Metrolab.brussels is a laboratory dedicated to applied and critical urban research, headed by an academic consortium that includes teams from UCL (CriDIS -
urban sociology - and LOCI - urban planning) and ULB (IGEAT - geography and environment - and LoUIsE - urbanism), with funding from the European
RegionalDevelopment Fund (ERDF). Through its research activities, Metrolab aims to provide insight into the issues that Brussels is experiencing as a large city,
and stimulate innovation by searching for links between the ERDF 2014-2020 programming period and the actual conditions on the ground. It also intends to
provide a space where academic researchers and people involved in urban planning in Brussels can come together and engage with one another. To this end,
Metrolab offers three types of activity: regular series of seminars, research/ action initiatives in partnership with Brussels organisations working on urban
issues, and - every two years - an international exchange programme that includes a MasterClass and a conference on a specific topic.
Metrolab Brussels'
scientifc program is structured by three main axes of research - urban inclusion, urban ecology, urban production - which correspond roughly to the social,
environmental and economic dimensions of sustainable urban development. On a temporal level, these axes of research form also three successive cycles of
work. In 2016-2017, MLB researchers are focused on issues and events related to urban inclusion. 2017-2018 is centered on urban ecology (Brussels Ecosystems).
2019-2020 will be all about urban production. 
As part of LoUisE, Benoit Moritz and Geoffrey Grulois are involve as academic coordinator and Marco Ranzato
is a scientific coordinator (postdoc). Andrea Bortolotti and Pauline Varloteaux are PhD research and Louise Prouteau is administrative manager.