Martijn is a Senior Lecturer in Leisure, Culture and Attractive Cities at Willem de Kooning Academy and a researcher at the research centre Creating 010, both at Rotterdam University. His research focuses on live experiences and on the value of leisure, culture and events in urban development and branding. Martijn obtained his PhD at Erasmus University as part of the POPLIVE project on live music ecologies. He is the author of the books “I was There!” and “Leisure!”. He sits on the board of the pop music venue Mezz in Breda (NL) and works as an advisor for the cultural sector. Martijn studied Leisure Science at Tilburg University (NL) and Sheffield Hallam University (UK).