I'm an author, keynote speaker and founder of several global educational projects. I've been in education for 20 years.

Director TAG Inc. [USA] - Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts - Ashoka Fellow - Master of Technology Enhanced Learning, Sheffied-Hallam University [UK]

TEDx: When education tastes sweeter than winning the lottery

The Kakuma Story...
Quality Education for all

Koen started to teach refugees through Skype in 2015. In 2020 he built a school in Kakuma refugee camp in partnership with UNHCR. This was featured in Kief Davidson's - an Academy Award®-nominated director - documentary " Heroes for the Planet "

The project offers free, virtual exchanges between refugees and students from across the world and trains teachers in the camp.

2 Innovation Lab Schools have been built in Tanzania in collaboration with Jane Goodall, allowing students to brainstorm about the UN Sustainable Developement Goals and come up with solutions.

Just out: book "Game Changer"

Upcoming keynotes

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Climate Action Project
uniting 3.5 million students across the world

Koen launched the Climate Action Project in 2017 uniting 3.5 million students across 152 countries. The project allows students to brainstorm, discuss, find solutions and share findings online. The project is supported by HH Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall and Princess Esmeralda. It is supported by WWF, NASA, UN Environment Programme and ministries of education across 16 countries.

The project is concluded by Climate Action Day, a yearly online event with HRH Prince William, David Attenborough, President Santos, Vanessa Nakate, Tony Hawk, activists and climate experts.

The project is now part of Take Action Global Inc. (TAG) of which Koen is co-founder. TAG is accredited by the United Nations.

Keynotes

Newsfeed

Koen has been speaking at several conferences across 4 continents including Moscow, Washington DC, Beijing, Dubai, Toronto, London and the European Parliament. He was announced as one of the best teachers around the world by Bill Gates. Koen launched several global projects involving 2,500,000 students and built schools in an African refugee camp.

Thanks to having brief meetings with public figures like Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Charlize Theron, the King and Queen of Belgium, Tony Blair, Julia Gillard, President Bio, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Irina Bokova, Andreas Schleicher, president Santos, Lewis Hamilton, Koen was able to ship educational resources and find support for his global educational projects.

Charlize Theron
Actress
King & Queen
Belgium
Al Gore
Former Vice President USA
Tony Blair
Former prime minister UK
Lewis Hamilton
F1 Racing Car Driver
Dr. Jane Goodall
Primatologist
T. Egerton & N. Hoult
Actors
Julia Gillard
Former Prime minister
Priyanka Chopra
Actress and Singer
Juan Manuel Santos
President Colombia
Julius Maada Bio
President Sierra Leone
Vladimir Klitschko
World champion boxing
Alexander De Croo
Deputy Prime minister
Irina Bokova
Former director UNESCO
Trevor Noah
Comedian
Gina Torres
Actress
Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium
Dr. Amina Mohamed
Minister Education Kenya
Dr. Sabri Saidam
Minister Education Palestine
Rosemary Serinde
Minister Education Uganda
Esteban Bullrich
Minister Education Argentina
Sunny Varkey
Varkey Foundation
Dr. Andreas Schleicher
OECD
Helen Clark
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand & former UNDP Administrator
Kumi Naidoo
Amnesty International

Press

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VRT NWS

[TELEVESION] Top 10 teacher Global Teacher Prize 2018

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BBC Radio

[RADIO] Interview with Sarah Major during Saturday morning breakfast.

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De Standaard

[NEWSPAPER] Geprezen door Bill Gates, gesteund door Dalai Lama

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NTV Kenya

[TELEVISION] Interview about Kakuma project

Listen to Koen's interview on Climate Education on BBC World Service.

Read more
"I applaud the work of the Kakuma project to offer free education online. This is so important in the quest to achieve education for all."

Helen Clark
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former UNDP Administrator
"I salute Koen for as his labs spread far and wide he will be changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people. Empowering them and giving them hope for the future."

Dr. Jane Goodall
English primatologist and anthropologist
"Koen is doing a phenomenal work for education"

Alexander De Croo
Prime Minister Belgium

Koen worked with

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Hire Koen

  • Hasselt, Belgium
  • koen [at] timmers.me
  • Download hi-res pictures at Press kit