As the organizers of the Geo Promotion Conference, we are thrilled to announce that this year’s event will be held at Martiniplaza, the biggest event location in the northern Netherlands. With all amenities in-house, Martiniplaza is the perfect venue for the Geo Promotion Conference, offering multiple workshop rooms, a plenary hall, and a comfortable atmosphere.

Laura Bas (1996) is a multiple award-winning Changemaker, Public Speaker and Moderator. As a speaker, she specializes in meaningful youth participation, millennials, gen z and gender equality. Last April, at age 25, Laura addressed the importance of youth participation and gender equality to world leaders at the United Nations with a self-written speech. In addition, she was employed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Youth Ambassador for Sexual Rights and Gender Equality. In that role, she consulted hundreds of young people, who shared insights and recommendations with her. The United Nations is not the only international stage Laura entered. She has spoken at TEDxAmsterdamWomen, Unicef, Microsoft and Girls not Brides. She expanded her knowledge about young people and equal opportunities in the labor market, by conducting research on Millennials & Work together with generation expert Dr. Aart Bontekoning. Moreover, she has been advising several organizations on youth participation.

Peter Pelzer is Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Geography and Planning and affiliated with the Urban Futures Studio, both at Utrecht University. According to Peter, spatial planners need to be more future-oriented in their approach to dealing with major long-term crises. In his essay “Verantwoordelijk voor de toekomst,” he addresses the question of what the open, resilient city of the future looks like. Besides his academic career, you can know Peter as one of the hosts of the podcast “Onder Planologen”, in which he discusses the history of Dutch spatial planning with researchers and those directly involved.

Emiel Reiding (1970) is director of the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam (MRA). This region has an enormous appeal to people who want to live there, to visitors and companies. However, the high quality of life is under pressure in various areas and requires a leap in scale in a number of areas. In the MRA, 33 governments work together in the field of spatial development, economy and mobility. With a share of more than 20% in the gross domestic product, the MRA is the engine of the Dutch economy.
Reiding previously worked at the Ministry of the Interior as director of The National Strategy of Spatial Planning and the Environment, which deals with the future design and development of the living environment in the Netherlands