An Lavens

An Lavens is the director of the BELvue Museum in Brussels, a museum dedicated to Belgium and its history, as well as a Center for Democracy. Born in 1969, An Lavens studied Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. After a career in fashion, she worked at the university's research on Media, Communication, and Information Technology. Her academic experience was further enriched by a stint at a communication agency, where she served as an account executive for various non-profit organizations.

Since 2005, she has been employed by the King Baudouin Foundation, initially as the Communication Manager for BELvue and later, since 2007, as its Director. Driven by the understanding of the importance of democratic and civic education for youth and the general public, she and her team strive to offer programs based on dialogue, participative methods/activities, and role-playing workshops. 

At NEMO’s European Museum Conference 2023, An Lavens will contribute to the Slam with her presentation "BELvue's Journey to a Sustainable Tomorrow" on Tuesday, 21 November.