Ludovia#BE expands its focus

The 7th edition of Ludovia#BE concluded last week in Wallonia with nearly 900 participants. This edition was marked by an important evolution: the festival of digital pedagogies became the festival of digital skills, thus expanding its audience well beyond the teaching community.

A new direction for the festival

For its seventh edition, Ludovia#BE has taken a new step in its development. Historically devoted to digital pedagogies, the Wallonian event has repositioned itself as a festival of digital skills, in line with the new orientations of the Digital Wallonia strategy.

Emphasizing broader digital skills

"A great change in form, but less so in philosophy," summarizes Franck Tiennebrune, project manager at Digital Wallonia (ADN). Behind this evolution, an ambition: no longer limit the reflections to the pedagogical uses of digital technology, but to be interested in the skills necessary for all citizens, at all ages of life. Teachers remain at the heart of the program, but the festival is now more open to trainers, mediators, and digital assistants.

Focus on artificial intelligence and coding

As every year, the programming of Ludovia#BE was built from the proposals of the participants and the interveners. As expected, artificial intelligence occupied an important place in the discussions, with particular interest in the coding vibe, this practice that consists of using AI to generate computer code from instructions formulated in natural language.

Exploring the future of digital skills

Faced with the number of proposals received on this topic, the organizers built a real path associating training, initiation, ideation, and prototyping. But beyond the demonstrations and experiments, the festival mainly allowed to raise fundamental questions. The digital skills we teach today will still be relevant tomorrow? Does artificial intelligence make certain knowledge obsolete? What new skills will need to be developed to remain autonomous in a constantly evolving technological environment?

Involving young people in the discussion

Another strong orientation of this edition: the place given to young people in the reflections on digital technology. For the organizers, it is no longer just about teaching students to use tools, but also about accompanying them in understanding a society profoundly transformed by technology. "We at Ludovia think that young people are citizens too, because they have a vision of their society, they have a vision of the future," insists Franck Tiennebrune.

Collaborating with educational institutions

This approach was notably translated into collaborations with the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the General Service of Educational Digital (SGNE), and the Higher Council of Media Education (CSEM). Media education, artificial intelligence, critical thinking, and understanding of digital issues thus nourished the exchanges, with the aim of better preparing young people for the transformations that directly concern them.

Highlighting the role of digital mediation

By expanding its audience, Ludovia#BE has also given more space to digital mediation. Because while technologies offer new possibilities for autonomy, they can also create difficulties for people who do not have the skills or the support needed. Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, rapid evolution of tools and usage: so many subjects that make the role of mediators and digital assistants indispensable.

A lifelong learning approach

For Franck Tiennebrune, the acquisition of digital skills does not stop at leaving school. It must be part of an accompaniment throughout life. This new dimension constitutes one of the major changes of the 2026 edition, with the intention of bringing together actors who, until now, did not necessarily meet in the same events.

Positive feedback on the event

At the end of this seventh edition, Franck Tiennebrune retains a positive assessment, with nearly 900 participants, but mainly the quality of the meetings and exchanges. "What everyone tells me is that the exchanges were rich, extremely interesting and inspiring," he confides. A result that seems to confirm the organizers in their choice to expand the scope of the festival.

Preserving the festival’s core identity

Because despite its name change and the opening to new audiences, Ludovia#BE intends to preserve what constitutes its identity since its beginnings: an event built collectively, where participants come as much to share their experiences as to discover those of others. "I think the goal is achieved, with a Ludovia that has changed a bit in form, changed a bit its audience, but which always keeps this philosophy of exchanges, resources, and meetings," concludes Franck Tiennebrune.

Looking ahead to the future of digital skills

With this seventh edition, Ludovia#BE thus opens a new chapter: that of a digital world that no longer concerns only the school, but all citizens, in a society where learning to master technology has become a permanent necessity.