Each edition of the postgraduate certificate results from an intensive process of identifying opportunities, securing projects and budgets, and engaging with municipalities, stakeholders, and local organizations. It builds upon the civic network of our staff while reaching far beyond it.

We design a calendar rich with compelling learning moments, rooted in academic research and innovative practices. This process brings significant responsibilities for the staff team—toward students, the university, funders, and the local community.

Alongside the Building Beyond Borders symposium and alumni network, we foster a strong reputation that extends well beyond the borders of each postgraduate edition.

Nicolas Coeckelberghs is an architect and a co-founder of BC architects & studies & materials - he graduated from the international master of architecture of Sint-Lucas Brussels, as well as a postmaster in earthen architecture at CRAterre in Grenoble.  Nicolas has worked at the Faculty of Architecture & Arts of Uhasselt since 2015. 

Within the postgraduate program Building Beyond Borders, he is coordinating the materials and innovation lab.

Elke Knapen is Associate Professor in the Sustainability research line of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of Hasselt University. In her research, she searches for more regenerative and distributive solutions for the built environment, both in the Global North and the Global South. She focuses on regenerative building materials and on ways to integrate sustainable material use into the design and decision process of architects, homeowners and building professionals, on the one hand by developing theoretical knowledge and on the other by hands-on experiments and real-life projects.

Elke Knapen is the academic coordinator of the postgraduate certificate Building Beyond Borders and supervises all activities. 

Jasper Van der Linden is an architect and collaborator of BC materials and BC studies – he graduated from the international master of architecture of Sint-Lucas Ghent, as well as studies in Istanbul and Buenos Aires. For BC, he is in charge of the sensibilisation, organising lectures and workshops around earth and bio-based materials. He also teaches at RWTH Aachen, and collaborates with a variety of (inter-)national universities to organize educational workshops. At the Faculty of Architecture & Arts of Uhasselt University, Jasper Van der Linden did a research project on earth construction. 

Within the postgraduate Building Beyond Borders, Jasper coordinates the hands-on ateliers.

Peggy Winkels  is a practicing  architect and lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of Hasselt University. As an architect she has collaborated with several architects in Belgium and abroad. Architectural narratives, urban concepts and building design are her focus within these teams.  She is the coordinator of the master studio Global Perspectives in which students from different parts of the world collaborate and co-design envisioning inspiring, positive futures for challenged sites and communities. 

Peggy Winkels is the design studio coordinator and go-between of the postgraduate certificate Building Beyond Borders 

Tatiana De Oliveira Chiletto is a PhD researcher in the Sustainability research line of the Faculty of Architecture & Arts. She is an Architect and Master of Science with experience in contemporary mass timber construction. Her current research studies Cross-Laminated Timber components, focusing on architecture and sustainability, timber building systems, and design for circularity. 

In the postgraduate certificate Building Beyond Borders, Tatiana De Oliveira Chiletto is involved in the research track on Wood Construction. 

Nijs de Vries is a PhD researcher in the Sustainability research line of the Faculty of Architecture & Arts. His PhD research on regenerative earth-based materials is closely related to the VLAIO Living Lab research project on earth blocks. In close collaboration with industry, architects and contractors, he investigates user preferences, perceptions, motives and barriers in order to increase the support base and upscale of earth block masonry in practice. 

In the postgraduate certificate Building Beyond Borders, Nijs de Vries is involved in the research track on Earth Construction. 

Liesbeth Huybrechts is Associate Professor and works in the areas of participatory design, design anthropology and spatial transformation processes in the research group Arck, Hasselt University. She has developed a research interest in the design for/with participatory exchanges and processes of capacity building between human and the material/natural environment and the “politics” of designing these relations. She explores this in several research and educational projects and in her work on the level of coordination and policy.

Within the Building Beyond Borders team, Liesbeth Huybrechts coordinates the Postgraduate research track Social and Participatory design and is closely involved in the social aspects of the building project.

Rafael Passarelli is an assistant professor of circularity and sustainable architecture in the Sustainability research line of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of Hasselt University. He has vast international experience as an architect, researcher, and educator. Over his career, Rafael has focused his research and teaching activities on contemporary wood architecture and timber construction technology.

Within the Building Beyond Borders team, Rafael Passarelli coordinates the Postgraduate research track on Circular Wood Construction.

Erik Pelicaen is a PhD researcher in the Sustainability research line of the Faculty of Architecture & Arts. In his PhD research, he focuses on the circularity of earth block masonry, closely related to the VLAIO Living Lab research project on earth blocks.

In the postgraduate certificate Building Beyond Borders, Erik Pelicaen is involved in the research track on Earth Construction. 

Griet Verbeeck, Full professor at the Faculty of Architecture & Arts, is the Sustainability Coordinator of Hasselt University. She is also head of the research line Sustainability of the Research group ArcK and passionate about doughnut economics as a way of thinking and the concept of sufficiency to counterbalance the strong focus on efficiency. As an enthusiastic lecturer, she introduces students in architecture in the world of sustainability.

In the postgraduate certificate Building Beyond Borders, Griet Verbeeck coordinates the Theory and Reflection sessions.