On 16 September 2022 the Antwerp EPIBEL team hosted a first collaborative workshop with a clear methodological focus on spatial analysis of mortality and inequality. In this workshop we demonstrated and questioned different methods of spatial visualisation and spatial analysis of historical and present-day data on epidemic mortality in Belgium, and how to cross them with other demographic and socio-economic data. Using GIS and statistical packages such as R, we explored possibilities to observe spatio-temporal differences, and clusters of vulnerability, both at the ‘aggregate’ level of municipalities or districts, and at the individual level of houses and households. The goal was to exchange our experiences and the challenges we face. 

The EPIBEL team presented on “Regional and local clusters of epidemic mortality in Flanders (17th-19th century)”, “Spatial Analysis of Cholera in 19th century Brussels”, “Spatial visualisation of COVID-19 mortality in Belgium” and “Spatial data and cartographic visualisation of demographic and socio-economic data in Stream, Lokstat and Hisster”. SOHIFIN researchers talked about “Spatial analysis & the Social History of Finance.”

Learn more about AIPRIL, the Antwerp Interdisciplinary Platform for Research into Inequality? Click here.