What is Comon

Sanne is our expert in healthy aging and a passionate movement scientist. Healthy aging is a complex topic, and she enjoys bringing together research disciplines to move closer to solutions.

Nell supports us in designing and executing creative activities that lead to valuable innovation. She does this with her methodological expertise as an innovation manager at imec.

Diederik juggles our social media, visual design, and everything related to public events. As a Ghent University member, he helps with online content creation through text and visuals, as well as setting up microphones at De Krook – and everything in between.

Dorien combines her expertise as an R&D team lead Health at imec with her practical and research-based clinical experience. She supports our creative thinking processes with expertise and strategic advice .

As a digital media and film staff member at Avansa, Tim supports our public activities. He is fascinated by the question of how to use digital technology in socially meaningful ways.

Eva supports our creative thinking processes and public activities. She loves meeting different people and hearing what is meaningful and challenging to them. At Avansa, she organizes and facilitates various dialogue formats, from Dialogue Tables to philosophy cafés.

A delightful mix of imagination and wisdom, with a generous splash of technology: that’s how Maike sees Bibliotheek De Krook and Comon. As the coordinator of the adult section, she searches for opportunities to link the work of both organizations.

As a library staff member with a catalog of young adult and contemporary fiction in mind, Sam supports our public activities. He loves to broaden his horizons and is in the right place at Comon to do just that.

Joke supports us as a mental wellbeing expert. From within the City of Ghent, she inspires us with the signals, needs, and blind spots she picks up from parents, grandparents, youth workers, and everyone involved in parenting.

At the Taalpunt Nederlands in De Krook Library, Elisa manages the collection and organizes activities for multilingual residents of Ghent who want to learn Dutch. Because she is not a native speaker herself, she brings a fresh perspective to the Comon trajectory, with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion.

Alexis is our mental wellbeing expert from Ghent University. As the coordinator of PSYNC, he helps us address parenting stress from different angles. He also safeguards the scientific foundation of our work — with one central question: does it really work?

Ben is our chef: as a Ghent University researcher, he blends technology, science, and ideas into a delicious whole. In his kitchen, everything revolves around processes of collaboration, imagination, and exploring possible futures. That’s where the magic happens.

Silvie is our warm administrative superpower, as well as our HR lead and public procurement expert.
Recruitments? She handles them. Accounting? Under control. Contracts for Radio 2 or the Day of Science? Check. A framework agreement with a photographer? Already taken care of before you even ask. Silvie shines behind the scenes.

As the general director of the cooperative behind De Krook, Bart oversees its day-to-day operations — including Comon. He signs off on our contracts. And above all, he ensures everything runs sustainably, including energy use. De Krook and the Wintercircus exchange green energy through underground pipes, bringing heat and cooling directly from beneath the ground.

Fran has expertise in the interaction between humans and AI, and a particular interest in conversational interfaces for vulnerable groups. In this way, she contributes methodologically to Comon from imec-MICT-UGent.

Dennis supports Comon methodologically from imec-MICT-UGent.

Arian supports Comon from imec-MICT-UGent. He has expertise in user research, co-creation, prototyping, and storytelling, and is highly skilled in digital health, chatbots, and behaviour change.

Looking for an innovative design solution? Tim is happy to think along. With his expertise as a user researcher and digital designer at imec-MICT-UGent, he enthusiastically dives into every challenge. Design sprints, prototyping, and heading into the streets to test ideas — when do we start?

Margot combines research methods with hands-on collaboration to help move initiatives forward effectively. From imec-MICT-UGent, she brings in her methodological expertise to support this work.

Wouter is a true jack-of-all-trades, with a passion for everything from technology to art. From imec-MICT-UGent, he helps build both physical and digital prototypes, supports our innovation projects, and loves thinking along on the next big idea.