EUROPEAN CAUSAL INFERENCE MEETING
Practical Information

Dinner

Dinner will take place at Volta (https://www.voltagent.be/) on April 10 at 7pm. For people interested in walking together, we will meet in front of the restaurant Amadeus (Goudenleeuwplein 7) at 6.30pm.

How to get to

The venue from the Gent-Sint-Pieters train station:

It is a 10-min walk from the Gent-Sint-Pieters train station. Follow Koningin Astridlaan to Citadel Park. Walk through or along the edge of the Citadel Park to the ICC. When you get there, cross over Emile Clauslaan. On your right, you will find the entrance to the Botanical Garden. The conference takes place in the building in front of you. Please enter the building via the Karel Lodewijk Ledeganckstraat.

The venue from the historical city centre:

It’s about a 30-min walk from Korenmarkt (near Saint Nicholas’ Church). Along the way, you’ll pass not only historic churches but also the Wintercircus - a unique building worth a visit, the main Ghent University Building (Ufo), Sint-Pietersplein, a large but rarely used square. You’ll also walk through the Student district (Overpoortstraat) and past two of Ghent most renowned museums, SMAK and MSK.

Public transport will take about 25min. Take buses 5A/5B (from stop Sint-Jacobs to stop Ottergemsesteenweg), bus 55 (from stop Sint-Jacobs to stop Ledeganckstraat) or buses 55/70/71/76/77 (from stop Zuid to stop Ledeganckstraat). You can plan your journey by bus or tram at delijn.be.

Gent-Sint-Pieters train station from Brussels Airport:

We recommend traveling by train from Brussels Airport. This should take less than an hour. For the fastest route, take the train towards Knokke, as the direct train to Gent-Sint-Pieters makes frequent stops and takes much longer. Since the Knokke train runs only once per hour, another option is to first take a train to Brussels-South and then transfer to a train heading towards Blankenberge or Oostende. Get off at Gent-Sint-Pieters train station.

A taxi will take about an hour, but will be much more expensive (>100 euros).

Gent-Sint-Pieters train station from Brussels-South train station:

Take a train heading towards Blankenberge or Oostende. Get off at Gent-Sint-Pieters train station.

How to get to EuroCIM – without costing the earth (and in comfort!)

2024 was the warmest year on record globally, with increasing extreme weather events and adverse effects of global warming. We can take some action (and improve our travel experience!) by travelling to EuroCIM by train. Here’s how…

Ghent is well-connected by train, and can be reached in less than 8 hours from many parts of Europe. The University travel site gives more details (https://www.ugent.be/en/ghentuniv/mission/sustainability/guidelines/travel), and information about trains. Travel times include:

  • <2 hours from Paris, Lille, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, other stations within The Netherlands and Belgium.
  • 2-4 hours from Germany (Bonn, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, central France (Lyon, Strasbourg), Luxembourg, Utrecht, London.
  • 4-6 hours from UK (Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford), France (e.g. Montpellier, Bordeaux), Germany (Stuttgart, Bremen)
  • 6-8 hours from Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich), France (Nice), Toulouse), UK (Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Newcastle), Switzerland (Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich).

Compare your train journey to flying here:

https://www.ecopassenger.org/bin/query.exe/en?L=vs_uic

Carbon footprint in EU is approx. 7 metric tons of Carbon per person (=7000 kg).

From the UK:

Rail. Total duration of journey (London to Ghent) approx. 4 hours (including 1 hour check in for Eurostar). Total cost approx. £220. Carbon footprint = 2kg (one-way)

Flight. 1 hr duration (plus 1 hour recommended check in at Heathrow – also would need to factor in travel to Heathrow). Total cost >£250. To Ghent from airport – train - <1 hour. Plus time to get off plane, through security, find train. Total time approx. 4 hours. Carbon footprint = 121.4kg (one-way).

Saving (return)= 238.8kg

Offsetting

It is estimated that a mature tree can absorb about 25kg of CO2 per year (https://ecotree.green/en/) – so 10 trees would be needed for a year to offset this flight (and this does not include other issues such as pollution, other emissions, etc).

Accommodation

Please note that you are responsible for booking your own accommodations for the conference. Below, you will find some hotel suggestions near Gent-Sint-Pieters train station (10-min walk from venue) and in the historical city centre (30-min walk from venue) to help you with your arrangements. Note that we do not have any special arrangements with these hotels for this meeting and that plenty of other alternative hotels are available in Ghent.

Within 5-mins walk from Gent-Sint-Pieters train station:

  • Hotel Chamade (budget)
  • Hotel The Lord (budget)
  • Astoria Hotel
  • Hotel Carlton

In the city centre

  • Ibis Gent Centrum Opera (budget)
  • Ibis Gent Sint-Baafs
  • Novotel Gent Centrum
  • B&B HOTEL Gent Centrum
  • The Ghent Marriott Hotel

Public transportation to the venue: From the city centre take buses 5A/5B (from stop Sint-Jacobs to stop Ottergemsesteenweg), bus 55 (from stop Sint-Jacobs to stop Ledeganckstraat) or buses 55/70/71/76/77 (from stop Zuid to stop Ledeganckstraat).