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Our University, colonial legacy and decolonial engagement
As a place of learning and civic education, the university plays a central role in the debate on colonial legacy and the dynamics of decolonisation. Today, the need to question this legacy is becoming increasingly urgent, driven by international university movements – from decolonial movements on university campuses around the world to the Black Lives Matter movement – and by the demands of our own student communities.
These movements remind us that universities are not merely places for the transmission of knowledge, but also spaces where inequalities inherited from the colonial past are perpetuated, sometimes unconsciously, and where structural racism still manifests itself (Mbembe, 2016; Sarr & Savoy, 2018).
Throughout history, European universities, including the ULB, have played a part in disseminating knowledge, practices and representations that accompanied and sometimes legitimised the Belgian colonial enterprise. At the ULB, this reality was notably reflected in the training of colonial administrators and the production of knowledge in the service of the Belgian colonial project (Stengers, 1989; Goddeeris, 2020).
The works collected in Decolonising the University (Bhambra, Gebrial & Nişancıoğlu, 2018) and in the report by the CRef-VLIR inter-university working group highlight the urgent need to rethink the very foundations of the university.
It is against this backdrop that the ULB authorities recognised the vital importance of undertaking an in-depth examination of the university’s colonial legacy. Aware of their institutional and social responsibility, they have initiated a series of measures and initiatives aimed at scrutinising, documenting and transforming the traces and lingering effects of the colonial past within the university.
This page presents all the actions, research, educational projects and awareness-raising initiatives carried out at the ULB within this decolonial framework. It reflects the university’s commitment to fully embracing its history, contributing to the creation of a more inclusive and critical academic environment, and participating in a collective effort to decolonise knowledge and academic practices.
Throughout history, European universities, including the ULB, have played a part in disseminating knowledge, practices and representations that accompanied and sometimes legitimised the Belgian colonial enterprise. At the ULB, this reality was notably reflected in the training of colonial administrators and the production of knowledge in the service of the Belgian colonial project (Stengers, 1989; Goddeeris, 2020).
The works collected in Decolonising the University (Bhambra, Gebrial & Nişancıoğlu, 2018) and in the report by the CRef-VLIR inter-university working group highlight the urgent need to rethink the very foundations of the university.
It is against this backdrop that the ULB authorities recognised the vital importance of undertaking an in-depth examination of the university’s colonial legacy. Aware of their institutional and social responsibility, they have initiated a series of measures and initiatives aimed at scrutinising, documenting and transforming the traces and lingering effects of the colonial past within the university.
This page presents all the actions, research, educational projects and awareness-raising initiatives carried out at the ULB within this decolonial framework. It reflects the university’s commitment to fully embracing its history, contributing to the creation of a more inclusive and critical academic environment, and participating in a collective effort to decolonise knowledge and academic practices.
Research projects, educational projects, awareness-raising activities and other initiatives carried out within ULB
Institutional structure
Research projects
- Research project on colonial legacies in Belgium: Hericol
- Horizon Europe CONCILIARE project
- ARES Research and Development Project “Towards the psychosocial reappropriation and resocialisation by the source communities of Katanga of the remains of ancestors to be repatriated and cultural objects to be recovered”
- FNRS WelChange REMAIN HUMAN project
- HOME (Human remains Origin(s) Multidisciplinary Evaluation) project
Awareness-raising initiatives
- Collective project ‘Décolonisons-nous’
- Cultural activities during Cooperation Day: ‘Traces: Discourse to the African Nations’, Congolese Rumba masterclass, Laetitia Mampaka stand-up
- Bozar competition: Guided tours of the exhibition ‘When we see us’.
Other Initiatives
- Report by the CRef-VLIR inter-university working group
- King Leopold II’s medallion and the acquisition of Géraldine Tobé’s triptych
Fact-checking
- The ULB is committed to the repatriation of ancestral remains from the colonial period
- Does the ULB possess human skulls?
- Did the ULB host a ‘human zoo’ during the 1910 World’s Fair?
Further reading:
- Report of the Special Parliamentary Commission tasked with examining Belgium’s colonial past
- Belgian universities at the heart of decolonisation (Revue belge d’histoire contemporaine. 2022; Vol. 52, No. 4. pp. 108–114)
- From the Congo Free State to a biological anthropology laboratory in Brussels to the University of Lubumbashi: A history of the translocation of fourteen ancestral remains. The University Museums and Collections Journal, 17(1), 29–36.
ARES Research and Development Project ‘Towards the psychosocial reappropriation and resocialisation by the source communities of Katanga of the remains of ancestors to be repatriated and cultural objects to be recovered’
Against the current backdrop of discussions and legal developments concerning restitution and repatriation processes, this ARES CCD R&D project aims to better understand and facilitate the processes of reappropriation and resocialisation of cultural objects and the remains of ancestors taken to Europe during the colonial period amongst members of the source communities and the inhabitants of Katanga. This is being realised through the completion of three doctoral theses:
History: a study of the historical translocations of the remains of ancestors taken during colonisation and of cultural objects
Social psychology: a study of the psychosocial conditions for the reappropriation and resocialisation of the remains of ancestors and cultural objects to be recovered
Art history: a study of ways to strengthen educational outreach capabilities through cultural mediation and participatory museology
And through the creation of a Cultural Practices Observatory in Lubumbashi.
PARTNERS: University of Lubumbashi (Southern Coordinator: Donatien Dibwe dia Mwembu); ULB (Northern Coordinator: Laurent Licata); UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels, National Museum of Lubumbashi, Waza Art Centre, AfricaMuseum, Afropean Project.
Updated on 16 January 2026
History: a study of the historical translocations of the remains of ancestors taken during colonisation and of cultural objects
Social psychology: a study of the psychosocial conditions for the reappropriation and resocialisation of the remains of ancestors and cultural objects to be recovered
Art history: a study of ways to strengthen educational outreach capabilities through cultural mediation and participatory museology
And through the creation of a Cultural Practices Observatory in Lubumbashi.
PARTNERS: University of Lubumbashi (Southern Coordinator: Donatien Dibwe dia Mwembu); ULB (Northern Coordinator: Laurent Licata); UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels, National Museum of Lubumbashi, Waza Art Centre, AfricaMuseum, Afropean Project.
Updated on 16 January 2026
Updated on June 16, 2026