Joris Janssens is a senior expert with extensive experience in qualitative and quantitative research and strategic guidance in the cultural field. He works with governments, organisations and networks at local, supra-local, Flemish and international levels, supporting content-driven development processes. Through future-oriented environmental analyses, he helps professionals and policymakers transition towards more sustainable practices and new working models.

Since 2019, Joris has been working at IDEA Consult in the fields of culture, leisure and tourism. Previously, he was Head of Research & Development at Kunstenpunt (Flanders Arts Institute) and Director of Vlaams Theater Instituut. He holds a PhD in Germanic Language and Literature from KU Leuven (2004).

Across Vlaams Theater Instituut, Kunstenpunt and IDEA Consult, Joris has built up strong expertise in arts policy and sector development. At Kunstenpunt, he was editor-in-chief of two editions of the Landschapstekening Kunsten (2014, 2019) and the Cijferboek Kunsten (2018), building on earlier pioneering fieldwork at the VTi – Performing Arts Institute Flanders that combined quantitative mapping with public debate. At IDEA Consult, he further developed Landscape Drawings Arts at the urban level, including in Leuven, Antwerp and Kortrijk.

Joris has carried out numerous assignments for local and regional authorities, including strategic guidance for the Cities of Leuven and Ghent, and a strong focus on cultural infrastructure, with projects for Antwerp and Ghent. At the supra-local level, he developed field and policy plans for the cultural regions NOORDRAND and COMEET. For the Flemish Department of Culture, Youth and Media, he conducted research on International Cultural Policy, career development in circus arts, supralocal investment subsidies in cultural infrastructure and policy instruments for digital transformation.

At the international level, Joris develops projects and policy recommendations on sustainable international collaboration, networking and mobility in the arts. He is the author of (Re)framing the International (2018) and has worked on initiatives such as Perform Europe, RESHAPE and Rewiring the Network (IETM). He has also contributed as an expert, speaker or advisor to organisations including Dutch Music Export, Pro Helvetia, European Dancehouse Network and REMA, and served as a Flemish expert for the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe (2007–2019).