Scientia et Educatio Naturam Sanitatemque Emuniunt
Science and Education Preserve Nature and Health
La Science et l'Éducation Préservent la Nature et la Santé
Supporting students
Supported Projects
2022 - 2024
Project country: Spain
Grant period: 2022 - 2023
Launched by a group of scientists, Apadrina la Ciencia (ALC) is a platform which aims to promote scientific research and public understanding of science in Spain. Supported by more than 280 internationally renowned scientists from different universities and research institutions, ALC promotes communication and direct collaboration among scientists and the rest of society, and supports basic research in Spain, securing resources through patronage, and sponsorship. ALC also works to make science more accessible, especially to children and young people, through fun and educational experiments and talks. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported ALC, enabling it to award bursaries to 2 PhD students with limited financial resources from Mali and Nigeria, focusing on malaria and climate change research. From 2024-2025, the beneficiaries will join Spanish research institutions for 9 to 12 months and after, will bring the acquired knowledge and skills back to their home countries. https://www.apadrinalaciencia.org
Project country: United Kingdom
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
Birkbeck, University of London, is a leading research and teaching university in the heart of Bloomsbury, London. Without Birkbeck’s unique model of learning in the evenings, many would have no other access to study. For nearly 200 years, Birkbeck has forged ahead at the cutting edge of alternative education for students of all ages and backgrounds. Today, Birkbeck’s student body is rich in diversity, with 40% coming from low-income backgrounds, 46% identifying as Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME), and 150 nationalities represented in its classrooms. Of its student population, 57% are women. Notable female alumni include Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958), biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer, best known as the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. Birkbeck is proud to be one of only 24 non-specialist universities in the UK that is both in the top quartile for its research quality (measured by REF score) and to hold at least a Silver Teaching Excellence Framework award. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Birkbeck, ensuring it was equipped to assist students through financial hardship. Due to the cost-of-living crisis, Birkbeck saw a tripling of demand for its core hardship funds, offered to the most vulnerable in its student community. Specifically, in 2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported 19 students: 12 home and 2 international students studying a STEM subject, and 5 home students studying non-STEM disciplines, such as PhD Organizational Psychology, MRes Structural Biology, MSc Business Analytics and MSc Advanced Computing Technologies. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Birkbeck to help support international STEM students coming from low income backgrounds or facing financial hardship. https://www.bbk.ac.uk/
Project country: France
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
Chemins d'avenirs aims to reveal the potential of the +10 million young people in the rural areas and small towns of France and ensure they have at least as much opportunity as the young people in large cities. Historically neglected by public authorities, these youth face consequences in economic, social, and political spheres, and encounter numerous challenges including limited access to information and the digital divide. Chemins d'avenirs is the first organization to mentor students from rural areas and small and medium-sized towns regardless of academic results or social criteria, so that only motivation, curiosity, and potential make the difference for their future career and plans. Chemins d’avenirs acts through a sponsorship system and the creation of an ecosystem of success around its students. Its approach is two-tiered: • A grassroots action supports rural youth in low-density areas to build a civic, academic, and professional pathway that matches their aspirations. • An advocacy action highlights these young people and encourages public policies and companies to evolve in favour of territorial diversity. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Chemins d’avenirs, enabling it to support 8000 young people in underserved regions by the end of 2023, expand into 7 new academies, and open support to all students, not just those in high and middle school. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Chemins d’avenirs and its new project to empower 130 students in middle, high school, and university within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The goal is to unlock their academic, professional, and civic potential, with each participant engaging in a year-long program to address the challenges unique to their location. https://www.cheminsdavenirs.fr
Project country: United Kingdom
Grant period: 2020 - 2023
Consistently ranked within the top three universities in the UK and Europe, and the top ten worldwide, Imperial College London has a global reputation for teaching and research across four disciplines: engineering, medicine, science, and business, and attracts the very best students and academics from across the world. Imperial’s Department of Life Sciences is one of the largest departments of its kind in Europe, with over 100 academic staff, 180 research fellows and post-docs, and over 1,300 students. Ranked 2nd in the UK, the department’s undergraduate and postgraduate teaching activities run along two strands – biochemistry and biological sciences – and support a diverse student body comprised of approximately 60% female students and over 60% of students from outside the UK. Since 2020, the SENSE Foundation Brussels has supported Imperial College London by providing a series of annual prizes to celebrate outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of Life Science, as well as a hardship fund for students struggling to meet the costs of living whilst studying. For the 2022-2023 academic year, 24 students benefitted from funding from the SENSE Foundation Brussels. https://www.imperial.ac.uk
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2019 - 2024
Created in 1962, the Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion, better known as INSAS, is a public Belgian performing arts university college, specialising in audiovisual, theatre, and dance studies. The philosophy of INSAS is focused on openness, perpetual self-assessment, looking critically at the world, and the responsibility of the creative person. In 2019/2020, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported INSAS and provided bursaries for its new dance certificate programme, organised in partnership with La Cambre (ENSAV) and Charleroi Danse. The SENSE Foundation Brussels also provided financial support to master’s students finishing degrees in sound engineering, image, editing/scripting, film directing, and theatre and communication techniques. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported INSAS and provided financial support to an additional 7 master’s students completing their degrees in sound engineering, image, editing/scripting, film directing, theatre and communication techniques, cinema and theatre writing, and radio production. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting INSAS to provide a financial boost to another 7 master’s students, as well as a bursary for its new master’s degree in dance and choreography. https://insas.be
Project country: France
Grant period: 2021 - 2023
Opened in 2014 and located at the heart of Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades in Paris, Institut Imagine is a University Hospital Institute which aims to improve our understanding of genetic diseases and offer a better, more innovative patient care from childhood to adulthood. Institut Imagine’s mission is based on world-renowned biomedical research, patient care services, and top-notch university and training programs. As the largest European centre for research, care and education on genetic diseases, the ultimate goal of Institut Imagine is to improve the lives of families affected by these diseases. In 2021/2022, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Institut Imagine, enabling 6 months of MD-PhD research work. This work was focused on the development of new tools, based on Machine-Learning and Deep-Learning approaches, to help in the interpretation of genetic variations, and hopefully lead to an increased diagnostic rate in patients with a rare disease. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Institut Imagine for an additional 2 years, helping 6 students attend its PhD international Program. This program trains and secures the next generation of medical and laboratory geneticists around the world, exposing them to state-of-the-art medical genetics research, and allowing them to learn the science by doing. https://www.institutimagine.org
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
Established in 2005 in a fully restored train station in Brussels, the Jazz Station is known both as a lively centre dedicated to quality jazz (concerts, exhibitions, residencies, festivals, lessons, conferences), and as a place of welcome and support for young artists, suffering from a lack of visibility, difficult distribution channels, and minimal professional support. The Jazz Station offers young artists a free creative space to put aside their fears and worries, and fully concentrate on their art, in a caring, professional, and equipped environment. The Jazz Station is open five days a week to artists who wish to train, record demos, and seek guidance, without charge. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported the Jazz Station, enabling it to build up a better recording studio, improve its technical equipment, finance and promote 8 concerts of young jazz artists, and host 150+ days of residencies. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of the Jazz Station, helping it to provide a further 200 days of residencies, offer young jazz artists the opportunity to record not just audio but also video free of charge, provide a series of 8 concerts focused on young female jazz musicians, and host jam sessions and evenings dedicated to new creations. https://www.jazzstation.be
Project country: DRC
Grant period: 2020 - 2024
KIYO is a Belgian NGO that empowers youth to take charge of their lives and realize their rights. Together with its partners, KIYO strengthens life and technical skills of children and youth, enabling them to bring about positive individual and social change as active global citizens. KIYO currently works in Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Philippines. In 2020/2021, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported KIYO, enabling 290 youth, primarily girls, in the DRC to attend training on agro-entrepreneurship and helping them to obtain their own land. Helping them move out of poverty, this project had a crucial impact on the lives of these young people. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported KIYO and its local partner ASCEN to provide 88 Congolese youth - 49 girls and 39 boys - living in situations of economic hardship and vulnerability due to ongoing armed conflict, with a vocational course of their choice as well as the materials and technical support to develop their own micro-businesses. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of KIYO, enabling it and its local partner ASCEN, to further accompany and provide additional training to the 88 youth who launched their micro-businesses and income-generating initiatives in the past year, strengthening their entrepreneurial skills and exchanging good practices and success stories. KIYO and ASCEN will also provide an additional 100 youth with vocational training and the start-up materials for their own micro-businesses and income-generating initiatives. https://www.kiyo-ngo.be
Project country: Kenya
Grant period: 2021 - 2024
NairoBits is a non-profit organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya, which serves disadvantaged youth from low-income backgrounds through the innovative and creative use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). NairoBits aims to ensure that each beneficiary's life is transformed sustainably through a combination of hands-on digital skills training, reproductive health education, job placements, and other business development services. This approach seeks to unlock the potential of the targeted youth and improve their economic well-being and psychosocial welfare by building and developing relevant interpersonal and professional skills through an advanced training curriculum. In 2021/2022, the SENSE Foundation Brussels contributed to the project Girls Go: Powering a Future for Girls through Digital Inclusion. By enabling access to a learning environment that develops and supports the acquisition of knowledge and technical competencies, this project promoted digital literacy among 500 girls and young women aged 15-24 from informal urban settlements and rural Kenya. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of NairoBits and the Girls Go project for an additional 2 years. https://www.nairobits.com
Project country: Mozambique, Lebanon
Grant period: 2020 - 2024
Right To Play is an international humanitarian and development organisation that has pioneered a unique play-based approach to protecting, educating, and empowering children and young people to rise above adversity. Its mission is to use the transformative power of play to overcome the challenging effects of poverty, conflict, and disease in disadvantaged communities. Founded in 2000, Right To Play works with over 2.7 million children and young people in over 15 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In 2020/2021, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Right To Play and its project Restoring Hope for Education (ReHopE) located in provinces in Mozambique hit by Cyclone Idai in 2019. This program improved access to and the quality of education and school safety for over 26,250 children aged 3 to 11. Specifically, temporary learning spaces were created to help compensate for the destruction of education infrastructure and to protect children from strong winds, cold and rain, and 52 primary school teachers and 452 kindergarten facilitators were trained in integrating gender-responsive play-based learning and psychosocial support into their teaching practices. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Right To Play and the Kids’ Athletics for Protection (KAP) project. KAPs overarching goal is to improve peaceful coexistence between Syrian & Palestinian refugee children & youth and the Lebanese host community (youth and children) through sport and play. As of the end of 2023, Right To Play had reached 2080 children and 75 coaches through KAP. Thanks to the support of the SENSE Foundation Brussels, KAP was reinforced with the addition of psychosocial support- specific training, ensuring that coaches were equipped with the skills needed to work with children through trauma. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting Right To Play and its Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) project in Mozambique. Launched in 2021 for 5 years, the goal of the SHARE project is to increase access to health-related human rights by the most vulnerable rights- holders, particularly adolescent girls and young women. SHARE Mozambique aims to work with girls and boys (10 – 24 years old) across the implementation period, both in and out of school, to empower them to demand better sexual and reproductive health. https://righttoplayusa.org
Project country: Canada
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
With more than 35 years of experience in popular science, Les Scientifines' mission is to promote sciences, technologies, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among girls aged 8 to 17 from underprivileged neighbourhoods primarily in Montreal, Canada. Les Scientifines operates with the principles: • That girls can flourish and succeed as much as boys in the STEM sector; • That by acting early with girls, it’s possible to have a real impact on the development of their interest in STEM and contribute to the development of their future employability and their commitment to the community; • That by promoting an active role for girls rather than a passive one in the search for solutions, their creativity, their autonomy and their self-confidence are developed. To date, Les Scientifines remains the only organization in Greater Montreal to offer free activities to girls aged 8 to 17 to encourage them to stay in school, awaken an interest in STEM and develop transversal skills. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Les Scientifines, enabling almost 150 girls to participate from 2 to 5 days a week in its after-school Science for Girls Program. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Les Scientifines and its Science for Girls Program. Divided into 5 parts, the program offers guided experimental science activities; working sessions to prepare for the annual science fair; science journalism workshops; workshops by women working in the STEM field; and extracurricular activities in partnership with other organisations. https://scientifines.com/
Project country: Cambodia
Grant period: 2022 - 2023
Created in 2010, Toutes à l'école Luxembourg (TAE L) is part of the Toutes à l'école (TAE) network of associations, created in France in 2006. The TAE network is focused on offering high quality education to the most disadvantaged girls in developing countries. Toutes à l'école France (TAE F) opened its first pilot school, Happy Chandara (HC), in Cambodia, 15 km from the capital Phnom Penh. HC offers an educational, socio-medical and training program to promote the integration and social advancement of young girls from the most disadvantaged families. TAE L has developed a program, Chandara Students Home, to promote higher education and the inclusion of HC graduates in Cambodian society by accompanying them from the end of their primary and secondary education at HC, to the end of their university or professional studies and their entry into professional life. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported a student of the Chandara Students Home, helping to cover the costs of her studies and living expenses, and enabling her to focus on her studies and successfully complete the first year of the 2-year ASINSA programme - the integrated preparation for INSA Lyon, rated in the Top 10 engineering schools in France. She is the first ever Cambodian student to enter the ASINSA programme. https://toutesalecole.lu
Supported Projects
2019 - 2022
Project country: Fiji
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
Barefoot College International’s mission is to demystify, democratise and decentralise technology, education & skills to foster self-sufficiency and sustainability among those living in rural poverty. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting the Fiji Barefoot College Vocational Training Centre (Fiji BVTC) to train six women to become "Barefoot Women Solar Engineers". Each of them will install, maintain, and repair solar equipment in the houses of participating communities. In addition, the Fiji BVTC will educate women in digital and financial literacy, environmental stewardship, reproductive and women’s health, civil and human rights, and microenterprise and entrepreneurial skills. https://www.barefootcollege.org
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
La Cambre is one of Belgium’s leading art and design schools. Founded in 1927 by the architect and designer Henry van de Velde, the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels of La Cambre (ENSAV) has nearly 650 students in 18 different departments: ceramics, animation, drawing, urban design, printmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, and fine art conservation & restoration. Its design departments include industrial and textile design, book design and bookbinding, interior design, set design, fashion and accessories design, as well as graphic and visual communication and typography. SENSE Foundation Brussels supported the school's International Fund, enabling students to pursue projects abroad. In January 2021, students from the ENSAV La Cambre completed a month-long mission in Deir el Medina, Egypt, to work on the restoration of several ancient tombs. https://www.lacambre.be/fr
Project country: Canada
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
Across 38 sites in Ontario, Canada, and in 26 different communities, Collège Boréal offers quality training and services to a diverse body of students. At the heart of the communities it serves, the college provides leadership to fulfil the potential and ensure the sustainable development of Ontario’s Francophone communities. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting the development of the Multicultural Scholarship Programme. This program aims at facilitating access to postsecondary education for students from minority groups and allowing them the same opportunities in a professional and exciting new career so they can become a great asset to their communities. https://collegeboreal.ca
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2020 - 2021
Ecole Hôpital et Domicile (EHD) brings together and supervises approximately 450 volunteer teachers who are ready to help sick children to continue their schooling despite being away from school. With the support of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, volunteers go to the hospital or to the young person's home, free of charge for the families. In 2020/2021, thanks to a SENSE Foundation Brussels grant, EHD was able to help more children to stay up-to-date with their schoolwork and to maintain their cognitive skills. Furthermore, it allowed these children and their families to think of something other than their illness. https://www.ehd.be/
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Project country: France
Grant period: 2019 - 2020
AgroParisTech is a higher education and research institute (“Grande Ecole”) which aims to address some of the main global challenges of the 21st century: feeding a growing population while sustainably managing territories, preserving natural resources, supporting innovation and integrating the bioeconomy. The AgroParisTech Foundation puts the work of AgroParisTech into practice. The Foundation brings a financial and educational sponsorship to projects through three programs: Apprendre! S’Engager! Entreprendre! In 2019/2020, SENSE Foundation Brussels supported the Learners' program (Apprendre) through 2 grants for international students from Brazil, 2 mobility grants for French government grant holders, as well as 4 emergency grants, which aimed to support students during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://fondation.agroparistech.fr
Project country: France
Grant period: 2019 - 2020
CentraleSupélec, a public institution specialising in scientific, cultural and professional studies, was created by the merging of École Centrale Paris and Supélec in January 2015. Today, CentraleSupélec consists of 3 campuses in France. It has 4,300 students, 3,200 of which are engineering students, and includes 16 laboratories or research teams. CentraleSupélec is a reference centre in the field of engineering sciences and systems and a leading school in higher education and research, ranked among the best institutions in the world. CentraleSupélec is a founding member of Paris-Saclay University and chairs the École Centrale Group. Since 2019, SENSE Foundation Brussels funds 2 Sebastienne Guyot grants, which support female students in their engineering degrees at CentraleSupelec. They target motivated candidates facing financial difficulties and provide them with the best conditions possible to succeed in their studies. https://www.fondation-centralesupelec.fr
Project country: Haiti
Grant period: 2020 - 2022
Geomoun supports local projects focused on enforcing children's rights in Haiti and Peru. It aims to strengthen all agents of civil and state society. In Belgium, Geomoun promotes the right to children’s participation through projects encouraging reflection, openness, and commitment to being an agent of change. In 2020/2021, SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Geomoun to give 440 hours of training in professional agricultural technology to 30 vulnerable young single mothers in South-East Haiti. These women also received 5 days of training in entrepreneurship and kits to help them start their activity. This training is an income-generating activity that develops their self-confidence and entrepreneurial spirit. Psychological and health support was offered to the participants, through consultations and the distribution of free medicines. After the training, young people got together to work and set up small projects (goat breeding, egg production, vegetable garden). Most of the beneficiaries now have a small income-generating activity. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is renewing its contribution to Geomoun, supporting the future of 25 young Beninese women through vocational training for vulnerable girls, girl mothers, and girls in difficult situations, and helping them find or set up their small business. https://www.geomoun.org
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
The fund and non-profit association L'Instrument du musicien helps young musicians from the French-speaking Belgian Conservatories to acquire their string instruments. A good instrument is essential for any student's academic curriculum and decisive to take part in an orchestral competition. Pending the purchase of their instrument, the fund makes quality instruments available to them. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is contributing to the purchase of a cello and a violin by the fund. https://linstrumentdumusicien.be
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2020 - 2021
Jeunesses Scientifiques’s objective is to inspire young people with an interest in science and the world around them. The organisation contributes to the training and scientific culture of tomorrow’s adults by giving them the means to be active and informed citizens. The association is open for everyone to participate, regardless of their financial resources or difficulties. The activities are inclusive, from a social and gender perspective, thus participating in the fight against prejudice and social exclusion. In 2020/2021, with the support of SENSE Brussels Foundation, the "Classes de dépaysement" offered schools with limited financial resources the possibility to enrol their pupils in a community-life project including scientific activities, for a maximum duration of 5 days. Fifty children were able to take part in these "change of scenery" classes, suddenly making science fun and hands-on. Activities were organised around the following themes: introduction to programming and Arduino, notions of infinitely large and infinitely small, animal tracks, identification and collection of green materials for plant crafts, what is sound, how do animals see and what do they see, introduction to magnetism and electrical circuits, the impact of humans on their environment, how to make electric batteries with coins, how to use flint. These activities allowed teachers to tackle scientific subjects that they usually think are out of their reach. It was formative for the teachers, who were involved in the project from its inception. https://www.jsb.be
Project country: Uganda
Grant period: 2020 - 2021
Lively Minds is an NGO working towards getting rural pre-schoolers in Ghana and Uganda "school-ready". The first six years of a child’s life are vital in developing the skills needed to succeed in school and in future life. But rural children in Uganda do not get the care and education they need to build those skills, and this adverse start has knock-on effects throughout their lives. During the COVID-19-related school closures, the Lively Minds beneficiaries in rural communities were at risk of becoming ever more isolated, without the support to deliver early childhood care and education for children in their most crucial development years. The organisation created a radio show, Lively Minds Together (LMT), for rural parents across the Busoga region (Uganda), supporting them to deliver effective ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) at home. The parenting episodes teach practical and cost-free ways to provide nurturing care at home. Topics have included handwashing, disability, nutrition, and communication. In the weekly play episodes, parents learn cost-free and straightforward educational games to play with their children at home. In 2020/2021, SENSE Foundation Brussels’s support enabled Lively Minds to develop 32 brand new radio episodes and to broadcast 156 episodes, including 32 live phone-in sessions, reaching a total of 400,000 households in 2021. Here is what some listeners said about the programme: “It’s very good for us to teach our children equal roles, regardless of their gender. This brightens their future”. “I have learned with my children that disability is not inability. We should treat individuals with disabilities as fellow humans without discriminating against them”. https://www.livelyminds.org
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2019 - 2022
This Public Interest Foundation works in the field of education, set up by experienced professionals from the business world. It champions quality education that inspires, trains and motivates young people to combine professional success with a positive impact on society, ultimately contributing to solving our major environmental and societal issues. Make It Happen is implementing a program in high schools to enable students to imagine solutions to societal and environmental concerns, based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This program, based on collective intelligence methodology, provides students from both privileged and less privileged backgrounds with the skills and attitude required to play a positive role in society. In 2019, SENSE Foundation Brussels supported the Make It Happen Trophy, a competition for innovative projects proposed by young students, expressing their vision of tomorrow’s society. Thanks to the grant, Make It Happen Foundation was able to hire facilitators who guided more than 250 young people in imagining, defining and presenting their project, aligned with the UN SDGs. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is donating to the You-Coach Initiative. You-Coach is a programme offered to Belgian secondary schools, enabling them to develop tutoring amongst their students, thus reducing school dropout. The objective is to get good students in any given school subject to coach their peers who are struggling in that subject. You-Coach is a turnkey programme that provides schools with the know-how and a web-based platform to develop successful tutoring among their students. The overall objective is to enable five schools to launch and operate a You-Coach tutoring programme every year. https://www.make-it-happen.org
Project country: United Kingdom
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
The Royal College of Music (RCM) is the top-performing arts institution in the UK and Europe. The College is committed to music’s transformative power and its founding principles of excellence, advocacy, and access. They embrace the ideals of an inclusive, open, and just society, supporting students from diverse backgrounds. The Royal College of Music trains the most gifted music students from around the world for careers as performers, conductors, and composers. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is contributing to the RCM Scholarships Fund: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Scholarships, enabling the College to assist more than half of its students financially. This support is all the more critical in the context of the pandemic, which has left many RCM students in great financial difficulty. The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Scholarships provide life-changing opportunities, positively impacting the RCM and the classical music industry more broadly with a myriad of voices, cultures, and talents. https://www.rcm.ac.uk
Project country: Global
Grant period: 2020 - 2021
The Rural Water Supply Network is a global network of more than 12,000 rural water professionals from 169 countries and 90 organisations. It facilitates access to the information needed by professionals to provide a sustainable and reliable water supply. The network’s objective is to provide sufficient, affordable and safe water within a reasonable distance of rural homes so that everyone, everywhere, can live a dignified and healthy life. In 2020/2021, SENSE Foundation Brussels’s support enabled the RWSN Secretariat to conduct another cycle of the RWSN Mentoring Programme, matching mentors and mentees from around the world to help young professionals to develop their careers in the water sector and focus on two aspects: the inclusion of women and the use of the PushFar platform. This mentoring cycle focused on including women of all ages in the "mentee" category, following feedback received from numerous women who had wanted to take part in the mentoring programme but did not fit the "young professional" category. Currently, 54% of the mentees are female. Some of the concrete outcomes mentioned by the mentees include enrolling in a PhD programme, improving their CVs and motivation letters for job applications, pushing their careers further, gaining confidence, and developing their professional networks. The programme has also added value to the mentors, who mentioned having been able to improve their mentoring skills, exchange experiences, and refresh their skills and knowledge through the RWSN Mentoring Programme. In addition, and for the first time, the Rural Water Supply Network used the online mentoring platform PushFar. This platform helped improve the quality of the mentoring relationship for all parties: 100% of the mentees thought they were a good or quite a good match for their mentors, an improvement from 2020, where 83% of mentees had been satisfied with their mentors. The mid-year assessment survey conducted by RWSN also showed that 100% of the respondents were satisfied or quite satisfied with their mentoring relationship and their participation in the mentoring programme, in contrast to 89% in 2020. https://www.rural-water-supply.net
Project country: The Philippines
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
SIBAT is a duly registered NGO advocating for appropriate technology that is pro-people, and whose immediate goal is for the disadvantaged communities to experience energy, water, and food security. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels’s grant is supporting food production through climate-resilient sustainable agriculture for small farmers. SIBAT will teach farmers sustainable agriculture and climate change orientation, diversified and integrated farming systems and farm planning, soil fertility management with biofertilizer production and vermiculture, seed technology and seed banking, alternative pest management, a system of rice intensification or adlai cultivation trial and production, and organic vegetable production. Specifically, a climate-resilient crop, adlai, will be introduced as a more nutritious alternative to rice as a staple crop. SIBAT will also design and build an adlai processing/milling machine and help market the surplus adlai from the farmers. https://sibat-apptech.org
Project country: Cambodia
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
Sipar has been working actively with underprivileged populations in Cambodia for 40 years, concentrating its activity on developing reading and education through the accessibility of books and the fight against illiteracy. Today in Cambodia, young people between the ages of 15 and 20 have very limited access to decent work opportunities and are still often confined to jobs in the informal economy. With the support of the SENSE Brussels Foundation, in 2021/2022, Sipar aims to improve the employment prospects and civic engagement of rural Cambodian youth, in a post-Covid-19 context. To this end, Sipar will set up libraries with multimedia orientation spaces in 15 provincial high schools, support the strengthening of a network of 23 grassroots youth organisations, and produce and disseminate personal development and orientation tools. https://sipar.org
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2019 - 2020
TADA is a 100% bilingual (NL/FR) non-profit organisation that offers weekend classes to children aged 10 to 14, living in Brussels' most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The objectives of TADA are to help these children improve their prospects and open up to new opportunities, to acquire self-confidence, life skills, and a sense of belonging within Belgian society. In 2019, SENSE Foundation Brussels’ support helped TADA open 2 new weekend schools, one in Molenbeek and one in Schaerbeek, thus reaching and coaching 122 new children in the TADA’s network. The grant also helped TADA in its work to prevent young people from dropping out of school: among the young people supported, 9 out of 10 continue in their education and show clear progress in their development and learning. This is much better than the average estimated in various studies of their peers in similar socio-economic circumstances. https://www.tada.network
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2020 - 2021
TAJO is a non-profit organisation offering hundreds of disadvantaged young people in Ghent, Belgium, a three-year journey of Saturday experience workshops. TAJO aims to broaden their participants’ networks and help them acquire self-knowledge, confidence and resilience. Guest lecturers teach engaging workshops in a broad range of disciplines such as healthcare, law, nutrition, safety, STEM, entrepreneurship, and culture. In 2020/2021, SENSE Foundation Brussels provided TAJO with funding to extend access to the organisation's activities to two additional underprivileged neighbourhoods, allowing the NGO to reach out to more motivated young people. TAJO currently works with 195 young people in 3 districts in Ghent. Three other groups started in October 2021, engaging 85 more young people through 96 experiential workshops, thanks to 96 new professionals joining the TAJO network. 11% of pupils do not obtain a secondary education diploma in Flanders. In Ghent, the most recent figures show that 19.9% of young people do not get a secondary education diploma, which influences these pupils' later professional opportunities and income (source: Flemish government, 2020). With this project, TAJO is adding value to the youth and their families. The annual impact meeting in collaboration with the Department of Educational Sciences of Ghent University shows that TAJO is fulfilling its ambition. https://tajo.be
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2019 - 2020
With 31,000 students, the UCLouvain is the largest university in French-speaking Belgium and ranks in the top 15% of universities worldwide. Its 21 research institutes, 38 technology platforms, two university hospitals and three science parks home almost 300 companies and are a testament to its research prowess. UCLouvain contributes cutting-edge research and innovation in collaboration with both the corporate world and broader society. In 2019/2020, SENSE Foundation Brussels supported staff at the Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology. SENSE Foundation Brussels also provided the UCL with emergency grants for students facing hardship, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://uclouvain.be
Project country: United Kingdom
Grant period: 2021 - 2022
Universify Education champions educational equality, helping to build a fairer society through social mobility by tackling underrepresentation at university, making its benefits accessible to all. Universify works with UK school students from underrepresented groups. It helps them increase their aspirations, reach academic success and, in all likelihood, successfully apply to a highly selective university. In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting Universify's specialised year-long programme, enabling the organisation to deliver its tailored programme to more students. The programme supports young people from underrepresented backgrounds experiencing financial hardship and at risk of not fulfilling their potential. It empowers them to thrive in education and the wider world, equipping them with the knowledge, grades, and self-belief to make informed decisions about their future and follow them through. Universify organises a week-long summer school at Oxford or Cambridge University, monthly 1:1 coaching for a year, and an intensive revision residential to boost GCSE attainment and explore career paths. SENSE Foundation Brussels's grant enables an additional 30 students to attend the programme. It also helps Universify keep making a difference for vulnerable young people, increasing their access to the life-changing opportunity of higher education, and powering social mobility in the UK to build a fairer society for all. https://www.universifyeducation.com
Project country: United Kingdom
Grant period: 2019 - 2021
The University of Oxford is one of the world’s leading universities and is internationally renowned for the quality of its research and teaching in Medical Sciences and Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Materials Science. Academics undertake both fundamental research and cutting-edge applied work. Research conducted at Oxford tackles major societal and technological challenges. The university also holds the Athena Swan Awards, illustrating its commitment to ensuring good practices to encourage gender diversity in science at all levels. Oxford’s Medical Science researchers work across the full range of biomedical and clinical sciences, seeking to drive forward research into both basic science and translational medicine. Through close collaboration with the UK National Health Service, researchers seek to develop clinical solutions to urgent healthcare needs such as improved cancer treatment. Oxford’s researchers in Chemistry, Materials Science, and Biological Sciences are known for their excellence and expertise across a wide range of innovative areas, from addressing antibiotic resistance to understanding plant pathogens, to drug discovery and nanochemistry. SENSE Foundation Brussels has renewed its support to Oxford University by providing Mobility Awards and hardship funds for students enrolled in the Division of Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences and in the Division of Medical Sciences. https://www.ox.ac.uk
