Never without …
my bicycle helmet!

Did you ever see Olivia Geels arrive at Monnoyer with bike and matching helmet? That’s not a fashion statement! Read here why Olivia’s bike (helmet) is so dear to her.

I always come to work by bike. And yes, that includes a bicycle helmet. Especially in Brussels where cycling through the busy traffic can be quite dangerous. From my home I am 25 minutes on the way to the Monnoyer. I’m from Etterbeek. On the way there it goes downhill, but in the evening I have to climb to get home again. I don’t think an electric bike is necessary for the time being. But if we were to move to the edge, I might have to rethink that.

A company car is not necessary for me. In Brussels I do all my trips by bike. And my husband has a car. This is useful if we want to leave Brussels, on weekends or on holiday. It is important for me to live according to my personal values as much as possible. Taking care of the environment is a very important one of these. By cycling to work, but also by shopping packaging-free, for example, I try to do my bit. If I have to travel for work, I drive an Elia car out of the pool.

I am a bioengineer by training. I’m a big nature lover anyway. But it has also been my ambition for several years to be able to make a difference in the field of environmental conservation. In my first job at an engineering firm, I analysed the environmental impact of other people’s projects. Here at Elia, I can lead projects that have a real impact on the ground. I have been working here for one year now and it is clear that Elia is making great efforts and is freeing up a lot of resources to become more sustainable. This is not greenwashing!

One of the projects I am pulling is to improve the visibility of the high-voltage lines for birds. I am also continuing the work of my predecessor on the ecological corridors in forest areas. Instead of completely removing the vegetation, we plant them with low shrubs that do not hinder the high-voltage lines, or we turn them into meadows that offer great added value for the biodiversity in the area. And so there are a lot of projects. These may be modest steps, but I am convinced that the sum of all those efforts really makes a difference.