Stefaan Van Hecke is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 (Flemish

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

) politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He is member of the Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 parliament (Chamber of Representatives

Chamber of Representatives

There are at several political assemblies known as the Chamber of Representatives. Each one forms the lower house of a bicameral legislature.*French Chamber of Representatives, the lower body of the French Parliament during the Hundred Days...

) for the ecological party Groen!. He was first elected in June 2007.

Biography

Van Hecke obtained a Law degree

Law degree

A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...

 at the University of Ghent (UGent). To learn more about environmental law, he also got a degree in Environmental Science at the University of Antwerp (UIA).

Political career

His political career started in 1990, when he joined "Agalev" (the then so-called green party in Flanders) in his home town Merelbeke. In 1992 he founded "Jong Agalev", the youngsters division of the green party, in Merelbeke. In 1996 he was elected into the provincial council. He kept that mandate until 2006.

In the local and provincial elections in Merelbeke

Merelbeke

Merelbeke is a municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders, in Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Bottelare, Lemberge, Melsen, Merelbeke proper, Munte and Schelderode. On January 1, 2006, Merelbeke had a total population of 22,353. The total area is 36.65 km²...

, Stefaan Van Hecke changed the provincial council for the city council. He led his party to a glorious victory, achieving almost 14% of the votes, which was never seen before for a green party in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. This victory led directly to him being chosen to lead Groen! in the provincial constituency of Eastern Flanders for the national parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

. After a hard campaign, Stefaan Van Hecke was elected.