VUB welcomes nine universities from all over Europe

VUB welcomes nine universities from all over Europe

EUTOPIA week 27 June-1 July

VUB is the proud host of the fifth EUTOPIA Week. During this event, students, professors, diplomats and policymakers from all over the continent will come to Brussels, and VUB wants to show them how it interacts with the city. We would like to invite the press to this event. The opening ceremony takes place on Monday 27 June at 11.00, and features a keynote speech by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and the presentation of a EUTOPIA medal for former rector Caroline Pauwels. It will be held at Cinema Palace, Anspachlaan 85, 1000 Brussels. VUB rector ad-interim Jan Danckaert: “The 10 universities of the EUTOPIA alliance have three qualities in common: they are student-centred, inclusive and place-making, which means the institution interacts with the region or city where it is located.”

Danckaert: “For me, EUTOPIA is a constant refreshing of my way of thinking. It takes me out of my comfort zone, and by coming into contact with other universities that are organised in a different way, you learn to put common goals first. That’s enriching. We were one of the architects of the concept of connected learning communities, in which we connect professors and of course units from the different universities.”

 

EUTOPIA WEEK OPENING CEREMONY (IN ENGLISH)

27 June, 11.00-12.30, lunch reception until 14.00

  • 10.00-10.50
    • Doors open, registration
  • 11.00-11.05
    • Introduction - moderator Carmen Mazijn (EUTOPIA student representative, VUB PhD student in AI)
  • 11.05-11.15
    • Word of welcome - VUB rector ad-interim Jan Danckaert
  • 11.15-11.30
    • Keynote speech 1: Multilingualism – Brussels minister Sven Gatz
  • 11.30-11.45
    • EUTOPIA panel - VUB rector ad-interim Jan Danckaert; EUTOPIA chair, University of Gothenburg rector Eva Wiberg; EUTOPIA secretary-general Nikki Muckle. Moderator Carmen Mazijn
  • 11.45-12.00
    • Humanist chapel master Adriaan Willaert – Sophie Cocquyt, DionysosNow!
  • 12.00-12.10
    • Honorary EUTOPIA medal presented to VUB former rector Caroline Pauwels – EUTOPIA chair Eva Wiberg
  • 12.10-12.30
    • Keynote speech 2: Rosas Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Rosas
  • 12.30-12.35
    • Closing remarks – Carmen Mazijn
  • 12.35-14.30
    • Reception

You can find the full programme of EUTOPIA Week attached and on VUB’s EUTOPIA website.

The European University

The European University is an initiative of the European Commission to create a European Higher Education Area through which Member States can respond to the rapid changes in the European higher education landscape. The goal of these transnational alliances is to join forces and improve international competitiveness. European Universities make mutual exchanges in education and research much easier. For example, students can obtain a degree consisting of course units from different countries. There are currently 41 partnerships, each consisting of five to 11 universities, including EUTOPIA. EUTOPIA became a European University in June 2019.

EUTOPIA

EUTOPIA is an ambitious alliance of 10 like-minded universities willing to reinvent themselves: Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), CY Cergy Paris Université (France), Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (Italy), Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), NOVA University in Lisbon (Portugal), Pompeu-Fabra University in Barcelona (Spain) and the University of Warwick (United Kingdom). These 10 pioneers are joining forces to shape the university of the future. Each university has several campuses that are deeply rooted in their environment. They have established close relationships with their communities, institutional structures and local businesses.  EUTOPIA’s mission is to create a unique and bold long-term alliance of transformative and committed institutions. Students, researchers and staff of EUTOPIA work together to create a new academic model, reflecting an open and united Europe that respects its citizens and the environment.

 

More information

Lize De Potter

[email protected]

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Sicco Wittermans Woordvoerder en persrelaties Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By providing excellent research and education on a human scale, VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society.

The World Needs You

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel assumes its scientific and social responsibility with love and decisiveness. That’s why VUB launched the platform De Wereld Heeft Je Nodig – The World Needs You, which brings together ideas, actions and projects based on six Ps. The first P stands for People, because that’s what it’s all about: giving people equal opportunities, prosperity, welfare, respect. Peace is about fighting injustice, big and small, in the world. Prosperity combats poverty and inequality. Planet stands for actions on biodiversity, climate, air quality, animal rights... With Partnership, VUB is looking for joint actions to make the world a better place. The sixth and last P is for Poincaré, the French philosopher Henri Poincaré, from whom VUB derives its motto that thinking should submit to nothing except the facts themselves. VUB is an ‘urban engaged university’, strongly anchored in Brussels and Europe and working according to the principles of free research.

www.vub.be/dewereldheeftjenodig

 


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