Metrolab.brussels is a laboratory dedicated to applied and critical urban research, headed by an academic consortium that includes
teams from UCL (CriDIS - urban sociology - and LOCI - urban planning) and ULB (IGEAT - geography and environment - and LoUIsE -
urbanism), with funding from the European RegionalDevelopment Fund (ERDF). Through its research activities, Metrolab aims to
provide insight into the issues that Brussels is experiencing as a large city, and stimulate innovation by searching for links between
the ERDF 2014-2020 programming period and the actual conditions on the ground. It also intends to provide a space where academic
researchers and people involved in urban planning in Brussels can come together and engage with one another. To this end, Metrolab
offers three types of activity: regular series of seminars, research/ action initiatives in partnership with Brussels organisations
working on urban issues, and - every two years - an international exchange programme that includes a MasterClass and a conference
on a specific topic.
Metrolab Brussels' scientifc program is structured by three main axes of research - urban inclusion, urban ecology, urban
production - which correspond roughly to the social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainable urban development. On a
temporal level, these axes of research form also three successive cycles of work. In 2016-2017, MLB researchers are focused on issues
and events related to urban inclusion. 2017-2018 is centered on urban ecology (Brussels Ecosystems). 2019-2020 will be all about
urban production. 
As part of LoUisE, Benoit Moritz and Geoffrey Grulois are involve as academic coordinator and Marco Ranzato is a scientific
coordinator (postdoc). Andrea Bortolotti and Pauline Varloteaux are PhD research and Louise Prouteau is administrative manager.