Elena banner

Get inspired to set your milestone
Our newsletter has exclusive stories from top innovators and conference organisers in Flanders. Get their free tips and insights in your inbox 4 times a year.
 

The milestone of Elena Doms

Born and raised in the Arctic, Elena Doms couldn’t stand to see her childhood home melt away. That’s why, as the CEO of +EARTH+, she uses the power of nature to accomplish the biggest soil clean-up on this planet. “Healthy soils and food should be a right, not a privilege.”

Driving the biggest soil clean-up with nature

Phytoremediation is the process of using plants to clean up contaminated environments. Extremely persistent chemicals (the so-called “forever chemicals”) were always thought to be immune to it. Elena: “A pilot project by my colleague and +EARTH+ founder Frederik Verstraete proved otherwise. At +EARTH+, we’ve developed a business model to scale up phytoremediation. The plants we use to remove forever chemicals from the soil are afterwards processed into construction materials. We started in Belgium, but now we’re expanding all over the world.”

Swimming in Speedos

One of Elena’s biggest inspirations on the journey to this milestone is Boyan Slat, founder of The Ocean Cleanup. “I once heard him speak at The Next Web conference. His global vision had a profound effect on me.” Talking to Lewis Pugh at the Luxembourg Sustainability Forum was another push in the right direction. “He was appointed UN Patron of the Oceans and he’s swum in the polar regions just in Speedos, to raise awareness of the melting ice. I’ve always wanted to do something as bold as him, although I knew I wasn’t going to swim in ice cold water (laughs).”

“Conferences capture the hearts of people, not only the heads.”

Elena Doms

Conferences becoming experiences

Conferences have inspired Elena, and have helped +EARTH+ get to where it is today. “Sharing our story on the stage of the ChangeNow Conference in Paris, for example, generated a lot of publicity and new partnerships. Stories are 20 times more memorable than stats, so a conference is definitely a more compelling way to convince people than having a business meeting.”

“Flanders is an interesting hub for conferences. There’s a lot of expertise and innovation to learn from in a very compact area.”

“This evolution towards storytelling is something I’ve been seeing at a lot of conferences lately. While speakers used to stick to a more traditional presentation style in the past, nowadays they’re really crafting compelling tales. Conferences are increasingly becoming experiences. They capture the hearts of people, not only the heads. The Love Tomorrow conference in Flanders is an excellent example. I’ve been to all three editions; it’s one of my favourite sustainability events ever. I think Flanders is an interesting hub for conferences because there’s a lot of expertise and innovation to learn from in a very compact area. And it’s really easy to do on-site company visits.”

“I’m not a natural-born entrepreneur. I just want to help build a better world.”

Entrepreneurship as a tool

Elena has a very clear vision on the impact she wants to make: “I want us to have healthy soils and food. That should be a right, not a privilege.” For her, entrepreneurship is a means to reach that goal. “When I was expecting my second child, I had pregnancy diabetes. Because I couldn’t find any chocolate pralines I was allowed to eat, I learned to make them myself and started a low-sugar chocolate brand. The enterprise was just a solution to fix a problem. That’s also how I look at +EARTH+. I’m not a natural-born entrepreneur. I just want to help build a better world. Because if I don’t take action, who will?” 

Schouwburg Kortrijk - (c) Mark Depaepe

What’s your milestone?

Set it with a conference in Flanders.

Organising a conference in Flanders allows you to tap into the passion and expertise of insightful minds, bringing you another step closer to achieving your own milestone.

More inspiration from Flanders for your milestone

Tara Grauwet
Tara Grauwet makes healthy food accessible to the whole world.
Jelle Demanet
Jelle Demanet revolutionizes healthcare via virtual reality.
Caroline Baerten ©Kris Vlegels
Caroline Baerten runs the world’s best vegan restaurant.
Walter Eevers
Walter Eevers turns waste into pavements using CO2.
Julius Persoone
Julius Persoone makes people with throat cancer able to taste again.
Hilde Eggermont
“We managed to put biodiversity on the political agenda.”