Thieu Besselink

Thieu Besselink is a co-founder of Akademie van Plaats and serves as the Lead of the Regenerative Cities Programme at Utrecht University. With extensive experience in education, innovation, and community development, Besselink co-founded the Honours Program Towards Regenerative Societies and is a co-founding director at the Townmaking Institute. Additionally, Besselink is a partner at YesAndMore and the founder of The Learning Lab, a think-do-tank for transformational learning. Holding various leadership roles, including Program Lead for Innovation Leadership at the City of Amsterdam, Besselink is also on the Supervisory Board for HKU and has received the European Leonardo Award for innovative contributions. Educational qualifications include a PhD in Social and Political Philosophy from the European University Institute, among other degrees from prestigious institutions.