The Beau Lieu Cafés are our very special lively talk shows with live music, profound discussions on environmental sustainability, networking opportunities, and refreshments.
The Beau Lieu Café started as an initiative at DG Environment of the European Commission – as ‘Beaulieu Café’ – , based on the original format by the Dutch Association for Public Management in The Hague – the ‘Reuring!Café’. Since 2023, the Beau Lieu Café takes place under the auspices of the Club of Rome EU-Chapter.
On this page all editions of the Beau Lieu Cafe are listed, in the more recent cases with a link to the livestream registrations on Youtube. We have also listed the editions that were organised at DG Environment since 2015.
The first Beau Lieu Café of 2026 will take place on 10th February, on the topical theme of Sustainability and Security (see the events page or
The Beau Lieu Café is the meeting place in Brussels for experts and others who are interested in sustainable development and the environment, with three high-level panel guests on our ‘royal’ red sofa, and a live band.
Climate change and geo-engineering in the Arctic (18 March 2024)
This Beau Lieu Cafe discussed the emerging promotion of geo-engineering to tackle the impacts of climate change. The Arctic ice shelf is rapidly melting, with substantial consequences not only for the region but also large parts of the EU. Geo-engineering may offer much needed breathing time to avoid worst case scenarios. This important but also somewhat uncomfortable theme led to somewhat heated debates in our panel – which was to be expected.
Guests: John Bell (European Commission DG RTD),Tony Agotha, EU Special Envoy for Climate and Environment Diplomacy (replaced by Wouter Wormgoor), and Hans van der Loo, Vice-President of the Blue Cooling Initiative. Moderator: Karl Falkenberg. House band: the Four Brothers Jazz Quartet.
Farm, Food & Planetary Boundaries (17 October 2023)
A more sustainable agriculture and food system is a key objective of the European Green Deal – and one of the most complex and disputed projects at the same time. Many bottom-up initiatives aim to push the agenda forward. One of them is Foundation Week Without Meat.
At the Beau Lieu Café we connected this with the broader topic of Farm, Food and Planetary Boundaries, with as guests Humberto Delgado Rosa, director at DG ENV of the European Commission; Isabel Boerdam, initiator of the Week Without Meat; and Luc Bas, director Belgian Complex (Climate) Risk Assessment Center. Karl Falkenberg was the moderator. House band: the Four Brothers Jazz Quartet!
SDGs in Better Regulation (4 May 2023)
After the European Commission in 2021 decided to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its Better Regulation tools (impact assessments, evaluations), a series of peer learning workshops started with EU Member States, Commission, OECD and other experts, financed by the German Federal Environment Ministry.
At the Beau Lieu Café we discussed this with Sarah Nelen, Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Timhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjZXkroeTjU&t=7811smermans of the European Commission; Jan Mareš, Head of the Sustainable Development Unit at the Environment Ministry of the Czech Republic; and Daniel Trnka, Deputy Head of the Regulatory Policy Division of the OECD. Moderator: Karl Falkenberg. House band: Time – Tijd.
Beau Lieu Cafés organised at DG Environment of the European Commission from 2015-2021
