Bart: Rats, Zen, and Social Change

My guest today is Bart Weetjens. In the world of social entrepreneurship and change Bart is a well-known figure as he founded Apopo, an organisation that trains rats to detect landmines in countries around the world, from Mosambique to Cambodia. Bart is also an ordained Zen monk and has been practicing Zen for over 30 years. Today he lives again in his native Antwerp, facilitating Zen sessions and working as an executive coach. I first met Bart many years ago, when I was co-hosting a TEDx event in Hamburg and invited Bart to speak there. Since, we have met a number of times, recently in connection to the Wellbeing Project. This is a global project aimed to cultivate a culture of inner wellbeing for all social change makers. For this conversation we met online and spoke about Barts early path into Zen and meditation. How the practice has helped him overcome deep challenges as a young adult and accompanied him on his path as a social changemaker and now coach.  For me as an interviewer our exchange was a beautiful experience. It felt to me as if Bart’s inner composition was holding the space in which the conversation could unfold in a very easy and natural way.

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.