Born in 1959 in Brussels, Belgium, Geert obtained his PhD in Medical Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. Since the mid 1970s, he has been actively involved in promoting the rights of non-motorized road users, initially focusing on cyclists as the local chair of the Groene Fietsers in Brussels, and in understanding livable, people centered cities as co-founder of Brukselbinnenstebuiten.
In 2003, after losing his daughter when a car struck a group of scouts during a hike on a small country road, he and his family and friends founded the NGO johanna.be to support local grass root initiatives around walking and cycling in Belgium, to defend the fine network of public footpaths and right-of-ways, and to provide feedback and advice to local authorities on public space projects.
Today, as President of the International Federation of Pedestrians (IFP), Geert works to make public space more inviting for walking, through measures such as people friendly space (re)allocation, genuine accessibility design, and traffic calming. He initiated and continues to promote the development and deployment of innovative tools such as the LIDAR based SidewalkScanner for 3D pedestrian infrastructure assessment, and the Nudge30 speed moderation system.
Geert is also an active member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration and the EU Expert Group on Road Infrastructure Safety. He has represented the IFP at numerous high-level events, including the Ministerial Conferences on Road Safety in 2009, 2015, and 2020, and is a co-author of the first edition of the World Health Organization’s Pedestrian Safety manual.
