With many years of experience as a 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, security, European integration, border and migration policy, cartography, cross-border cooperation in border regions, national and regional identity, and even 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 spoken at a wide range of events and organizations, such as for universities, banks, firms, ministries, UN, TedX, NGO’s, EUregions, municipalities, and foundations.
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 agencies Sprekersarchitecten or Sprekershuys.
For small NGO’s, alternative arrangements are possible—for example, exchanging a keynote for the purchase of 50 of any of my recent books. Always by mutual agreement.
Upcoming lectures:
- 26 March, Milan Keynote -Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano
- 7 April, Padova Seminar (Centre for Advanced Studies in Mobility & Humanities | DiSSGeA Department, University of Padova): https://www.mobilityandhumanities.it/2025/04/02/free-the-map-from-atlas-to-hermes-a-new-cartography-of-borders-and-migration/
- 16 April, Australian Critical Border Studies Network, Online Lecture
- 30 April: Tilburg: Seminar University Tilburg
- 22 May, Maastricht Keynote, (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/faculties/faculty-arts-and-social-sciences)
- 26-30 May, Pyla (Cyprus) (Keynote conference Border Regions in Transition, https://brit.uclancyprus.ac.cy/)
- 13 June, Regensburg (Department for Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS), University Regensburg)
- 27 September, St. Niklaas, Keynote, VLA – Vereniging Leraars Aardrijkskunde
- 7 November, Lyon, Seminar, University Lyon