Ignace Schops

Ignace Schops 

Ignace Schops is a Belgian environmentalist. He is the Director of the Belgian NGO Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland (RLKM) and President of EUROPARC federation, the largest network on natural heritage in Europe and a full member of the European chapter of the Club of Rome and Rewilding Europe Circle.

Ignace Schops was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008, better known as the Green Nobel Prize. Since 2008 he was selected as ASHOKA fellow, a world-leading social entrepreneur.

Due to his work on biodiversity and social entrepreneurship he became an Honorary Doctor at the Hasselt University in 2011. In 2013 he became a member of the Climate Leadership Corps of Al Gore and later that year he was decorated as the “Commander of the Order of the Crown” by the Belgian King Filip. In 2017 he was selected in the top 25 of most influential Belgians in the world by Charlie Magazine and in 2019 his organization RLKM was awarded by the Flemish Parliament with the "Golden Honorary Award" for long-lasting outstanding environmental achievements.

Ignace Schops and his team designed the (Re)connection Model. This model (Re)connects society with natural heritage and is used in several countries in the world. Schops is often asked as expert and keynote speaker at international conferences related to the natural heritage, biodiversity, climate change, sustainable development and social entrepreneurship.