About me

(c) Roel De Cock, Leuven 2014

When I was in New Zealand, I learnt the meaning of the Maori words "Koru" and "Aihe", which are two symbols of the "nature culture". The first, a spiral inspired on the curling fern, represents positive growth, peace, harmony, that time is like a spiral of birth, death and rebirth. Also, it reminds me to the waves of the ocean, where all life is born, as well the shell of a slug, which is a home you carry everywhere. A slug is somewhere who feels home everywhere. The second, a dolphin, stands for "the traveler", who is connected with nature, which is a free spirit and values friendship. So... "Koru Aihe" stands for who I am. 

If I can summarise my interests (and life) in 4 words (like there are 4 seasons): 

ecology, feminism, traveling and storytelling.  Ecology and traveling are not really words that fit together, but I believe for a better world, it would be better if products and services stay locally, but people and ideas travel globally, so we can inspire and get inspired, and learn that we all want the same: health, happiness and sustainability. 

For my professional career, please visit my LinkedIn page: click here

After obtaining a Bachelor degree in Geography, minor social and economical sciences (and extra credits of the departments of psychology and management) of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), I traveled alone around the world and did some volunteering work in different fields.

In '13 I obtained an one year certificate in "videography" at the Prague Film School. After working as intern communication for the Film Fest Gent '13, I worked as post-production assistant for a Belgian television program. Afterwards I was in Pakistan for a month and volunteered in some communication and design project for a NGO. In May 2014 I started an internship for the documentary and video art house Zapomatik, in Brussels, where I helped with the project "on radical ecology." Besides this, I also did some video projects for visual okapi. 

In the meantime, I did a permaculture design course (for 2 weeks), followed for one year a monhtly course "environmental philosophy and politics" and was elected in September 2014 to be the secretary of EGEA, an European student association for geography students and young graduates, with more than 7000 members in more than 30 countries. I was responsible for internal communication, media, grant writing (EU grants), finances, reporting, organising meetings and the general assembly. In September 2015 my mandate ended during the General Assembly 2015 in the Netherlands. 
In October 2015 I started my first year of the Erasmus Mundus Master "Industrial Ecology" in the University of Graz. In August 2016 I will start my third term in Bangkok (Asian Institute of Technology).

Besides communication, media and environmental sciences I am into "gender equality". Besides following extra courses, I co-founded a project group in EGEA about diversity and inclusion and organised a seminar in Sevilla (Spain) about feminist geography and gender roles for 31 participants of whole Europe, funded by the European Youth Foundation (Council of Europe). 

To watch some videos which I filmed (director or director of cinematography)