Social innovation
Bridgeneers
We are an independent full-service agency that delivers results beyond the obvious by bridging what seems worlds apart.
Rediscovered: the starchy empire building of Leuven. Apparently, it’s no hallucination.
Who:?Edouard Remy
When:?Immortalised 1813 - 1896
Where:?Wijgmaal, a stone’s throw away from Leuven
Distinctive asset:?a dusty cross between Nick Cave and Abraham Lincoln
He’s famous then? But why don’t I know him??We’ve only just found a way to re-ignite historical figures with our imagination. Besides nobody pays attention to 19th century townies. Much less the unemployed and hungry living in overcrowded and epidemic conditions. Unfortunately, small-town Leuven workers seemed to have gotten the worst end of the stick. That’s when mill-owner Edouard Remy decided to come up with a simple but sticky idea: a famous starch factory.
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Do you mean like Charlie and the chocolate factory??Richer than chocolate! Remy’s factory actually churned out starchy white gold. But he was more interested in schooling workers and feeding the village. Funds for health insurance, a savings bank, a retirement home… even their own train station. It’s also how Wijgmaal became the envy of town civilisation.
I’m very impressed, but all this is making me hungry!?I wouldn’t recommend having it. Not unless you want to smarten a white shirt or a tablecloth. Once was a time that every household swore by the stiffness of Remy’s starch. It was so popular that factories were set up in Germany, France and Spain.
Oh really? Can I still get this white gold??Sure, but it’s no longer flying off the shelves. Though I hear some of the world's snootiest hotels still use it to tame their bedsheets. What are the odds eh? That a local miller could pioneer “social innovation” in his own small way by bridging profit with social support, education and health. All without the slightest clue of empire building, not to mention outside of Wijgmaal.
The empire building! You have to get me IN.?Follow me. Rumour has it that a secretive bunch inherited the same Remy-spirit. Building bridges, making good stuff. That sort of thing. But always on the sly - some of them even edible.
Want to visit the Tower but don’t have a holoporter? Maki to the rescue!