Ecolo (), officially Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales (, ) is a
French-speaking
political party in Belgium based on
green politics
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
.
The party is active in
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
and the
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...
.
Ecolo's Flemish equivalent is
Groen; the two parties maintain close relations with each other.
Name
Ecolo is officially a
backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
for ''Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales'' "Confederated Ecologists for the Organisation of Original Struggles", but is really just short for ''écologistes'', French for
environmentalist
Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...
s.
History
Ecolo was part of the 1999
Verhofstadt I Government, but withdrew from the coalition before the 2003 general election, which saw it lose nearly two thirds of its 14 federal parliamentary seats in the face of a resurgent
Socialist Party. The party made quite a comeback, however, in the 2007 general election, though failing to match the peak popularity it had enjoyed in 1999. In the
general election of 10 June 2007, the party won eight out of 150 seats in the
Chamber of Representatives and two out of the 40 directly elected seats in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
In the
2010 elections, the party again won eight seats in the Chamber of Representatives and two in the Senate.
Political views
Ecolo is a political party that promotes
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...
policies, aimed at preserving the
environment and combating
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, in the interests of current and future generations. The party seeks to create a more democratic and inclusive society by encouraging new political practices and strengthening citizen participation in a model of
participatory democracy
Participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which Citizenship, citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their ...
.
Election results
Chamber of Representatives
Senate
Regional
Brussels Parliament
German-speaking Community Parliament
Walloon Parliament
European Parliament
Elected politicians
Current
European Parliament
*
Philippe Lamberts
*
Saskia Bricmont
Chamber of Representatives
* 2010 – 2014:
#
Ronny Balcaen
#
Juliette Boulet
#
Olivier Deleuze (resigned in 2012; replaced by
Lahssaini Fouad)
#
Zoé Genot
#
Muriel Gerkens
#
Georges Gilkinet
#
Eric Jadot
#
Thérèse Snoy et d'Oppuers
Brussels-Capital Region Parlement
* 2009 – 2014:
#
Aziz Albishari
#
Dominique Braeckman
#
Jean-Claude Defosse
#
Céline Delforge
#
Anne Dirix
#
Anne Herscovici
#
Zakia Khattabi
#
Vincent Lurquin
#
Alain Maron
#
Jacques Morel
#
Ahmed Mouhssin
#
Marie Nagy
#
Yaron Pesztat
#
Arnaud Pinxteren
#
Barbara Trachte
#
Vincent Vanhalewyn
Past
European Parliament
* 1989 - 1994
# Brigitte Ernst de la Greate
Chamber of Representatives
* 1995 – 1999:
#
Philippe Dallons
#
Olivier Deleuze
#
Thierry Detienne
#
Mylène Nys (20 April 1999)
#
Martine Schüttringer
#
Jean-Pierre Viseur
* 1999 – 2003:
#
Marie-Thérèse Coenen
#
Martine Dardenne
#
Vincent Decroly
#
Olivier Deleuze →
Zoé Genot (14 July 1999)
#
Thierry Detienne →
Muriel Gerkens (23 July 1999)
#
Claudine Drion
#
Michèle Gilkinet
#
Mirella Minne
#
Géraldine Pelzer-Salandra
#
Paul Timmermans →
Bernard Baille (1 September 2002)
#
Jean-Pierre Viseur →
Gérard Gobert (10 January 2001)
* 2003–2007:
#
Zoé Genot
#
Muriel Gerkens
#
Gérard Gobert
#
Marie Nagy
* 2007–2010:
#
Juliette Boulet
#
Zoé Genot
#
Muriel Gerkens
#
Georges Gilkinet
#
Philippe Henry
#
Fouad Lahssaini
#
Jean-Marc Nollet
#
Thérèse Snoy et d'Oppuers
Brussels-Capital Region Parlement
* 2004–2009:
#
Dominique Braeckman
#
Alain Daems Alain may refer to:
People
* Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Alain (surname)
* "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein
* Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
#
Céline Delforge
#
Christos Doulkeridis
#
Josy Dubié
#
Paul Galand
#
Yaron Pesztat
Important figures
*
José Daras
*
Josy Dubié
*
Isabelle Durant
*
Muriel Gerkens
*
Evelyne Huytebroeck
*
Jacky Morael
*
Patrick Dupriez
*
Zakia Khattabi
*
*
Hélène Ryckmans
*
Tom Zoete
See also
*
Green party
*
Green politics
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
*
List of environmental organizations
References
{{Authority control
Green political parties in Belgium
Francophone political parties in Belgium
European Green Party
Global Greens member parties