Event technician (3/5)

Event technician (3/5).

Company Description.

We are a company that aims to make the event industry more sustainable. To do this, we build reusable and quick-to-install domes for the event sector, made of high-quality recycled aluminum and assembled in Belgium.

These structures offer several advantages. Firstly, the installation time can be reduced from a few days to just a few minutes, depending on the size of the structure. Secondly, the high quality ensures a long lifespan, encouraging multiple uses in various conditions. The design of the structure is unique and unmatched, and can be easily adapted and customized. It consists of a frame and personalized visuals and decorations.

Konligo applies teal management, encouraging self-organization and involvement while ensuring collaboration. We are a small group of passionate people who share the same standards based on humanist core values and transparent communication.

Our offices and workshop are located in the Circularium, an innovation center focused on the circular economy.

Job Description.

We’re looking for someone to join our small, dynamic team, to drive critical operational responsibilities in the workshop and on the field.
Key responsibilities:

Rentals:

  • Prepare installations and align technical requirements with packing lists provided by the Operations Manager.
  • Manage on-site installations, ensuring customer satisfaction and safety.
  • Implement maintenance of rental fleet.
  • Improve internal material management and inventory processes.
  • Train installation team

Sales:

  • Work with Operations Manager to plan production.
  • Train customers on technical aspects of purchased structures.
  • Improve internal processes for material coordination according to sales.
  • Provide feedback and possibly brainstorm with R&D department.

Profile Description.

We are therefore looking for an optimistic and enthusiastic person, who also has the following experience/skills:

  • Good communication and collaboration skills between departments and with customers.
  • A proactive approach to problem solving and attention to detail.
  • Leadership skills to effectively guide a small technical team.
  • Technical expertise to provide to collaborators and associated departments.
  • Good physical health

Qualifications and requirements.

  • Qualifications and requirements.
  • Bachelor’s degree or professional experience in a related field (mechanical engineering, maintenance, etc.)
  • Driving license
  • Fluency in French or English, Dutch is an asset
  • Enjoying playing ping-pong during breaks is also an asset.

Job Benefits.

  • Work experience in a small, friendly team in Brussels.
  • A company actively committed to its core values and focused on the professional and personal development of its employees.
  • An ambitious project with many opportunities

Additional Information.

  • Workplace: Anderlecht, Belgium
  • Type of employment : fix contract, part-time 3/5
  • Start date: March 4, 2024
  • The first month will be full time to ensure training, from the second month 3/5 will apply. The extra days worked during the first month will be converted into recuperation days.
  • Number of hours: no more than 24h per week
  • Other benefits: meal vouchers, eco-cheques

How to Apply?

Submit your CV and cover letter to Adrien Marchand by e-mail before February 15, 2024.


View of computer screen opened on Rhino software

Innovative Starters Awards 2022

Innovative Starters Awards.

At the beginning of April 2023, the Innovative Starters Awards were presented in Brussels, an initiative of Innoviris Brussels. In addition to Sparklab and Tulipal, Konligo also managed to secure a research fund of no less than €500,000!

But what is the link between Konligo, its foldable domes and stages and a research fund? Automated dome generating software!

Research and innovation in the Brussels region

As a spin-off of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Konligo has never left the Brussels Region. As it turns out, this has been a fruitful decision, since Innoviris annually awards half a million euros to start-ups and scale-ups located in the capital region.

“The mission of Innoviris is to encourage and support research and innovation in the Brussels Region.” Says Stefaan Sonck Thiebaut, General Manager of Innoviris Brussels. “Thanks to an annual financial support of 50 million euros from the Brussels government, we’re able to help companies, start-ups and scale-ups, research centers or collaborative projects. It all fits within a larger strategic framework of the Capital Region: that of economic transition. Our subsidies must serve to help Brussels companies evolve towards a more sustainable economy.

One of our programs is the Innovative Starters Awards, where we annually look for three small innovative companies.” In 2023, Konligo became the proud owner of half a million euros in subsidies. And for that, there are multiple reasons.

The return of Thomas Schoukens

A plan of action was already in place, should we be awarded half a million euros. A project which would be baptized ‘ISA’.

Overshoulder view of Thomas working at his desktop computer
Thomas working on Rhino

“With the Innoviris funds, we want to drastically change the world of temporary structures (domes and stages) by focusing on custom structures that are modular and whose

components can be reused as much as possible.” says Aushim Koumar, CEO of Konligo. “Imagine building a dome for Tesla that you can convert into a stage for Stromae. Two completely different shapes with the same components. That’s next-level sustainability!”

But we had yet to onboard the necessary talent who we didn’t have to look for, for a long time. Quite the contrary. Thomas Schoukens had already done an internship at Konligo. And for good reason.

“After his internship in 2020, Thomas very briefly started as a job student on a parametric design project. Ever since then we’ve had his name shortlisted.” says Aushim. “ Thanks to Innoviris’ financial support, we’ve been able to create a job opportunity for a parametric designer. Not long after that, we’ve interviewed Thomas. What followed, is no longer a secret.”

Today, Thomas is a valued team member at the Circularium at Anderlecht, Brussels.

Researching time savings

Smiling person, Thomas, sitting at a desk
Thomas Schoukens at his creative desk in the Circularium

When Thomas started his architecture studies at the VUB, he heard about Aushim’s doctorate “Deployable structures for disaster relief”. He was immediately intrigued and fascinated with how his field of study could lead

to helping people in emergency situations. “By the time I graduated, Konligo had started as a young startup. I wanted nothing more than to work for them. Alas, they could only offer me an internship. I didn’t miss that opportunity. A couple of years later, thanks to the Innovative Starters Awards, I was able to start at a company whose mission I very much believe in.”

This is how Aushim describes Thomas’ role: “He will develop a software which ensures that engineers spend only one week on a design instead of two months. This will enable us to reduce the production of a custom-made dome or stage from four months to four to six weeks.”

Thomas adds: “Thanks to the funds, there is now room at Konligo to conduct research into new forms and structures. The design of these structures is quite complex: you don’t just come up with a new shape that you immediately develop. My assignment is to set up a generalized working method and to automate it so that custom-made shapes are generated by the computer.

It is very gratifying to be able to play a role in a company whose philosophy is very close to my own moral values ​​and alternative vision. And it must be said that every day I do what I love most: parametric design.”

Much more than a tech company

Information is always more credible when someone external to a company has something to say about that company. Hence we conclude this article with Stefaan Sonck Thiebaut’s wise words: “Konligo is a technology company, based on innovative technology that was developed at the VUB. It responds to a real need and fits perfectly into the theme of ‘economic transition’ as they try to achieve more with fewer raw materials.

We as a region are very grateful to such entrepreneurs because they have the courage to start a new company. That’s not an easy feat. Five years ago there was nothing. And now there is a team, there are products, there are customers, … That’s really impressive.

A product is more than just technology, products and customers. It is also often a social project. I find it impressive that Konligo is very committed to team cohesion and that they work so hard on Konligo’s values. This way they are building a company that has the capacity to realize that scale-up.”

There you go. Now you know we’re not the only ones bragging about our company! All nine of us are very proud to be able to work together on such a beautiful project.

Want to find out more about our innovative research? Discover our weight and wind testing article here.


Rendu 3D du dôme Ondo sur fond bleu foncé

Ondo, the next wave

Ondo, the next wave.

Challenging yourself. Everyone knows it helps build confidence, increase resilience and even make your life more purposeful. Yet entrepreneuring engineers are often too busy keeping their business afloat, to realize that taking time away from their desks leads to greater things.

The challenge

Baudouin Hubert, one of the co-founders of Konligo, has been challenging Konligo’s team more often than not. In doing market research he met with Arnaud Istas, Head of Business Development at EasyFairs. They wanted to create an inspiration space to be used during the wide range of fairs they organize.  The technical requirements were:

  • The size did matter. It had to be both big and tall so people could enter the domes and feel inspired;
  • We had to avoid rectangular frames; 
  • It had to be modular and reusable;
  • The structure needed to be installed by untrained staff.

Baudouin convinced our potential customer that we could provide him with a dome that would make a lasting impression on the visitors of the fair EasyFairs was organizing. He then rushed back to the office and challenged Lara (Alegria Mira, another one of the founding members of Konligo) into thinking about how to implement our patented scissor technology in the development of new Konligo domes for EasyFairs. She joined hands with Prof. dr. ir. arch. Niels De Temmerman and from this creative endeavor emerged three different scissor structures: a tree, a more organic form and a shape they randomly baptized ‘The Wave’. 

Armed with basic 3D sketches, Baudouin and Lara headed to Ghent to pitch all three ideas. Pretty soon it turned out that the EasyFairs crew wanted ‘The Wave’, since the theme of the upcoming MoOD+Indigo fair that they were organizing in Brussels, was ‘The Next Wave in Textile Trends’. 

The clock incessantly continued ticking the time away: only two months and a half were left until the deadline.

 

Esperanto

It wouldn’t be a Konligo dome if its name wasn’t translated to Esperanto. 

You might know by now that the name ‘Konligo’ is in itself derived from the Esperanto word for ‘Connection’: kunligo. Since this word reminded us too much of a French word meaning something completely different, we decided to name it ‘Konligo’. Long story short: ‘The Wave’ became ‘Ondo’. The first tailor-made Konligo dome would soon become a fact!

Every challenge has its sub-challenges

Now came the real work: finding a way to assemble the Ondo dome without using too many different components. With a little help from Niels, Lara reduced the amount of unique components from twenty to five. 

Without overthinking it, the team built the Ondo according to Lara’s detailed plans. Building it was one thing, but how would we manage to set it up? Together with Haytam Abdelaoui, an intern doing a master’s thesis on the conceptual validation of a barrel vault scissor structure at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), we tried to pull it open from the top using a crane and a ladder to support the crane. Result: a bent ladder. 

In came Deus Ex Machina. The tech savvy Baudouin Hubert came up with a tool which would enable us to open the dome from the inside: a front lifter. 

Like with all Konligo domes, the Ondo was manually opened to its first opened phase. In came the lifting device which was carefully placed under Ondo's highest peak. Aushim and Haytam turned the front lifters’ handles with great precaution. The suspense was tangible. The Ondo was now completely opened. It was time to retract the front lifter and see if the dome would stay in place. Aushim left Haytam in charge of retracting the lifting device. And behold, a star was born: Ondo didn’t budge. It worked. Lara, who was filming the whole thing, was overjoyed.

Agreed, with its surface of 100m2 and its 6 meters height, the Ondo dome is more massive than the Fastival or the Arko collection and less easy to set up, but it stands out thanks to its unique design.

Next time you think about a specifically shaped dome for your brand activation campaign for instance, don’t think it’s impossible. Just remind yourself that at Konligo, we’re always up for your challenge!


Ondo dome with branded banners

Stage : Sales chez Konligo (France / Luxembourg)

Tu recherches un stage qui a un impact positif sur l’environnement ? Tu aimerais travailler dans le cadre stimulant d’une start-up, au sein d’une petite équipe ultra dynamique ? Tu cherches une fonction qui a un impact visible et immédiat sur le développement de l’entreprise ?

Alors cette offre est sans doute faite pour toi !

Contexte du travail

Konligo (start-up Bruxelloise de l’année) a pour vocation d’encourager l’industrie événementielle à la transition vers un développement durable.

Pour ce faire, Konligo crée des structures innovantes et raffinées, réutilisables et rapides à installer, fabriquées en Belgique avec de l’aluminium recyclé.

Une alternative aux stands événementiels traditionnels qui permet de limiter massivement les déchets, tout en privilégiant le qualitatif, éthique, durable et local.

Ces structures présentent plusieurs avantages, notamment :

  • le temps de montage est réduit de plusieurs jours à quelques minutes seulement, en fonction de la taille de la structure ;
  • les structures qualitatives ont une longue durée de vie, encourageant l’usage multiple et la réutilisation ;
  • la conception unique et sans précédent des structures peut être personnalisée facilement grâce à une structure fixe mais des éléments visuels variés et des décorations différentes. Découvre-le dans la vidéo ci-dessous.

Nous formons un petit groupe de personnes passionnées qui partagent les mêmes valeurs fondamentales qui sont des valeurs humaines et de communication transparente.

Aujourd’hui, nous sommes impatients d’accueillir une personne enthousiaste voulant renforcer notre équipe et nous aider à devenir leader en structures durables de stand pop-up.

En arriver là implique notamment d’augmenter sensiblement nos ventes et locations, et donc notre approche commerciale. Nous souhaitons donc engager une personne qui ose relever ce défi !

Afin de trouver le bon match entre le/la stagiaire et Konligo, nous proposons un stage de fin d’année ou un stage d’été volontaire. Ce·tte stagiaire pourrait-iel être toi ?

Description de la fonction

Bien que la pandémie de Covid19 ait ralenti notre croissance, nous développons désormais nos ventes en Belgique et en dehors. Nous sommes en discussion avec des partenaires en France, aux Pays-Bas, en Allemagne et même en Corée du Sud pour internationaliser notre technologie et nos produits le plus efficacement possible.

C'est pourquoi nous recherchons un·e brillant·e étudiant·e spécialiste des sales, capable de nous aider à améliorer ces aspects cruciaux pour le projet !

Le contenu du stage comprend :

  • Analyse du marché et amélioration de la stratégie mise en place
  • Mettre à profit tes connaissances/ ton expertise en ventes afin de développer de nouvelles pistes et idées à exploiter, être force de propositions et d’énergie créative pour améliorer notre approche sales.
  • Réfléchir en équipe aux marchés les plus intéressants pour Konligo et mettre en place les stratégies nécessaires pour intégrer ces marchés
  • Cold calling
  • Mailing
  • Événements de networking
  • Rencontres sur le terrain avec de potentiels clients
  • Réflexion et création de partenariats

Le fil conducteur de tout ce que tu réaliseras est le suivant : détermination et excellence.

Il ne s’agit pas simplement d'exécuter des tâches mais bien de réfléchir, créer, essayer, se planter et recommencer jusqu’à trouver ce qui fonctionne, ensemble !

Ce que nous recherchons

Il est toujours plus agréable de voir les collègues sourire quand on vient au travail !

Nous recherchons donc quelqu’un d’optimiste et d’enthousiaste mais également :

  • Tu as une bonne connaissance du marché français (et éventuellement luxembourgeois).
  • Tu as déjà une certaine expérience ou au moins une affinité avec le domaine de la vente.
  • Tu as un certain fighting spirit qui te permettra de surmonter la difficulté des sales.
  • Tu n’as pas peur de passer des coups de téléphone pour obtenir des informations.
  • Les gens trouvent que tu as toujours des idées créatives et que tu aimes sortir des sentiers battus.
  • Dans ta vie quotidienne, tu aimes aider les gens qui t’entourent.
  • Tu as une bonne connaissance du français. Communiquer en anglais n'est pas un problème pour toi.
  • Tu es fascinée par notre vision et notre mission et es prêt·e à travailler dans une start-up à l'atmosphère familiale.
  • Tes amis trouvent que tu es sociable, curieux/se, indépendante et proactif/ve. Tu es la personne qui prend des initiatives pour organiser les choses.
  • Tu aimes travailler en équipe et tu oses dire ce que tu penses.
  • Tu aimes les défis, c'est pourquoi tu ne choisis pas un emploi traditionnel et préfères travailler pour une start-up avec tous ses avantages et inconvénients.
  • Le statut n'est pas si important pour toi, mais l'impact que tu as avec notre produit l'est. Tu intègres une structure sans hiérarchie classique où tout le monde est égal et se respecte.
  • Tu réalises que la durabilité est importante et qu'il s'agit de plus en plus de l'impact positif que l'on peut obtenir, et moins de l'argent.

Ce que nous offrons

  • Un stage de minimum 2 mois non-rémunéré avec possibilité d’embauche si cela se déroule bien.
  • Une expérience professionnelle inédite dans une petite équipe à Bruxelles, dans une ambiance décontractée
  • Une entreprise qui exprime réellement ses valeurs et qui se focalise sur l’épanouissement professionnel mais aussi personnel des membres de son équipe
  • Un projet ambitieux avec de nombreuses opportunités
  • Un horaire de travail flexible, conformément à l’esprit start-up 😊

Lieu de travail : Chaussée de Mons 95, 1070 Anderlecht

Comment postuler?

Si tu veux faire partie de notre équipe et changer le monde de l’événementiel avec nous, remplis ce formulaire

Nous serions heureux de te rencontrer et - qui sait - de t’accueillir dans notre équipe !

Si tu as des questions, tu peux nous joindre à : arnaud@konligo.com, 0473181604

Pour plus d’informations sur notre entreprise, consulte notre site web : www.konligo.com et suis-nous sur les réseaux sociaux.

A bientôt !


Why use recycled aluminium structures for your events?

Are you involved in the organisation of a festival, a congress or a sports event and do not know what type of structure to choose for your stands? Konligo, the event partner specialised in reusable and modular pop-up structures in Belgium, explains the advantages of recycled modular aluminium infrastructures.

Why choose recycled aluminium as a pop-up structure material?

In the events sector, it is not always easy to be eco-responsible at all levels. Finding materials that can be easily recycled is not so common, due to their manufacturing process or the costs involved. Nevertheless, it is becoming more and more consistent today to propose a sustainable project, an event that tries to minimise its ecological footprint. When it comes to structures for the creation of stands, DJ areas, arches or even branching areas, one sustainable and reusable material stands out in particular: recycled aluminium.

Aluminium is a 100% recyclable material. Compared to its raw state, its use considerably reduces the environmental impact of the product it is made of, as well as reducing carbon emissions by up to 95%. Aluminium is an abundant, recyclable, non-toxic resource that does not pollute the soil and, what's more, can be reused many times thanks to its strength and practicality. The latter is especially true if the product is made in an eco-friendly way, by using modularity as key principle. By modularity we mean the reuse of subcomponents to make an alternative end product (like lego).

Advantages of a recycled aluminium structure for your event stand

Most event infrastructures are physically and ecologically heavy and time-consuming to set up. A recycled aluminium structure can be used to create modular, customisable and easy-to-set up exhibition stands, stages or tents. Indeed, these structures, although temporary, are nevertheless reusable and have nothing to envy to metal scaffolding.

One of the main missions of the event industry today is to offer local and ecological solutions. Using modular structures made of recycled aluminium is one of the options to contribute to a more sustainable future, while combining modernity and efficiency. The recycled material is re-used in subcomponents who themselves are re-used in different modular end products (structures). However, making all the other materials that cover and decorate your structure (membranes, banners, etc.) sustainable is still very challenging.

Are you interested in recyclable structures for the organisation of your event fair in Belgium?

Contact Konligo, your partner for recycled aluminium and modular event structures (85% recycled) in Belgium, via the online contact form or by phone. Their team will be happy to answer your questions and assist you in your projects.


How sustainable is a manufacturing company like Konligo?

Sustainability is one of these new buzzwords next to AI, A/B Testing, Eco-Friendly, etc. But what does it mean to be sustainable? What is the difference between greenwashing? And how realistic is it to be sustainable knowing that manufacturing a new product is already a weight on our environment?

At Konligo, we have reached the tipping point between a start-up and a scale-up. It is an interesting step in the life of a young company because it generates interesting debates about the choices we are making.

Sustainability or economic choices?

On one side, we have our vision (a zero-waste event sector) with our humanistic core value. On the other side, we have the economic reality. Two conflicting objectives in a challenging equation full of tricky parameters.

We can opt for a fully sustainable business, without any CO2 emissions, however, in a manufacturing start-up you are very rapidly confronted with the reality:

  • You produce something and therefore you use energy and raw/recycled/reused materials.
  • There are raw materials and end products that are not available in Belgium/Europe so they have to be transported by truck/boat (for some companies even plane), generating a high CO2 emission.
  • Belgian labor is very expensive. And robotic labor is not per se sustainable due to its production process and energy used.

On the other hand, we could go fully for an economic solution, knowing that if we do so, we are throwing away our sustainability principles, as labor and materials are far cheaper in countries like China (some of our competitors are flying branded tents from China by plane and it is still cheaper than our products produced entirely in Belgium…).

Our solution? Being transparent.

In the world of mathematics and optimizations, an equation with conflicting objectives does not have one optimal solution but a range of optimal solutions, each solution being equally valuable: so which is the right answer in our case?

At Konligo we have decided to go for a mix of sustainable and economic solutions. We can still improve the carbon footprint of our products but we cannot hamper our existence. It is not a fixed solution but a variable solution that is re-investigated very frequently to make sure we stay true to our vision and core values. As well as durable in time with a feasible and self-supporting business model. Because in the end, if the business model is not viable and a  company closes its door after 3 years, even if it had very sustainable products, the impact of the company would be next to nothing.

What are our actual situation and our next steps?

We know we are not there yet, but we are doing everything in our current power to deliver a sustainable product:

  • The design of our product is future-proof as it can be adapted in time because it is modular and replaceable (every piece of our product can be replaced, making it analog to the fair phone).
  • All the pieces can be re-used across almost all of our structures because we didn’t conceive a product, we conceived a kit adaptable to create different shapes.
  • We manufacture everything in Belgium, mainly in our workshop at Circularium (Anderlecht). Almost no other supplier of temporary structures does this anymore.
  • Our main suppliers are Belgian companies and the recycled aluminum comes from Belgium.

The designs of our tents, stands, DJ booths and pop-up structures are part of the circular approach.

We are aware we still need to improve:

  • Our joints are CNC machined, which requires quite a lot of energy and creates waste during the production (which can be recycled but then again asks for energy). (update september 2023: in the meantime we have invested in a mold so that the joints are casted and therefore much more sustainable than CNC casted joints)
  • Painting is used to protect the aluminum beams, this provides them a longer lifespan in the event sector, however, it is still painted.
  • None of the membrane suppliers can yet propose recyclable options. To counteract, we try to re-use old membranes for covering sleeves, protection tarps, etc…
  • The raw material of our membrane suppliers comes from outside Europe, mostly China. However, they are manufactured (and printed) in Belgium, something that not a lot of tent and party tent suppliers still do.

So why is it not greenwashing?

Because we don’t pretend to have the best ecological product on earth. But we do our best to make it the most sustainable possible knowing the circumstances and the economic reality. And this motivation does not come because of the trend around sustainability, but because this is a value embedded in our core values and lies at the origin of Konligo. Furthermore, to make sure we are aware of the new ecological alternatives that could replace some of our components, we are actively participating in different groups around circular and sustainable economy (we are board members of Circlemade and Hospitality for example) so that we can test the innovation in our sector as soon as possible.

How sustainable is a manufacturing company?

It is not a black and white answer. In the end, for us, it is about direct and indirect positive impact.

Directly because we can prove that our clients have reduced their carbon footprint by choosing our structure instead of another one, making the CO2 net balance positive. And indirectly by inspiring other entrepreneurs, our suppliers, and our team to be more sustainable and to have a positive impact. We do this by our actions, our philosophy, our vision, and mostly by mobilizing people around our project. And that multiplicator effect has much more consequences than we can imagine.


Konligo-sign-Circularium

We are Konligo. Not Kolingo, nor Konlingo... right?

Konlingo or Kolingo?

We are almost suffering from an identity crisis: Is our company called Konlingo, or is it Kolingo? We always said Konligo, but could it be that we have been saying and writing it wrong all these years? Where did it all go wrong?

Employee looking at Konligo Logo in search of identity
Arnaud, our Sales & Marketing Manager, searching for our identity.

It's Konligo!

To assure ourselves of the truth once and for all, we took a look at the Belgian State Gazette. Turns out that it really is the BV KONLIGO that was founded on April 25, 2018, for the construction of metal structures and the rental and sale of tents. But why do we still regularly receive letters and invoices addressed to Konlingo or Kolingo? We also sometimes discover this mistake in cover letters (not yet a reason for us not to hire you, but it certainly also doesn't increase your chances). And even in the last Trends, it was written wrong! That means it's been written down wrong thousands of times. So, it's not really surprising that we end up having an identity crisis then, is it?

But how come people get it wrong that often? Kolingo and Konlingo are both non-existent words, so autocorrect can't be to blame. Yet, even people who know that it is Konligo still sometimes pronounce it wrong.

The (possible) Explanation

We think it is because people, consciously or unconsciously, are more familiar with the word Lingo. In English, Lingo refers to a foreign or incomprehensible language (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lingo). The origin of this in turn is Latin, in which the word lingua means 'language'. For many Dutch people, the word will also be linked to the ever-popular television show Lingo in which people have to guess words and grab balls. And also, the word Bingo resembles it as well. But 'ligo' as (part of) a word, or letter combination does not or hardly exist in French or Dutch. Yet, that really is our name: KON-LI-GO.

The origin of this name lies in the Esperanto word kunligo. Kun means 'with', or 'together'. For example, in kunlaborar, for 'working together'. Ligo in itself means 'linking'. Put together, this forms kunligo, which translates to 'connection' or 'coherence'. We chose this because at Konligo we are always looking for what connects people. But also, because our structures only exist thanks to the (scissor) connection between the different elements.

The spaces that arise under our structures; The events for which they are used as a stage or tent. All of this invites people to come together, engage with each other and connect socially. And that explains exactly our name choice.

Konligo is thus not just a name, but a representation of our identity as a company and as a group of people. We, therefore, hope that from now on our name will not be misspelled, so that we never have to doubt our identity again.

Konligo


Picture by fauxels on Pexels

How to plan a social project

Do you ever have the feeling that you want to do something good, but you don’t know where to start? This article is about what you need to consider and how best to go about it.

Why should you help others?

Helping people is valuable for two reasons. Firstly, it is beneficial for the people you are helping, and secondly, it makes you feel better as well. Maybe even to that extend, once you start, you don’t stop and find more and more opportunities to help others. Feeling good about yourself should not be your primary goal, but it is certainly a pleasant side-effect, and you are entitled to enjoy this feeling.

Whom do you want to help?

This is obviously the first thing to consider. There are several possible areas in which you can decide to go, like the environment, humanitarian sector, or animal care.

You might want to help in as many different areas as possible, but like a lot of other activities you do, it is important to focus. When you try doing too much, you might not be able to make it possible and end up being disappointed, because your expectations were too high. Therefore, start small, and if you realize that you can achieve more during the process, well that’s great! But don’t put yourself under too much pressure, remember you are already trying to do something good, and you can be proud of it.

How can you help?

Think about the value that you can offer and how you can offer it. You may or may not have anything in mind yet, but you probably have certain expertise or a personal talent that you can use for the cause. Go in the field where you want to help and talk to organizations that already know what is needed. This part is really important.  

For example, to help homeless people, you must find the right approach. You want them to feel valued and understood. Therefore, you must understand their way of thinking as well as their needs. Otherwise, they might get the feeling that you view them as less valuable than yourself even though you really did mean well. So, go online, do your research, find some organizations. There are already a lot of them who are fighting for a good cause and would appreciate your help. Also, by this, you can find out the best way to help. It is also a process of listening and collaboration.

With whom can you collaborate?

This step goes hand in hand with the one before: If you have found organizations that can help you on your journey, why not team up with them directly? Think about what they told you, see if it corresponds to your idea or your values, and see if you can support them.

But there is more to it. Depending on your budget and your goal, you might want to find sponsors. And there is not really one rule about it. Ask whoever seems fit for this cause. You may have to send out a lot of emails, make phone calls, or go to them directly. For big companies, it is usually easier to send an email to their main office, or some might even already have application forms to fill out online. With small stores, you might achieve more by making a phone call or approaching them on site. Also, there are different kinds of donations you can ask for, like discounts, products, financial aid, or services. Make sure you know exactly what you need before asking. To increase your chance of success, explain nicely who you are, what your project is, and your motivation behind it. Although you are doing it for a good cause, you are still asking them for help. And lastly: Don’t give up! It might take a while, but you will find people to support you.

The key to success: a good timeline

When you have the concept, you must set up a schedule with the big steps. Give yourself enough time to search for sponsors minimum of one month and make sure that you choose the right time of helping. For some causes, there might not be a wrong time, but again ask the experts in your field on this one.

Don’t get discouraged!

This might seem like a lot to consider, but it just needs to be well planned, so you don’t end up stressed, and disappointed. It might be some work, but it is worth it! For the others and you. So, don’t hesitate, even the smallest project can make a big difference. It might be a cheesy line, but when you rewind to a moment, where a small gesture from a person has made you smile, then you know that it is true indeed.


Project Solidarity and Circularity

On Wednesday, June 9th, our two interns, Sonja and Anousha, went to meet homeless people, offering them 20 meal baskets with hygiene products. You might have seen our posts on our social networks (if not, check them out below) and in this article, Sonja and Anousha want to explain the philosophy behind their social project.

 

Circularity

Just like the members of Konligo, we believe that circularity is one of the keys to building tomorrow's world. We find this so important that it was a criterion of choice in our search for an internship. Secondly, what is particularly important is circularity in our daily lives. This starts with our consumption of the so-called "necessities". Since the sanitary crisis, you are probably familiar with them, they include general food products, hygiene products, cleaning products, etc. Indeed, by avoiding food waste, by using a product that is the least processed, with a minimum of ingredients, a minimum of packaging and that comes close to home; you are already participating in a virtuous model for the planet.

Therefore, for our social project, it seemed logical to us to include this value. This has resulted in the use of food from the anti-waste food chain and the creation of hygiene products with little packaging and few ingredients, which themselves come from an organic and sustainable neighbourhood grocery shop, Natural Corner.

 

Solidarity with the homeless people

At the beginning of May, Konligo offered each of us the opportunity to create our own solidarity project. It seemed obvious to both of us to combine our ideas and strengths. Before defining the ins and outs, we needed a theme that would combine our values and desires! Unfortunately, it was obvious... Since we arrived in Brussels, we have been using public transport every day and we have come across many homeless people. Therefore, we decided to prepare a meal basket for them, along with hygiene products, and go and meet them.

Not knowing the world of homelessness, it seemed essential to us to get closer to experienced people. This is where the Rolling Douche association comes in, as they are our neighbours at Circularium. Rolling Douche offers a mobile hygiene service, in the original form of a motor home specially equipped with decent sanitary facilities. This association of workers and volunteers is present every week at three fixed locations in Brussels. When we met them, they told us about the products that are necessary and missing in their mission: razors, deodorants, feminine hygiene products. This information helped us to prepare our baskets.

 

The initiative

To make these baskets, we called for donations by contacting different entities: local shops, department stores such as Carrefour, companies that are active in the fight against food waste, and foundations such as Humble Smile – a group of dental and development professionals who promote oral health and healthy smiles for everyone. The call for donations took place in two phases. Firstly, we contacted them by email or via a form provided by the entity. In a second phase, we went to meet the shopkeepers.

In addition to the donations, we also wanted to make some hygiene products: soap and shampoo. To do this, we used the budget allocated by Konligo and organised a workshop at Circularium on Wednesday, June 2nd. We tried to maximise circularity, using empty jars as containers for the shampoo and paper muffin moulds as moulds/packaging for the soap. Moreover, the products consist only of three to four ingredients each. These ingredients came from the local organic and sustainable grocery shop, Natural Corner.

On the day, we were able to provide about 20 meals (sandwiches, mixed salads, cold dishes, pastries, orange juice...) along with 25 homemade shampoos, 30 homemade soaps, 20 razors and 33 toothbrushes/toothpaste kits. This one-off event was a moment of sharing on all levels. We had time to share, laugh and understand who these people are. This one afternoon experience shows that we can make people happy with small gestures and try to fight social inequalities at our level through sharing.

The next day, we also collected a final donation from Carrefour (three large boxes of sanitary towels and tampons, about twenty deodorants, ten conditioners, moisturizers, soaps...) which we gave to Rolling Douche.

A big thank you

  • To Aline and Audrey from Carrefour Belgium, for helping us obtain the donation of sanitary towels and tampons, deodorants, conditioners, moisturizers, soaps...
  • To the Swedish company, The Humble Co., for their donation of amenity kits consisting of bamboo toothbrushes and natural toothpaste.
  • To a company fighting against food waste for their vouchers. Vouchers that enabled us to buy quality food from local traders.
  • To Natural Corner for their commercial gesture on the products needed to make homemade organic shampoos and soaps.
  • To the people who donated empty jars or participated in the workshop.

 

Did you know?

If you want to make your own shampoo, nothing could be simpler as only three ingredients are needed: 100mL of liquid Marseille soap, 100 mL of coconut milk and 20 drops of essential oils of your choice. Put all the ingredients in a container with a lid, close it well and shake to mix the ingredients. Before each use, remember to shake.
Storage: about 1 month.


Image by Alena Koval on Pexels

How Sustainable is a FasTival? A Life Cycle Analysis

Are you wondering if our structure design is sustainable? Well, we asked our R&D engineer intern Anousha Masson to share her research and life cycle analysis on our most popular product, the FasTival.

Anousha, could you tell us how a product is sustainable?

To have a sustainable product, several parameters must be considered: the number of components, the type of materials/processes, the transport, the number of uses, the end of life of the product, etc.

In a FasTival, there are 6 main families of components: aluminium profiles, aluminium joints, steel feet plate, Dyneema¹ cables and various fastening and assembly elements made of steel, aluminium, or plastic. The total weight of the components is 132 kg. Having light components and minimising the different types of components already helps to reduce the environmental impact of the product's life cycle. These first elements are already good practices to obtain a sustainable product, but an in-depth study with the aforementioned parameters must be conducted. This is where numerical methods such as LCA come in.

What is a life cycle assessment (LCA)?

LCA is a tool used to identify, quantify, and evaluate the environmental impacts of a product, service, or activity. Indeed, all phases of the product's cycle are assessed: from the time materials are extracted until the product end of life through the steps of manufacturing, transportation, storage, use, recovery, reuse, and disposal.

 

What is the first step in your study?

Before listing, quantifying, and filling in a database in Excel, it is necessary to define the purpose and scope of the study. Here, the study object is the FasTival pop up structure used for 1,000 days. The included steps are raw material extraction, manufacturing, assembly at Konligo, use, and end of life of the product with transport and packaging used between each step.

How did you find the information for each step?

To trace the life cycle of each component composing our event structure, I contacted our suppliers. For example, a scissor element is made of two beams, three plastic washers, two sleeve nuts and a stud bolt (fastener components). I have weighed and measured each component and I requested as much information as possible from the suppliers (material used, origin, forming process, type of packaging, type of transport…). The more precise the information, the more reliable and complete the analysis will be. This step was time-consuming, but it was crucial for obtaining successful results. Then, I completed an Excel database that converts the input data (weights, materials, processes, distances...) into output data (= environmental impacts).

Did you create this database or is there a universal method?

The databases used are Idemat 2020 developed at the University of Delft in the Netherlands, and EF secondary which comes from the European PEF project aimed at harmonizing LCA methods. In our study, we used the Idemat 2020 for raw materials and manufacturing steps. The EF secondary was used for transport, use and end of life phases. By using a universal method, I can compare the environmental impacts of a FasTival to other products.

What are the environmental impacts obtained?

The LCA gives us 5 results on environmental impact:

  • an end-of-life score expressed millipoint (mPt), a unit common to all impact criteria (sum of damage to human health, ecosystems, and resources)
  • a climate change score in kg CO2 equivalent, which combines the increase in the greenhouse effect, climate change, and the increase in the Earth's average temperature
  • a respiratory disease risk factor (= human health effects of potentially inhaled inorganic particle emissions)
  • a result on water eutrophication in kg CO2 equivalent, considering the proliferation of aquatic vegetation, oxygen imbalance and the release of toxic substances by aerobic bacteria
  • a result on the energy consumed in MJ (= total non-renewable primary energy consumed)
So, is the FasTival a sustainable product?

Yes, if it is used as many times as possible and recycled at the end of its life, it is indeed a sustainable product. So, it is also in the hands of our customers to make the most of the sustainable potential by taking good care of it. Secondly, since the most used material comes from recycling, the environmental impact is lower than for a FasTival produced with primary raw materials. And finally, durability is ensured through Belgian manufacturing and assembly (see image).

Did you know?

Using a FasTival for 1000 days has the same impact as producing and using 1050 disposable plastic cups.

 


¹ Lightweight material with tensile property comparable to steel cables