Professor Kurt Deketelaere is a highly respected legal scholar and policy expert with over 35 years of leadership in European research, innovation, education, energy, environment, climate, and sustainability policy. Trained as a lawyer (LL.B. 1986, LL.M. 1989, PhD 1995 – KU Leuven), he has combined an academic career of international distinction with senior executive roles in public administration, university alliances, and corporate governance.Since 2009, he has served as Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a premier network of 24 top-tier research-intensive universities across 12 European countries.

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In this role, he leads strategic advocacy for frontier research, innovation, and higher education at the highest levels of European and international policymaking.Professor Deketelaere is a Full Professor of EU Environmental, Energy and Climate Law at KU Leuven (since 2004) and Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Helsinki (since 2021). He has held visiting and honorary professorships at leading institutions worldwide, including the Universities of London, Sydney, Singapore, Malta, Keio, and Chuo, and has been recognized with numerous academic honours, including the Hou-De Honorary Chair at the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan (2012) and honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh (2017) and the Georgian National University SEU (2024).In the public sector, he was Chief Legal Advisor (2004–2007) and later Chief of Staff (2007–2009) to the Flemish Ministers for Energy, Environment, and Public Works.

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He was named Honorary Chief of Staff of the Flemish Government in 2009.As an active board member and advisor, Professor Deketelaere currently serves on the boards of MRBB, AIF, Arvesta, and Embridge, and provides strategic counsel to organizations such as Crowdhelix (London), Humanitas University (Milan), CLICKS (Dubai), and Charles University (Prague). He is also the founder of his own consultancy, BV KDK, and Chair of Sustainability College Bruges.Former governance roles include Chair of the Flemish Energy Regulator (VREG), board member at Eneco Belgium, GUBERNA, VITO, and I-Cleantech Flanders. Earlier in his career, he led the environmental law practice of a prominent Brussels law and consultancy firm.Widely decorated for his academic and institutional leadership, his awards include the (first) Scaliger Medal (Leiden University, 2017), the Gold Medal (Charles University, 2021), and (for LERU) the University Medal (University of Geneva, 2019), among others.