The Steering Committee

Partners are organizations of particular relevance for the RCE initiative. They have a strong commitment for Education for Sustainable Development within their own organization and are willing to act as champions of ESD in the Southern North Sea region. As part of the Steering Committee, they have a clear vision on ESD and actively participate in the activities and in the decision making process of the RCE. Subject to their particular interests, they can take the lead in specific RCE actions and activities within the project teams.

The Project Steering Committee will:

  • agree on the Project Plan (objectives, milestones, output, etc.) and future alignments of the RCE;
  • monitor progress in comparison with the project plan;
  • provide guidance and advice on important issues with respect to the Project Coordination;
  • identify project opportunities in function of its own actions or in response to the deficiencies detected by the Stakeholders’ Panel.

Partner Organisations

United Nations University – Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS)

UNU-CRIS, located in Bruges since October 2001, is a research and training programme of the United Nations University which focuses on research and network development. UNU-CRIS is specialized in the comparative study of regional integration – supervising and thinking out regional integration on a global scale – and in the study of interactions between regional organisations and global institutions. In cooperation with local actors, it also facilitates the UNU initiative Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on Education for Sustainable Development for the Southern North Sea region.

Website : http://www.cris.unu.edu  
Contact: pvantorre(at)cris.unu.edu

 

Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen (HOWEST)

Howest is a member of the Ghent University Association and offers a wide variety of 22 professional bachelor and 7 master degrees. This university college has campuses in Bruges, Courtrai and Ostend. With its 4,500 students and 370 staff members, Howest is an important regional centre for knowledge and learning. It is engaged, among other things,  in research into sustainable management, product design, architecture and environmentology. The emphasis on education for sustainable development is increasing throughout the curricula and is being integrated in various courses. The ultimate goal is to transfer knowledge of sustainability to organizations, e.g. through internships.

Website: http://www.howest.be
Contact: riet.van.dale(at)howest.be

 

Katholieke Hogeschool Zuid-West-Vlaanderen (KATHO)

KATHO, the Catholic University College of South-West Flanders, is the largest institution for higher education of West-Flanders and has four campuses: Courtrai, Roeselare, Tielt and Torhout. The study offer is broad: 18 professional bachelor degrees, 34 main subjects and 2 master degrees in cooperation with the KU Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven).

KATHO has recently appointed a sustainability coordinator who has a seat both in the association working group for sustainable higher education of the KU Leuven and in the ESD consultative panel. He is also involved in the different learning networks through Sustainable Higher Education Flanders. At an international level he is a member of the Consumer Citizenship Network and of the Partnership for Education and Research for Responsible Living. Within KATHO, he is in charge of the integration of ESD into the curricula, the policies and the infrastructure. As from the academy year 2009-2010, a postgraduate degree “Sustainable development” and an interdepartmental optional course “Sustainable development” have been organized.

Website: http://katho.be 
Contact: kristof.dewaele(at)katho.be

 

De Kaap

Since 2002, De Kaap has been the starting centre of the Bruges region and is recognized as such by the Flemish Community. It supports existing and new initiatives in order to build as many bridges as possible between the social and the regular economy, between the social economy and the government in its capacity of customer or client, and between the social economy and the private sector.

Website: http://www.dekaap.be
Contact: dekaap@skynet.be

 

The Flemish Start Centres

The Flemish Start Centres are private companies acknowledged by the Minister of Social Economy and Equal Opportunity. Their task is to inform and guide managers for the successful integration of vulnerable groups. Each of the twelve Start Centres, spread out all over Flanders, covers a specific geographic region. It is their mission to create and preserve sustainable employment for vulnerable groups, through business development and management support both within the regular and the social economy. The Start Centres also function as bridges between the regular and the social economy and have a warning function with respect to the policymakers.

 

Website: http://www.vlaamsestartcentra.be/index.asp

Contact: luc.degandt(at)vlaamsestartcentra.be

 

Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende (KHBO)

The KHBO has campuses in Bruges and Ostend while the aviation trainings – which are unique for Flanders – take place in the Flemish aviation training centre VLOC (Vlaams Luchtvaartopleidingscentrum) at the International Airport Ostend-Bruges. The KHBO presents more than 40 majors in total, both at the professional and at the academic level, in the branches Health Care, Commercial Science & Business Administration, Teacher Training and Industrial Sciences & Technology.

In the concepts of the new Campus Bruges and pretty soon also the Technology Campus Bruges, a lot of attention has been or is being paid to sustainability. Also, the department of Industrial Sciences & Technology presents a major “renewable energy” and plans to further develop its research activities in co-operation with the regional companies. This must lead to new, innovative and sustainable technological developments.

These research activities are situated in various domains such as the recycling of building materials, construction renovation techniques, the efficient and low-energy processing of plastics, the use of renewable energy sources, the development of low-energy electronic applications, the handling and processing of food products, wastewater treatment… always with a view to the sustainable management of our environment. All this is also part of the trainings and is supported by the academisation process.

Website: http://www.khbo.be 
Contact: frank.devos(at)khbo.be