Monday 14 October saw the start of a three-day state mission by the King and Queen of the Belgians to France. An opportunity for EUTOPIA, the European university alliance of which VUB is a founding member, to showcase some of its core values: multilingualism and internationalisation.
The visitâs main theme was âstrengthening Europeâ, in terms of industry, defence, but also youth and education. As with almost every state mission, the King and Queen were accompanied by representatives of business and academia. Our rector, Professor Jan Danckaert, was present not only as rector of the VUB, but also as Chair of VLIR, the Flemish Interuniversity Council. During the academic activities, Professor Danckaert drew attention to the advantages of multilingualism in university alliances as a way to âstrengthen Europeâ. He was joined by CY Cergy Paris (partner in EUTOPIA), and Sorbonne UniversitĂ©. He was also invited to the state banquet on Monday 14 October at the ElysĂ©e, as the chair of VLIR.
One of the highlights of the state mission was a roundtable meeting of the Belgian and French universities involved in the European university alliances.
It was French President Macron who initiated the idea of âEuropean university alliancesâ, and the European Commission proceeded to launch a call, which today has resulted in 64 European university alliances (grouping some 560 higher education institutions from across Europe). VUB is part of EUTOPIA, established in 2019, which houses ten European universities and six global partners.
Multilingualism for a stronger Europe
At the roundtable event, 10 of these European university alliances with Belgian and French university partners, were present at the Sorbonne UniversitĂ©âs Grand Amphitheatre, to meet with the King and Queen for a chat. Each roundtable had a theme. For the EUTOPIA table, Professor of Dutch linguistics and VUB portfolio-holder âPartnerships and Multilingualismâ, Wim Vandenbussche picked âThe multilingual and multicultural environment as a strength and asset of European university alliancesâ. We had a quick chat with him to see why he picked this topic.
âSince its inception, multilingualism has been a key value of the EUTOPIA alliance. It is an alliance between urban cities, where research cooperation and education have multilingualism at their core, as it is seen as vital in the creation of opportunities for young people.â For VUB itself itâs an obvious topic, given how international the university is, and has its home in Brussels, itself one of the most international and multicultural cities in the world. Half of VUB students have a multilingual upbringing and almost one quarter of the student body is international. âMultilingualism is equal to internationalisation, and that is something we need to keep doing, for VUB, for education, for research. But that doesnât mean this is to the detriment of other languages in Belgium,â Vandenbussche explains. âI am professor of Dutch linguistics, and chair of the International Association for Dutch Language (IVN, Internationale Vereniging voor Neerlandistiek), where we support and encourage the Dutch language internationally. I firmly believe that we need to see multilingualism as an added value for students and staff to generate more opportunities in life, in work. It is crucial for the future, and helps towards attaining the UNâs Sustainable Development Goals.â
Dutch in the world, as an economic boost
To showcase how the importance of multilingualism sits alongside the promotion of Dutch, Professor Vandenbussche invited Anthony Notebaert to join the roundtable event as a special guest. Anthony is a student of Dutch at Sorbonne UniversitĂ©, but will now be studying at VUB, as part of a very newly signed MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Sorbonne UniversitĂ© and VUB. The MoU kicks off with a pilot project between the language departments of both universities, and in particular to support the promotion of the Dutch language. Itâs a case in point of how advocating for Dutch language can go hand in hand with support of multilingualism and internationalisation.
The encouragement of the Dutch language abroad may not seem obvious at first sight, but it is very popular globally, and VUB is the main proponent of it. More backing is needed, but there are several âChairsâ in various universities for the Dutch language. There is a clear economic benefit to the promotion of Dutch, with Poland and Hungary serving is good examples: students who learn Dutch are guaranteed jobs in the Low Countries, so the choice for studying Dutch is an economically sound one. Other countries in Europe see that same economic benefit, but funding at universities has been constrained, with some even cutting programmes in the humanities for instance. This is where state missions like these are important. It gives an opportunity to showcase the economic-linguistic link, of which the EUTOPIA alliance is an example.
EUTOPIA in Paris
At the roundtable event in Paris, the Queen asked very pointed questions on what the EUTOPIA alliance stood for, what it meant in practice for students, and what they would get out of it. She chatted to VUB-student, Stefanie Mulder, currently studying for a masterâs degree in communication studies. Stefanie was at the EUTOPIA roundtable with our rector, in her capacity as a former student representative in EUTOPIA. âWe got about 10 minutes with the Queen, to talk about the EUTOPIA alliance. It was an opportunity to explain what it offered students beyond going on a âmere exchangeâ. I was very impressed with the Queen; she was extremely nice and easy to talk to and very well informed, asking very targeted questions. I have to admit, I got goosebumps when they announced the arrival of the King and Queen. It was an incredible experience, and a great way to close my work with EUTOPIAâ.
Stefanie is no longer actively involved in EUTOPIA, but she agrees it is a great platform for students to get international experience, get exposure to different cultures, and to serve as a way to promote multilingualism and language-learning across borders. âIdeally Iâd like to see more visibility for EUTOPIA, what it does and stands for across all the partners universities, and also to see more opportunities for direct involvement from the global partners for students; that would make it more international, and interesting.â
EUTOPIA is one of the vehicles at VUB to promote internationalisation, multilingualism, multiculturalism, and inclusion, and remains one of the ways for our students and staff to gain international involvement, aiding future career opportunities, and life experiences.
