Content

• Brussels & the EU– EU’s institutions– EU’s effect on life in Brussels– Studying in Brussels at the HUB

• Belgium & the Belgians– How is Belgium perceived abroad?– The Belgians, who are they?

Brussels & the EU studying at HUB

M. HumbléLisbon April 2013

European ParliamentEuropean commission

European Council

EU as an employerEuropean Commission: +/- 29,000European Parliament: +/- 4,000 MPsThe Council of Ministers: 3,586Commission for the Regions: 1,286TOTAL: +/- 38,000

67 % live in Brussels

46% of the population of Brussels is from outside Belgium(only 23% from other EU member states)

Brussels, a multicultural & -lingual place to be

Some 190,000 Europeans have settled in BrusselsThe total number of people linked to the EU (including family members) is estimated between 100,000 to 120,000.

• nearly 40,000 people work for the European institutions• 4,000 NATO • approximately 20,000 lobbyists are active in Brussels (in

2,500 lobby organizations)• highest number of diplomats in the world (more than

5,000 diplomats )

Brussels, a multicultural & -lingual place to be

Brussels, a multicultural & -lingual place to be

Foreign companies represent about 40 % of GNP, employing more than 240,000 people:

E.g. European headoffices of multinationals like Toyota, Coca Cola, IBM, Procter & Gamble

• 3rd congress town in the world (after Singapore, Paris en Vienna)

• 5th business city in Europe after London, Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona

• 3.4 million square meter office space

Positive effects

Negative effects

Studying at HUB

Flemish Education

• The Flemish Community is the authority in educational matters

• All education is subsidized (40% of the budget of the Flemish Government )

• In return for using public money, the programmes have to be accredited

• Introduction of bachelor and master degrees (as from 2004-2005)

• Bachelor:– 3 years, 180 European credits– Professional orientation– Academic orientation

• Master: – 1 or 2 years, 60 or 120 European credits– Academic orientation

• Associations

Catholic University of Leuven– 15th century– European top 35

Association K.U.Leuven– 12 university colleges– 80,000 students (40% market share)

• Profiles of the institutions

Bachelor Master Doctorate

Professional Academic

Universities ---- X X X

University Colleges

X X X ----

University Colleges (2013)

X ---- ---- ----

Two types of institutions

UniversitiesUniversity colleges

Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB)

HUB =the merger between EHSAL VLEKHO HONIM university Katholieke Universiteit Brussel

(KUB).

The HUB cooperates closely with KAHO Sint-Lieven and is part of the K.U.Leuven Association.

Numbers

• 6,907 undergraduate students

• 9,000 participants in continued education

• 1,100 staff

• 3 campuses

Two main educational divisions

• Professional Bachelors– 4 fields of study– 14 degree programmes

• Academic Bachelors and Masters– 3 faculties– 10 bachelor & master programmes

Professional Bachelors (1)

Bachelor of Education

• Nursery Education• Primary Education • Secondary Education

Professional Bachelors (2)

Health Care• Bachelor of Occupational Therapy • Bachelor of Medical Imaging (unique programme in

Flanders)

• Bachelor of Optics & Optometry (unique programme in Flanders)

• Bachelor of Nursing• BA after BA of Palliative Care Nursing

New campus

CampusTerranovacooperation with AZ Sint-Jan Brussels hospital

Professional Bachelors (3)

Social & Community Work

• Bachelor of Social Work • Bachelor of Socio-educational Care Work • Bachelor of Family Sciences

(unique programme in Flanders)

Professional Bachelors (4)

Business studies

• Bachelor of Management • Bachelor of Office Management• Bachelor of Applied Informatics

Academic Bachelors and Masters (1)

Economics & Management

• Commercial Sciences • Business Administration• Commercial Engineering• Environment, Health & Safety Management

(unique programme in Flanders)

Academic Bachelors and Masters (2)

Linguistics & Literature

• Bachelor of Linguistics and Literature • Bachelor of Applied Linguistics• Master of Translation• Master of Interpreting • Master of Multilingual Communication • Master of Journalism

Academic Bachelors and Masters (3)

Law• Bachelor of Law: first 2 bachelor years in Brussels, including internship, international dimension, interaction

• 3rd bachelor year at K.U.Leuven• Joint degree KUBrussel – K.U.Leuven

English-taught business programmes

• English and Economics for Academic Studies (preparatory programme)

• Bachelor of Business Administration• Master of Business Administration (focus

International Business Management; focus Business Information Management; focus International Relations)

• Master of international Business Economics and Management (for non-economy students)

HUB, international centre

• Exchanges– 100 partnerships– 140 outgoing students– 150 incoming students

• Degree programmes in English– 749 students– 34 % Belgian – 80 different nationalities

Cathedral Saint-Michel (Saint-Michel et Sainte-Gudule)

Our neighbourhood

Rue de boucher

Market square and city hall (17th century)

BelgiumM. HumbléLisbon April 2013

How is Belgium Perceived ABROAD?

Belgium branded: food

Belgium branded: sights

Belgium branded: art & culture

Belgium branded: sports

Belgium branded: tourismBruges

Ghent

The BelgiansWho are they?

A history of invasions leads to a fragmented society

• Burgundian Netherlands 14th-15thC• Habsburg Empire 15th-16/17thC (N and S Netherlands split)• Austrian Netherlands 16th-17thC• French empire 18th-19thC• The Dutch period 1814-1830• Belgium 1830

Belgium = Cockfighting arena of Europe

Do you speak Belgian?

• Flemish closely related to Dutch, spoken by approximately 6 million people (= about 60%)

• Walloon the local variant of French (= used by 39%)

• German spoken by 1% of population– Luxembourgish is spoken by around 0.5% of the

population

• Brussels is capital of Flanders, of Belgium and of Europe: main language spoken in multicultural Brussels today is French & English (only 10-15% speak Flemish)

Belgian politics:The result of six state reforms

• A federal government (justice, defence, social security…)• 3 communities (linguistically determined:

culture, education)• 3 regions (territorially determined:

economy, employment, agriculture, environment…..)

A tiny country with 6 parliaments:asking for trouble?

• 541 days without a government “Will Belgium split?”

• new government coalition on 5 Dec. 2011 • Belgium’s credit rating cut one step ( Nov.2011)

Mounting Tension towards 2014 elections

• NVA (=New Flemish Alliance), 33% of the Flemish votes

• The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy (57% of the Belgian economy) and a Walloon economy (24%) that lags behind. (Brussels 19%)

Do Belgians feel Belgian?

The anthem or Mr Leterme’s version

“Belgium is an ‘accident of history’ amounting to nothing more than the King,

the national football team and certain brands of beer.”

Yves Leterme

source: Time Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Stereotyping each other…

“The Flemish are peasants who know some French but do not want to talk it.

“The Walloons or lazy arrogant ‘bon-vivants’. “

Mocking each other…

Living together in harmony

Belgium for Dummies (Youtube)

Thank you for your attention!Questions?