With many years of experience as a public speaker—both in the Netherlands and internationally—I aim to make layered topics accessible and engaging for a broad audience, drawing on academic research as well as real-world examples.
As a professor of geopolitics and political geography, I have developed deep expertise in global justice, conflicts, European integration, border and migration policy, cartography, cross-border cooperation in border regions, national and regional identity, and football —often described as a battle on the field, without weapons.
In my talks, I aim to share critical insights and invite reflection on complex societal and political questions. Over the years, I have given hundreds of keynotes and public lectures at a wide range of events and organizations, such as for universities, TedX, Universiteit van Nederland, media, banks, firms, ministries, UN, NGO’s, EUregions, municipalities, foundations, museums and public debating centres and theaters like De Balie, Pakhuis de Zwijger, Schouwburg Rotterdam, LUX Nijmegen, Theater Meervaart, Theater aan het Vrijthof, and many others.
You can book me for keynotes and seminars (in Dutch or English), panel contributions, or a MapLab session. In a MapLab, using the insights of my book Free the Map (see also FreetheMap.org) participants create their own maps on timely geopolitical issues, which we then explore and discuss together. It is engaging, thought-provoking, and a great way to learn about urgent issues through doing.
I have a standard fee. You can contact me directly at Henk.vanHoutum@ru.nl or book a lecture via my speaking agency Sprekersarchitecten.
For small NGO’s or high schools, alternative arrangements are possible—for example, exchanging a keynote for the purchase of a number of any of my recent books. Always by mutual agreement.
Recent & Upcoming lectures:
2026
- 7 December, Luxembourg University
- 25 November, Luxembourg University
- 6 November, Kenniscafé van de Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- 5 November, Mercator Museum, Antwerpen
- 29 October, Luxembourg University
- 28 October, Saarland University
- 26 September, Lindenberg, Nijmegen
- 17 September, Theater LUX, Nijmegen
- 11 June, Regensburg, Keynote, University Regensburg
- 18–21 May, Fez, Morocco
- 29 April, University of Leeds
- 21 April, University of Berlin (https://www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de/de/suedostasien/gesellschaft/21-04-free-the-map-towards-a-new-cartography-of-borders-and-migration-henk-van-houtum)
- 10 April, University of Milan (Online: www.geonight.net/2026/2026179/)
- 7 April, Webinar Free the Map, Wolters-Noordhoff
- 2 April, Keynote, Young Geo Council, University Utrecht
- 27 March, ‘Polikliniek Politiek’, Psychiatry Seminar, Amsterdam
- 26 March, Pius X – Instituut, Antwerpen
- 24 March, Theatercollege, Van de Kaart, Defacto, Theater LUX Nijmegen
- 9 March, Podcast Loving Geopolitics, Utrecht
- 5 February, Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam
- 22 January, De Nieuwe Amsterdamse School, Psychiatry Conference, Theater Meervaart, Amsterdam
2025
- 11 December, University Utrecht
- 6 December, Keynote, Kaaitheater, Brussel
- 28 November, University Wageningen
- 20 November, Sevilla, Keynote, Conference Globalogies
- 12 November, Theatercollege Free the Map, ”Van de Kaart”, Defacto, Theater aan het Vrijthof, Maastricht
- 7 November, Lyon, Lecture and Maplab, University Lyon
- 7 October, Lecture Free the Map, De Balie, Amsterdam
- 2 October, Amersfoort, Keynote, Congres VNG
- 29 & 30 September, University of Bolzano, Opening Academic Year and Maplab
- 27 September, St. Niklaas, Keynote, VLA – Vereniging Leraars Aardrijkskunde
- 19 September, University Coimbra, Portugal, Keynote, Opening the Academic year
- 11 & 12 September, University Luxembourg, Keynote and Maplab, Cultures of Assembly
- 27 June, Regensburg, Lecture, Department for Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS), University Regensburg
- 12 Juni, Deltametropool, Rotterdam, Lecture and Maplab
- 26-30 May, Pyla (Cyprus) Keynote, conference Border Regions in Transition
- 22 May, Maastricht, Keynote, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/faculties/faculty-arts-and-social-sciences
- 30 April, Tilburg, Seminar, University Tilburg
- 16 April, Australian Critical Border Studies Network, Online Lecture
- 7 April, Padova, Keynote, Centre for Advanced Studies in Mobility & Humanities | DiSSGeA Department, University of Padova
- 26 March 2025, Milan, Keynote, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano