Liesbeth Last
Belgian Esports Federation
Belgium
Liesbeth Last is an educational strategist at the Belgian Esports Federation, a NASEF Scholastic Fellow, a researcher at the University of Leuven where she hosts a monthly podcast and an esports teacher at KTA Brugge, the only school in Belgium offering esports as a subject to k12 students. She also serves as the content coordinator for the development of Europe’s first Esports Campus, set to open in 2027. Her teaching at KTA Brugge focuses on what gaming can unlock beyond the screen: business strategy, event management, mental health awareness and the development of executive functions and soft skills. Students don’t just play, they learn to run tournaments, manage teams and build the kind of resilience and strategic thinking that transfers to any career path. Skills that students will use long after they’ve logged off. Through NASEF, she connects with a global network of educators pioneering esports in schools, sharing what works and what doesn’t. This international perspective informs both her classroom practice and her strategic work with the Belgian Esports Federation. The Esports Campus she’s helping build takes this approach to scale. The facility will combine exergaming, traditional sports and esports education, with programming in coaching, event management, broadcasting and emerging technologies. The strength of the campus lies in its partnerships with organizations and companies actively seeking soft skills training for their workforce. These collaborations create a direct pipeline between educational programs and real-world business needs. She believes in the power of video games as extreme powerful learning machines. She’s focused on fully leveraging their transferable potential pushing students toward critical thinking, problem-solving and ambitious goal-setting in connection with others. It’s not just about individual skill development or being the best gamer; it’s about building students who think strategically, collaborate effectively and pursue challenges together with confidence. Her work is driven by a clear purpose: trigger ambition in young people. Video games serve as the vehicle for students to develop across multiple dimensions: socially, mentally and in discovering their unique talents. It’s intentional, structured, evidence-based education that meets students where they are and pushes them toward who they can become.