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Bart Weetjens

Co-FounderAPOPO

Skoll Awardee

Biography

Bart is a Zen Buddhist monk and social entrepreneur.
He took the initiative to train giant African rats (AKA HeroRATs) as sustainable detectors in response to the global landmine problem. What started in 1995 as a modest research initiative in detection rats technology, gradually grew into a global humanitarian operation through his organisation apopo.org which became one of the leading social enterprises in the world, recognised and awarded by networks like Ashoka, the Skoll Awards and the World Economic Forum.
Bart transitioned from his executive role in 2015 to focus on the practice of Zen. In the same year he got involved in The Wellbeing Project which aims to catalyze a culture of inner wellbeing for all changemakers.
While exploring the relationship between personal growth and social innovation, he recently co-founded a new initiative innerpreneurs.org which is a brave space for entrepreneurial leaders to fulfilll their noble life purpose.

Regional Focus

Eastern and Southern Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Southeast Asia

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