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Sustainability in Business Conference at VIVES Hogeschool University in Kortrijk, Belgium.

08 May 2024

Our UU Foundation Degree in Business Management students Linda Thompson, Oisin McKeown and Rachel Funston (from Erne Campus) had the opportunity to take part in a 5 day Sustainability in Business Conference at VIVES Hogeschool University in Kortrijk, Belgium. Students have been collaborating with 30 other students from Belgium, South East Technological University in Wexford, NHL Stenden in Netherlands and Radom University in Poland prior to the conference.

Our students delivered a presentation on what “Sustainable Development goals mean for them in Northern Ireland” – and their presentation won the best presentation of all 5 countries. Comments from the judges included “the SWC presentation told a story and engaged the audience really well” and “SWC gave by far the best presentation, I really enjoyed the topics that they talked about, I learned a lot about SDG’s in Northern Ireland and the country generally. I would like to visit there now”.

Students also worked in multi-national teams to play the Online business simulation game each day, making sustainable business decisions for a Mobile phone company and competing against other teams to make profit in a sustainable way. One of our SWC students Oisin McKeown was part of the winning team.

Over the course of the week students attended a business visit to BARCO – a company based in Kortrijk that manufactures projectors and screens for the entertainment, healthcare and logistics industries. A further visit was also made to a social enterprise called De Bokes in Kortrijk – they provide employment and learning opportunities for people with disabilities.

Students also visited the cities of Ypres, Brugge and Ghent with a range of sustainable learning activities laid on for students whilst there. They also contributed to and took part in a “Taste my country” event where the students from each country brought some food from there country and shared a banquet in which they ate a range of starters, main dishes and sweet treats from all 5 countries involved in the Sustainability in Business conference.

Some comments from the students who took part in the “Sustainability in Business Conference” -

“From the recent trip to Belgium I gained confidence.”

“I have learnt a lot about day-to-day life in other countries and made friends.”

“I have also built stronger relationships with my peers and lectures that went.”

“I would recommend this trip to everyone as it is a great once in a lifetime opportunity.”

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