Applied Demography for Local Management: An Overview of the Belgian Experience

Michel Poulain, Université Catholique de Louvain

The field of applied demography is an area of research which fits into decision-making. In this perspective the three following goals seem to be essential: (1) to seek optimisation in the use of the local resources shared by a population; (2) to seek equity when establishing the rights and obligations of all citizens; (3) to ensure transparency in the making of policy decisions in order to guarantee democracy. In this contribution, we consider applied demography at the local level, examining its special features and the problems usually encountered by demographers within the framework of our practical experience at the communal level in Belgium. CYTISE, an interactive database available on the web, is presented and used on line. It represents a real improvement for policy support, providing appropriate and comparative data for the 262 French-speaking communes of Belgium for the period 1991-2005.