SOCIAL ECONOMY & Public AI 

On September 1st, 2025 FARI – AI for the Common Good Institute (VUB & ULB) launched the Café IAssos project, which will run until October 31th, 2026.  

This Erasmus+ initiative involves 3 partners : Saw-B and FARI – AI for the Common Good Institute from Belgium and SOGA from France. The Café IAssos France-Belgium project aims to equip associations in France and Belgium to play a key role in digital democracy in the age of AI. Drawing on popular and lifelong education methodologies, it promotes a participatory approach, enabling non-profit employees and volunteers to reflect on and address the challenges of artificial intelligence and data.  

About Cafés IAssos  

The Café IAssos France-Belgium project aims to equip non-profit organisations in France and Belgium to play a key role in digital democracy in the age of AI. It draws on community & lifelong learning methodologies. Complementing the Café IA initiative of the French National Digital Council and the Café IA Assos prototype tested in Lille in November 2024, the project aims to deploy and document six sectoral Café IA and one Transnational Café IA in Brussels, tailored to the needs of non-profit organisations in the medico-social, community education and socio-professional integration sectors. It will establish a methodology for open participatory facilitation and research, to train around thirty facilitators and replicate these workshops in French-speaking Belgium and France.  

This project has three objectives: to train community leaders in digital citizenship skills, giving them the keys to understanding and using AI in an ethical manner that is appropriate to their missions; to strengthen the role of non-profit organisations as intermediaries in the digital sphere by structuring a sectoral approach so that they can influence the digital transition; to lay the foundations for a model that can be replicated and transferred across Europe by capitalising on lessons learned and making the resources produced freely available.  

The initiative directly targets at least 200 employees and volunteers, spread across seven Cafés IAssos in France and Belgium, with 30 participants per session. These meetings will take place in Hauts-de-France, Grand Est, Île-de-France, and Wallonia, with a closing transnational event in Brussels. The project will also train 30 facilitators to roll out the project and indirectly reach more than 500 final beneficiaries through the support provided to the public by the trained non-profit organisations.  

FARI’s Involvement   

FARI will lead on the methodology and the writing of the use cases, drawing on interviews with actors from the social and solidarity economy and ensuring a solid scientific structure. It will provide scientific expertise on AI for the creation of the animations, as well as an ethical review. FARI will also develop an observation framework for the AI Cafés, aligned with the priorities of the social and solidarity economy. During the national workshops, FARI will take part as an observer in order to gather material for the project’s capitalisation, and will co-facilitate the transnational workshop. Based on its observation of the AI Cafés, and the data collected by partners, FARI will propose developments to the AI Café format and set out conclusions that highlight trends and practical recommendations. 

 Agenda of the Project  

• 17 mars 2026 – Lille (FR) 

• 19 mars 2026 – Namur (BE) 

• 14 avril 2026 – Paris (FR) 

• 16 avril 2026 – Liège (BE) 

• 30 juin 2026 – Charleroi (BE) 

• 2 juillet 2026 – Strasbourg (FR) 

• Café transnational – Bruxelles (BE) 

To stay updated and receive an invitation, please contact : ceh@fari.brussels 

Project members :  

• Olivier De Halleux, Saw-B, project coordinator (BE) : o.dehalleux@saw-b.be
• Lea Rogliano, FARI, CEH (BE) : ceh@fari.brussels 
• Alice Demaret, FARI, CEH (BE) : ceh@fari.brussels
• Jeanne Bretécher, SOGA (FR) : jeanne@socialgoodaccelerator.eu
• Clarisse Blanc, SOGA (FR) : clarisse@socialgoodaccelerator.eu 

The project is funded by an EU Erasmus – Simplified partnership (25PSA0007).