A last post as my 380 km journey on foot from Brussels ends in Luxembourg. Natural beauty aside, what struck me most was how many wars ravaged these lands. Kudos then to 80 conflict-free years since WWII, western Europe's longest peace since the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Forest bathing. I learned a new phrase on the 19th day of my journey on foot from Brussels to Luxembourg. I feared the Grand Duchy's south would be dull and flat. But my story below tells how my walk passed through rich, varied and invigorating woodlands. open.substack.com/pub/thebruxt...

Forest bathing in one of Europe's richest countries

Stage #19 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail dives from Belgium into Luxembourg's green woods

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Why is quiche lorraine a slice of the quintessential Europe? Join me on my icy January trek through Belgian Lorraine for a taste of the old continent: rural beauty, proto-European Franks, never-ending wars, industrial decline, and Franco-German overlap. open.substack.com/pub/thebruxt...

An icy trek through Belgian Lorraine

Stage #18 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail explores a quintessential slice of Europe

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Day #17 of my path from Brussels to Luxembourg tracks an opening act of the First World War: August 1914's Battle of the Frontiers. Invading German troops killed 27,000 French counter-attackers here in just one day. A spooky forest walk. open.substack.com/pub/thebruxt...

The haunted traces of France's bloodiest defeat

Stage #17 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail tracks 1914's Franco-German Battle of the Frontiers in the Belgian Ardennes

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Europe's DNA goes deep. The name of England's Forest of Arden – made famous by Shakespeare – has the same Celtic origin as Belgium's Ardennes. Read on for more Celtic musings on the 16th day of my 360 km journey from Brussels to Luxembourg: thebruxtoluxtrail.substack.com/p/on-belgium...

On Belgium's Celtic fringe

Stage #16 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail leads me to a little-known inspiration of Art Nouveau

thebruxtoluxtrail.substack.com

I meet my first European astronaut on today's walk in the woods - day 15 of my journey on foot from Brussels to Luxembourg. Read all about it on my Substack here: thebruxtoluxtrail.substack.com/p/into-the-a...

In the Ardennes with Saint Hubert and other hunters

Stage #15 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail explains why Belgium's surviving forest animals make themselves scarce

thebruxtoluxtrail.substack.com

The 14th day of my walk from Brussels to Luxembourg takes a dark turn. Today’s hike along the Lomme river follows the steps of four sisters who in March 1618 became the burned-at-the-stake victims of a fevered witch-hunt. thebruxtoluxtrail.substack.com/p/witch-hunt...

Witch-hunting along Wallonia's river Lomme

Stage #14 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail leads me to dark places

thebruxtoluxtrail.substack.com

The city of Brussels successfully used random selection to solve a mediaeval crisis – and could do so again. Great read from @hughpope.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/pulse/sortit... #CitizensAssembly

Sortition goes back further in Brussels than many people think

The city successfully used random selection to solve a mediaeval crisis – and could do so again Sortition – the random selection of groups of people to study, deliberate and decide on a disputed topic...

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The account of the seventh day-stage of my 360 km journey on foot from Brussels to Luxembourg takes you from Franière to Namur. Gorgeous spring colours. Spooky forests. Ruins of pointless fortifications. Digital detox guaranteed! Link in comments ...

Thanks Nicholas - I feared that nothing I said about Villers would be very new!

Nicholas Whyte 白怀珂@nwhyte.bsky.social · 5mo ago

@hughpope.bsky.social is lyrical about the latest stage of his walk from Brussels to Luxembourg (though he spends too little time at the Abbey of Villers-la-Ville). open.substack.com/pub/thebruxt...

I saw this statue of the dogs of war on the latest stage of my walk from Brussels to Luxembourg. The crazed aggression on their faces made me glad I'm only seeing their human equivalents on the news, no longer having to report on them. More peaceful forest paths in link below

Join me for a second day's hike along The Brux-to-Luz trail! The paths from Brussels wind through ancient beech trees with white wood anemones carpeting the forest floor. I'm walking to Luxembourg, and today am also thinking about all that links England & the Low Countries.

My first day stage of The Brux-to-Lux Trail – 12 km through surprisingly green paths from Grand Place / Grote Markt to the edge of Brussels. Get my posts on what it's been like to hike the 360 km to Luxembourg direct to your inbox – link in comments.

Welcome to The Brux-to-Lux Trail! I'm writing up my personal antidote to ongoing global mayhem – a peaceful 360km walk from Brussels to Luxembourg – and invite you along for the journey. Here's a video taster and there's a link to the first weekly post in the comments.

Some of the new trends in deliberative democracy as seen at the annual Democracy R&D conference, just held this year in Brussels. It was colourful and fun. And innovations like citizens' assemblies might just help get us some better government. hughpope.com/2025/11/10/g...

Governments are floundering. Can citizens’ assemblies help?

People feel hopeless at the state of our elected governments. But here’s news from the frontline of deliberative democracy activists who are finding another way to run our countries better.

hughpope.com

A stylish masterclass from @rizahmed.bsky.social on why we need to replace elected politicians with groups of citizens chosen by lot. So great to see fame and wit selflessly used for a good idea. Thank you too to interviewer Kareem Rahma & his @subwaytakes.bsky.social youtube.com/shorts/M7oTO...

We need to stop having all election and elect leaders through a random lottery!! Feat Riz Ahmed

YouTube video by SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma

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It's been 20 years since we built a retreat on the flanks of Mount Olympos – the one on #Turkey's Mediterranean coast! – and I now finally did the exhilarating climb to the summit. #lycianway #thelazyolive #hiking #longdistancetrails

Another fine hike along the #LycianWay trail - next stop will be the peak of Mount Olympos (that's the one southwest of Antalya in Turkey). #thelazyolive youtu.be/wRyvi00hWB8

Lazy Olive Walk #3 - Ulupınar-Beycik Circuit

YouTube video by Hugh Pope

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Thoughts on why I felt okay about bidding a last goodbye to 43 years' worth of reporting notebooks. In short: they were personal and I've used them all up. Still, it wasn't easy putting such a core ingredient of my working life out on the street. hughpope.com/2025/07/22/b...

Breaking up with my long-cherished notebooks

A farewell bow to my 43 years of reporting notebooks.

hughpope.com

"Taking part in this process has taught me that it helps to talk with people who think differently from me - and that we can find common ground.“ #CitizensAssembly

Norway's citizens want to share their fortune with future generations and the world

In this week's DemNext Deep Dive, Hugh Pope, DemocracyNext International Advisory Council Member, speaks with members and organisers of Norway's Future Assembly on the Oil Fund

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The unexpected moral wisdom that #Norway got when seven non-profits convened a citizens' assembly to deliberate on the future of their Oil Fund, the biggest investment fund in the world. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Norway's citizens want to share their fortune with future generations and the world

In this week's DemNext Deep Dive, Hugh Pope, DemocracyNext International Advisory Council Member, speaks with members and organisers of Norway's Future Assembly on the Oil Fund

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Thanks Erin Ogunkeye & France24 TV for the chance to talk about how randomly selected citizens' assemblies can take on the important moral decisions of our time – for instance, paving the way for last week's move in France in lifting the ban on assisted dying. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYAc...

France’s lower house approves assisted dying bill with 305 votes in favor • FRANCE 24 English

YouTube video by FRANCE 24 English

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Citizens' assemblies inch into the mainstream - @hughpope.bsky.social   rebootdemocracy.ai/newsthatcaug...

RebootDemocracy.AI Blog | News That Caught Our Eye #57

In the news this week: Engagements with public professionals on AI – one from Dubai, one from New Jersey – showcase why to use AI to do more public listening. The White House's AI directives lack esse...

rebootdemocracy.ai

A post to celebrate 'The Rest is Politics' podcast giving its seal of approval to citizens' assemblies as a way forward for democratic reform. Thank you @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social & @rory-stewart.bsky.social and looking forward to hearing more. hughpope.substack.com/p/citizens-a...

Citizens’ assemblies have earned a significant new seal of approval. The UK's top political podcast „The Rest is Politics“ stands out as a running indictment of electoral representation as a system of government, implicitly at least. www.linkedin.com/pulse/citize... #CitizensAssembly

Great to see so many American friends this weekend demonstrating for their rights, rule of law and less partisan rule. The last few months have lessons about what we in Europe should now be standing up for too. open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...

A fork in the road with my inner American

What will Europe standing on its own two feet really mean?

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If you feel confused and upset about the news from Gaza, here's a book that offers a tried and tested antidote for at least the first half of that problem. open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...

A dose of old-school Palestinian history clarifies what's not new in Gaza

"The Hundred Years War on Palestine: a History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance", by Rashid Khalidi

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A happy 2nd birthday post for my late father's posthumous book, The Keys to Democracy. 🙌For the publisher, it's a best seller 📣New endorsements keep coming in 📚Paperback due in Sept Many thanks to all who helped a once-lost manuscript on its way! hughpope.substack.com/p/to-be-or-n...

To be or not to be a bestseller

Maurice Pope's book The Keys to Democracy turns two years old

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If you wonder why rich people dominate systems based on elections, listen to our podcast. The ancients were wise to the corruptions of representative democracy. Athens had the antidote in its glory days – random selection. We can take it again today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF37...

Sortition, ancient and modern (with Hugh Pope)

YouTube video by James Kierstead

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“Enjoyable”, “idiosyncratic” & “broadly right” - a lovely and important review of my late Dad Maurice Pope's book The Keys to Democracy. open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...

“Enjoyable”, “idiosyncratic” & “broadly right”

A lovely review of Maurice Pope's The Keys to Democracy in the journal Polis

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