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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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!

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...

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...

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

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...

"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

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-...

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...

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

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...

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 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...

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...

“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...

For all Sherlock Holmes fans out there - and anyone interested in an inspired portrait of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II in real fictional life – my (glowing) review of Andrew Finkel's debut novel. #Constantinople #SherlockHolmes #DrWatson #mystery #Turkey hughpope.com/2025/01/27/s...

Great to see a debate starting in the US over constitutional renewal and the idea of proportional representation being "a fix" for their crisis in governance. Taking a leaf from my late Dad's book The Keys to Democracy, I put the arguments for going much further here. hughpope.com/2025/01/16/p...

For anyone out there heading to Davos for the first time ... or if you're just interested in what it's like to be a hanger-on to the rich and powerful. hughpope.com/2016/01/19/d...

Many people in Europe and in my politically paralysed home country Belgium can see what's going wrong. But is the way to put it right really to fantasize about a return to the old two-party electoral system that got us here in the first place? open.substack.com/pub/hughpope...

It started with good intentions. Trust was misplaced. Then came abdication of responsibility. For a taste of just how much big tech companies have now taken over our lives and governments, see my interview with @marietjeschaake.bsky.social for DemocracyNext. demnext.substack.com/p/ending-big...