contributors
Connect Conference
At Connect Conference, it’s all about discovery, growth, and connection. Our diverse range of workshops invites you to pause, reflect, and explore — together with others from around the world. Whether you’re drawn to creativity, deep thinking, movement, or personal insight, there’s something here for everyone.
Workshopleaders
Damien Versele
Coach & co-creator in complexity
Damien Versele (B) is certified coach, facilitator & co-creator. He helps (young) people and organizations navigate complex challenges with courage and creativity. He is also the driving force behind ATELIERetc, a space of nature, sound and dialogue. Discover more at https://damienversele.be/en and https://atelieretc.be.
Pieter Govaerts
Pieter Govaerts (°1995) grew up in the Widar Village Community, where he now works as a member of the leadership team and as a gardener. Previously, he taught for four years at the Steiner School in Wilrijk. Today, he seeks to cultivate and promote anthroposophy in various ways—at Widar, through the ImpulsA network, and as a board member of the Anthroposophical Society in Belgium.
Melanie Lauwaert
Melanie Lauwaert (°1988) is a former student of the Steiner School in Ghent. As a young person, she was involved in the international Youth Section and organized various social projects. After gaining experience as a teacher in Steiner education, she chose a more therapeutic path. She has worked as an art therapist and in adult education. She currently lives and works in Widar, an anthroposophical village community for adults with disabilities, and is active in the ImpulsA network and the Anthroposophical Society in Belgium.
Sylvie De Vogelaere
For over 26 years Sylvie has been part of the Rudolf Steiner School Ghent, Belgium, where she has been committed to teaching subjects such as English, Parzival, Faust, theatre and history. She holds a Master’s degree in Translation (English–Spanish–Dutch) and is currently training as a biographical coach — a natural extension of her deep interest in human development and life stories. A proud mother of three sons, Sylvie finds joy and inspiration in literature, travel, cooking, and the performing arts — interests that enrich both her personal and professional life.
Siddhart Jain
Siddhart Jain is a systems thinker and organisational strategist passionate about regenerative futures. He designs learning frameworks, facilitates collaboration, and leads transformative projects at the intersection of sustainability, culture, and social innovation. His work empowers teams to align purposefully and act collectively for planetary well-being and systemic change.
Sietske van Poelgeest
“Hello there! My name is Sietske van Poelgeest (she/her), and I am an educator in the broadest sense of the word. For more than 20 years, I’ve been rooted in Steiner/Waldorf education, guiding learning and growth with curiosity and creativity.
Beyond the classroom, I find joy in hiking, camping, reading, and drawing—ways of reconnecting with nature, stories, and people.
My greatest passion lies in working with groups: bringing people together through collective practices, fostering safe spaces for sharing and dreaming, and nurturing forms of leadership that are collaborative and forward-looking.”
Julie Van damme
Julie Vandamme (B) teaches English at the Secondary Waldorf School in Ghent. Raised in an environment where folk music played a major part, she likes exchanging dances and melodies she learned along the way. When she’s not teaching or enjoying music, you can find her in her garden or kitchen, with her grumpy cat.
Koen Joly
My name is Koen (pronounced as “coon”). Loving husband, proud father of four. Coach, inspirator, facilitator and motivator of people, teams and organizations, most of the time non-profit organizations. People call me inspiring, challenging, experienced and coaching.
Since I was a kid I’m fascinated by the magical things that happen between people. I like meeting all kinds of people and always enjoy the company of inspiring people. Creating, trying new things, building relationships, learning, … are some of the things that really give me a boost every single day.
Apart from that I’m really passionate about music. I collect 7” records and as a DJ I like to make people dance. Visiting concerts and festivals always gives me a lot of energy. Dancing is another way to express myself. What strikes me most is that music and dancing bring people together.
Find out more about Koen on his website, linkedin, instagram or facebook.
Lisa Jordens
Lisa Jordens is a vocal coach and performer from ZING, bringing music, energy, and joy to the Connect Conference. She will lead the final evening session, creating an inspiring and uplifting experience for all participants.
Guest lecturer
Reinoud Meijer
Reinoud Meijer (Born 1975 in Amersfoort, the Netherlands) has been involved with youth and education for many years. He organised, facilitated, initiated and founded a number of youth conferences, projects, and initiatives before co-founding the YIP program.
He has a passion for human potential and development, for regenerative agriculture, -food culture and -lifestyles, and for the power of imagination put into action.
He refers to himself as a Imagineer, who seeks to move possibilities towards probabilities where possible. He is currently the president of the YIP association and a member of the organising team and lives together with his wife and two children on the campus in Ytterjärna, Sweden.
Maaianne Knuth
Maaianne is the co-founder of Kufunda Learning Village, a learning center and eco-village in Zimbabwe dedicated to cultivating locally rooted pathways to community self-reliance. At Kufunda, communities engage their own imagination, collaboration, and cultural wisdom to meet challenges in education, health, and land stewardship.
Together with villagers from across Zimbabwe, Kufunda has:
- Founded a Waldorf-inspired school serving over 140 children from surrounding communities, where learning with head, heart, and hands is foundational.
- Deepened into biodynamic farming, working alongside local farmers to restore relationships with
the soil. - Hosted transformative programs for women, men, and youth—nurturing leadership, healing, and
community resilience.
At the heart of it all is a living commitment to learning our way into the futures we long for.
Maaianne is also a teacher of Movement Medicine, a conscious dance practice that supports people in becoming more whole—in service of a more just and beautiful world.
She holds a master’s degree in International Business and Finance from the Copenhagen Business School.
Early in her journey, she became the first female president of AIESEC International, a global student
organization spanning 87 countries. She later co-founded Pioneers of Change, a global learning community
dedicated to equipping young changemakers with the courage, capacities, and relationships to step forward
with purpose.
She now lives between Zimbabwe and Cape Town having followed her children’s Waldorf education to the
Cape.
Juul Brandsma
Juul Brandsma specializes in listening skills, dialogue, and polarization. She also has a passion for everything that brings people together. She studied Interreligious Dialogue and World Religions at KU Leuven and actively engages with these themes through her company, Het Luisterkabinet.
https://www.hetluisterkabinet.nl/
www.linkedin.com/in/juulbrandsma
Bastiaan Baan
Bastiaan Baan (* 1949) werkte op een ghetto-school in Los Angeles (’The roughest place in the world’), op Gandhi-scholen in India en als leraar in een vrije school in Bergen, Noord – Holland. Sinds 1981 is hij werkzaam als geestelijke in de Christengemeenschap, een beweging voor religieuze vernieuwing. Vanaf 2012 is hij tevens docent aan de priesteropleidingen van de Christengemeenschap in Noord-Amerika en Duitsland. Hij schreef een reeks boeken over spiritualiteit en religie, die onder meer in het Duits en Engels vertaald werden. (Zie Bastiaan Baan Books)
Meet the team
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James Sebastian
Could describe these conceptions, could impress upon paper all that is living so full and warm within me, that it might be the mirror of my soul.
Max Mathew
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Max Mathew
Successful campaigns usually require a campaign again manager coordinate campaign’s operations. Apart from a candidate the campaign manger is often a the campaign for aparts.
