GOODPLANET BELGIUM

Their core work

GoodPlanet Belgium is a Brussels-based environmental NGO that operates at the intersection of sustainability communication, citizen engagement, and public awareness. In EU research consortia, they contribute expertise in consumer empowerment and market transformation — translating technical energy solutions into behavioral change among households and end-users, as demonstrated in the HACKS project on heating and cooling products. They also organize public science events, such as Women In Science Night, bridging researchers with broader audiences around themes of sustainability and gender diversity. Their core value is mobilizing public audiences around sustainability and science topics, rather than conducting technical or laboratory research.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

GoodPlanet Belgium entered H2020 in 2019 through the energy sector, specifically working on consumer-facing market transformation for heating, cooling, boilers, and ventilators — a very applied, sector-specific communication role. By 2021, their project focus had shifted to science outreach, science education, and gender diversity, suggesting a move toward broader science-society interface work beyond any single energy technology. This trajectory points to an organization expanding its EU project profile from niche energy consumer campaigns toward general responsible research and citizen engagement themes.

GoodPlanet Belgium is moving from sector-specific sustainability communication toward general science-society engagement, making them an increasingly versatile partner for projects requiring responsible research, public engagement, or gender equity components.

How they like to work

GoodPlanet Belgium has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as project coordinator — across both H2020 projects. They operate within large, multi-national consortia, suggesting they are brought in as a specialist contributor rather than a project driver. For partners considering collaboration, this means they are dependable for delivering public engagement and communication tasks within a broader consortium structure, but they will not take the lead on project management or scientific direction.

Despite only two projects, GoodPlanet Belgium has accumulated 22 unique consortium partners spanning 15 countries, indicating they join large, well-connected European consortia. Their network is broadly European with no evident geographic concentration beyond their Brussels base.

What sets them apart

GoodPlanet Belgium fills a role that most technical or academic partners cannot: a credible civil society voice with demonstrated expertise in consumer behavior change and public science communication. Their NGO status and Brussels location give them visibility and legitimacy in policy-adjacent EU projects, particularly when consortia need to demonstrate societal impact or citizen reach. The combination of energy market communication (HACKS) and science-society outreach (WISENIGHT) makes them a versatile partner for projects spanning energy transition, responsible innovation, or gender equity in research.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HACKS
  Their largest and longest project (EUR 114,625, 2019–2023), focused on transforming the heating and cooling consumer market — an unusually applied, behavior-change role for an NGO in an energy efficiency consortium.
• WISENIGHT
  A fast-turnaround MSCA event project (EUR 15,000, 2021–2022) demonstrating GoodPlanet's ability to contribute to science-society engagement initiatives well outside the energy sector.