universities and research institutes:

  • Université officielle de Bukavu (UOB)
  • Institut supérieur pédagogique de Bukavu (ISP Bukavu)
  • Institut geographique du Congo (IGC)
  • Centre de Recherche en Sciences naturelles (CRSN) of Lwiro
  • Observatoire volcanologique de Goma (OVG)
  • The Institut national de Statistiques of North Kivu (INS)
  • Civil Defence of North Kivu
  • Civil Defence of South Kivu
  • The Geology Department of the University of Burundi (UB)
  • The Rwanda Mining Board (RMB)
  • The Lake Kivu Monitoring Program (LKMP - Rwanda)

> Natural risks and cartography department
 

European Journal of Taxonomy

The European Journal of Taxonomy (EJT) is an international scientific review for peer review published by a European consortium of natural history museums. The RMCA is a founding member of this open access review.

> More information
 

SWICH – Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and Heritage

SWICH is a project which is part of Creative Europe and which continues a long tradition initiated by the successive projects READ-ME, READ-ME II and RIME. This series of projects includes a critical reflection on the role of ethnography museums in contemporary society in Europe.

> More information on the SWICH website

> Creative Europe 
 

FishBase

FishBase is the biggest online database dedicated to fish. It contains information on more than 33,000 known species of fish around the world. The FishBase Consortium brings together 10 international research institutes. The RMCA is one of the founding members.

> FishBase

> FishBase for Africa

> FishBase course in the museum
 

Belgian Network for DNA Barcoding (BeBol)

The goal of this project is to create a network of Belgian research units for DNA Barcoding.

> More information on the BeBol website
 

CETAF – Consortium of European Taxonomical Facilities

The Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities is a network of scientific institutions in Europe formed with a view to promoting training, research and the understanding of the biological and paleontological systematic.

> Website of the CETAF
 

GBIF – Global Biodiversity Information Facility

The goal of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is to provide free information on Biodiversity that is freely accessible to all. Numerous suppliers of data on biodiversity throughout the world are connected to the GBIF, providing access to millions of recordings (specimens and observations).

> Website of the GBIF 
 

TDWG – Taxonomical Database Working Group

The Taxonomical Database Working Group closely collaborates with the GBIF. Created in 1986 with a view to encouraging international collaboration when it comes to biological databases, the TDWG has become an official body as regards standards for the exchange of information linked to biodiversity and associated IT tools.

> Website of the TDWG
 

The Congo Free State Across Language, Culture, Media

Funded by the NWO (the Netherlands), the international research network ‘The Congo Free State Across Language, Culture, Media’ is a collaboration between Uppsala University, the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leeds Beckett University and the Open University Amsterdam. Exploring the famous myth of the ‘the heart of darkness’, this project is the first to analyse the Congo Free State under Leopold II (1885–1908) as a space for international cultural encounters with a significant impact on world at the turn of the century, by way of an analysis of cultural production through languages, media (literature, photography, etc.) and culture (Europe, USA, Africa). On 18 October 2017, the History and Politics Department hosted the international workshop ‘Congo Free State: What archives and collections have to say’. The materials presented during this workshop will be published in 2019 in the ‘Over-Seas’ series, P.I.E. Peter Lang Editions.

> Website

> History and Politics Department