On October 1st 2013, Thierry Wauters was appointed head of the Cultural Heritage Directorate of the Brussels-Capital region. After a degree in Botanical Sciences at the Free Brussels University (ULB), he was entrusted for 20 years with the coordination of the natural heritage department, with a 5-year interruption during which he was heritage adviser for the Secretary of State in this area. Thierry Wauters has participated in the restoration of numerous protected buildings and sites in Brussels, such as the Charle-Albert Castle, the Park of Brussels, the Castle of Groeselenberg, the Bois de la Cambre, or the room Henri Leboeuf in the Palace of Fine Arts. He also coordinated 5 big heritage protection campaigns which have significantly influenced Brussels’ heritage policy: “Ancien regime”, “remarkable trees”, “city-gardens”, “Brussels Art Nouveau”, and the “Palais de Bruxelles”. Under these campaigns, more than 200 properties have been definitely protected.

Peter De Wilde is the director general of the Flanders Heritage Agency and CEO ad interim of VISITFLANDERS. Flanders Heritage and VISITFLANDERS are agencies and scientific institutions of the Flemish government. Flanders Heritage is competent for architectural, archaeological, landscape and marine heritage, preparing and implementing the immovable heritage policy in Flanders. They inventorise and protect immovable heritage, support its conservation and conduct policy-oriented research. VISITFLANDERS strengthens the positive power of tourism with the aim of allowing Flanders to flourish as an innovative, inspiring and high-quality travel destination. Before he became VISITFLANDERS’ CEO in 2009, and Flanders Heritage Agency CEO in 2022, Peter was professor of French language and medieval literature at the University of Antwerp and Dunkerque and was head of the Department of Culture of the Province of Antwerp and chief of the Cabinet for Culture and Tourism in Antwerp. He is president of Davidsfonds and NECSTouR and was former president of the European Travel Commission (ETC).

Ms Sophie Denoel is inspector general of the Walloon Heritage Agency (AWaP). The AWaP is an agency of the Walloon Public Service, dedicated to the preservation, enhancement and management of Wallonia’s immovable and archaeological heritage. The agency is responsible for classifying properties, granting subsidies for restoration, carrying out preventive archaeological excavations and raising public awareness of heritage issues. As inspector general, Sophie oversees the implementation of heritage policies, ensuring that they are effective and consistent with new regulations, such as the Heritage Code.

Before becoming inspector general in 2023, Sophie held senior positions at AWaP, including director of the Eastern Operational Zone (Province of Liège), where she coordinated actions to protect and restore heritage assets in the Province of Liège. She also played a key role in the merger of the Walloon Heritage Institute (IPW) and the Heritage Department, which gave birth to AWaP in 2018. Earlier in her career, she was deputy general administrator a.i. and director of Communications at the IPW, where she oversaw large-scale projects such as the promotion of Heritage Days and educational initiatives to raise awareness of heritage wealth among younger generations.

She is a graduate of the University of Liège, where she obtained a degree and a doctorate in art history and archaeology (specialising in archaeometry). She also holds an executive master’s degree in public management from the École d’administration publique Wallonie-Bruxelles. She is passionate about safeguarding heritage and innovation in its management (administrative simplification, artificial intelligence, etc.). Her commitment aims to combine preservation, accessibility and transmission, while promoting the remarkable work of the AWaP teams, which she sees as a key driver of the agency’s success.