BUas Magazine 2022

BUas + YOU

Happy with our new campus!

Together we shape a bright future

‘It’s time for a treasure hunt’

I

What students, staff, alumni and industry partners say about their special connection with BUas.

It was co-created by the Marketing and Communication Team with the help of many enthusiastic people inside and outside the BUas community. We would like to thank everyone who contributed in any way.

Welcome to the heart of our BUas community!

After more than 55 years of pioneering and discovering, developing and sharing knowledge, we have arrived at our ‘new’ campus, an inspiring environment from which we can develop further and help shape the world – both near and far. Together with our students, alumni, colleagues and industry partners.

I write ‘new’ in quotes, because our campus – where all BUas study programmes and activities come together in one physical place – is already a few years old, but now officially and festively opened. The time has come to experience the campus as it is meant to be. Everything is aimed at facilitating interaction, cooperation, and stimulating vitality and creativity, as you can see and feel in this magazine. A magazine we co-created together especially for our industry partners and alumni, because they too are part of our BUas community.

There are now almost 35,000 alumni and we are proud of them. Ultimately, their success is the measure of our success. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to define what their success means. The ease with which they find employment is certainly one indicator. So is the degree to which they are sought after by the

industries we serve because they have a ’+’ that sets them apart and has added value. Another indicator is impact: having a marked positive effect or influence on the development of an industry or of society.

And that is what we do it for. Making impact, making a difference, contributing to solutions to the challenges we face in a rapidly changing world. Going the extra mile is at the heart of our BUas community and thus of our new BUas+ strategy.

If you ask me, the BUas community as a whole has a bright future ahead of it and that is due – not least – to a rich history. So including stories and pictures from the old days is a must. But above all, we look to the present. By making an impact in our knowledge domains now, by making the right crossovers and seeking cooperation now, we give our students the right context to excel and so together we shape that bright future. How we do this? You can see and read all about it in this magazine.

Enjoy reading, and I hope to see you soon on campus!

Dr Jorrit Snijder President of the Executive Board Breda University of Applied Sciences

Happy

The campus of Breda University of Applied Sciences was developed through a vision of openness, sustainability, diversity, but also a unique individual identity. This is reflected in the buildings and in the landscape. Everything is aimed at facilitating interaction, cooperation, and stimulating vitality and creativity. Come and see for yourself!

Campus! our with new

discover (y)our campus

The BUas Campus consists of three buildings including a former convent. The buildings are situated in a green, parklike environment at the edge of the city centre of Breda, the Netherlands.

HORIZON

refers to how far you can look and how you can reach new horizons by moving forward; horizons are connected to thoughts about frontiers and oceans

This historical building dating back to 1951 is the former Maria Mater Dei convent of the Franciscan Sisters; in 2017 they moved to the Leystroom care centre situated next to the convent.

FRONTIER

refers to the dividing line between the discovered and the undiscovered; we are crossing frontiers, we shift frontiers; it aligns with exploring and shaping

This building – an architectural feat in 1995 –was opened by the then Minister of Transport and Water Management and former student Jorritsma.

OCEAN

refers to the great explorers in history crossing unknown oceans and discovering new lands; many of the most famous explorers were sea captains

Along a green strip and the Leystroom, a small brook, stood – in the 1960s – the ‘Maria Mediatrix mavo', now our sparkling Ocean Building.

Meet people and get inspired

The campus is an inspiring meeting and learning place, and workplace for students, staff and industry partners. It is a dynamic community in which people enjoy spending time as well as sharing knowledge and experiences. Key values of our campus include transparency and openness, connecting and including people, sustainability, and using technology and assets in the smartest possible way. As a result, the campus offers all its occupants a safe and comfortable feeling, which is vital to the well-being of our community. Everyone can find a suitable place to study or work on campus. There are project rooms, labs, and places where you can make phone calls or work in absolute silence.

I discovered the silent rooms next to the Library! Marvellous. Just you and your laptop and your books. No one is talking, everybody is focused.’ Maria Kubik from Poland | Student of Creative Business

From Breda and far beyond

Entrepreneurial and innovative industry professionals are welcome guests to our Innovation Square, which allows us to directly connect education and applied research to activities in BUas-related industries. Innovation Square provides a platform for students, alumni, researchers and industry partners from Breda and far beyond, to work together, or to launch a start-up business!

We encourage our students, lecturers and researchers to explore new opportunities and seek cooperation with professionals in the field. Not only internationally but also at home, in our own region.’

Nico van Os | Executive Board, Breda University of Applied Sciences

What’s all the BUzz about?

Have you heard? The BUas Campus is also there for the neighbourhood to enjoy. Everyone is welcome! Both to our green campus grounds and the food courts and restaurant Sibelicious in the former convent.

Who would think of laying out a green grass field and placing two baskets on it?

Landscape architect Huub Juurlink of CULD has something to explain. ‘It had to be green and multifunctional. Thanks to the stabilised sand underneath it, you can really play basketball here!’

We challenge everybody to play a game of basketball or football with us! That it works is what we have already seen. Our neighbours love to make use of the sports facilities. For a workout, or simply to chill for a while. Some people even go the extra mile on the running track around the campus.

BUzzing around...

Changing the exterior of the former convent was not allowed. ‘Only the passageway is new,’ says architect Bert van Breugel, ‘fitting in with the atmosphere this historical building exudes, and inspired by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in a way.’

You will find some peace and quiet in the convent garden, but at the front you will find the heart of the campus, where our Graduation Drive Thru took place. The residents’ association also organised an event here. And that’s how it is meant; the BUas Campus as a meeting place for everyone!

We keep bees at the roof of the Frontier Building; a logical step in creating an ecological environment for birds, bees and plants. BUzz the Bee, our BUas mascot, also lives there.

’We are all very proud,’ Nico van Os already said at the end of 2019 when the campus project was completed. ‘I am proud, the project team – with Thea van Sambeeck firmly at the helm – is proud, but more importantly, our students and staff are proud. And the sisters are proud too,’ he added. ‘They still visit us regularly for a cup of tea and say: it was a warm and welcoming building, and we are glad that it still is!’

In our Community Garden, students grow part of the vegetables and herbs processed in the kitchen of our practical training company Sibelicious in delicious dishes.

The campus has, in total, almost 400 solar panels. Furthermore, heat insulation, LED lighting and glass partitions and roofs are part of the green campus plan.

Nico van Os and Sister Imelda at the official convent key handover ceremony in May 2017

AJourney along BUas milestones

What came before...

A school that trains students to become Tourist Officer – that was the idea of Mr Sliepen, director of the Breda Tourist Information Office, back in 1963. NWIT stands for ‘Nederlands

Wetenschappelijk

Instituut voor Toerisme’ and was to be a national scientific institute.

NWIT

in Breda started its lectures

The first lecture in 1966 was a public one in Café ’t Zuid at Grote Markt in Breda, discussing the theme of Recreation in Noord-Brabant.

Three weeks after this first lecture, student association Phileas Fogg was founded, still ‘travelling’ along with BUas today!

Verkeersakademie Tilburg (VAT) was founded

Bringing technology, people and society together, VAT's Traffic Management programme was – back in 1972 – innovative in its approach. Fifteen years later, VAT and NWIT joined forces and together they continued their journey to the next episode (in 1987).

An expert in leisure time

From the very first days, not only tourism, but also recreation and leisure were central to NWIT’s curricula. Students could focus on an economic, sociological or regional planning perspective. Later on, a separate and special programme in Leisure Management was created.

NWIT moved to Sibeliuslaan in Breda

In 1977, NWIT moved to a new building. The previous locations at Etnastraat, Haagweg and Karnemelkstraat in Breda stood in marked contrast to the upmarket Sibeliuslaan location. It was where Queen Beatrix opened the renovated hotel school, but that was much later (in 2008).

New study programmes in Tilburg

In the meantime, VAT also grew steadily at the Stappegoor location in Tilburg. The Urban and Rural Planning programme was added in 1978, and so was Logistics and Transport Management in 1980. This is where the interface with NWIT's areas of study began to emerge.

Close collaboration with industry partners

In 1986, the ‘National Tour Guide’ programme was added to NWIT’s course offerings. This programme had been developed together with industry partners. This close collaboration with the practical field has always been a particular strength of the institute.

The next episode: NHTV

In 1987, NWIT and VAT continued together under the name ‘Nationale hogeschool voor toerisme en verkeer’. Although it was not the intention to shorten this name, everyone was soon talking about NHTV. In 1995, the two got together physically at the Mgr. Hopmansstraat location in Breda.

The very first master’s programme

An important step in internationalising education was the start of the Master in European Tourism Management in 1990. It was the first fully English-taught degree programme, which was offered in collaboration with partners in Madrid, Heilbronn, Chambéry, and Bournemouth.

International it is!

In line with its international positioning ambitions, the institute’s name was changed in 2001 to ‘NHTV internationale hogeschool Breda’. NHTV was no longer an abbreviation, but a brand name. English-taught courses were becoming the rule rather than the exception.

In the article on page 18 you can read about our international journey and how we are moving towards Global Engagement.

The journey started in 1966, the year in which the Nederlands Wetenschappelijk Instituut voor Toerisme (NWIT) was founded in Breda. What has happened since?

Composed by Chris van Dorsselaer and Maaike Dukker-’t Hart

Friday drinks in the ‘Koffer’ at the locationSibeliuslaan

Your studies only really started after crawledyou’dthrough the ‘Wokkel’

Old-school equipment at the Stappegoor location (VAT)

Discover Your World; that is how they did it in those days

NHTV’s 40th anniversary with the 'Vakantieliefde’ exhibition in Breda’s Museum

Queen Beatrix opened revampedthe Hotel & ManagementFacility location in 2008

Teaching staff at 25thNHTV's anniversary

Newcomers

Re-connect!

In the first decade of this century, many newcomers were welcomed, such as bachelor's and master's programmes in the domains of Hotel and Facility, Games and Media, Logistics, and Imagineering. Bursting at its seams, NHTV spread out to various locations across Breda.

In 2006, NHTV’s 40th anniversary was celebrated with the ‘Re-connect!’ reunion. Some 3,000 former students as well as former and current staff members took the opportunity to reconnect. To mark this milestone, the exhibition 'Vakantieliefde’ was organised in Breda's Museum.

NHTV leading the way

With the academic bachelor’s programmes in Tourism and Leisure, NHTV was the very first university of applied sciences in the Netherlands to offer professional as well as academic bachelor’s degrees. Partners ‘in crime’ were Wageningen University Research and Tilburg University.

Preparing for the very first academic master’s programme

The start of the pre-master’s track in Leisure Studies in 2012 was a next step in the process of developing into an ‘academic higher education institute’. This was followed by the takeover of the academic master’s programme in Leisure Studies from Tilburg University in 2014.

On our way to a new campus!

The pope signed! With this, NHTV became the official owner of the neighbours' convent across Mgr. Hopmansstraat. The master plan envisioned all degree programmes together on one beautiful green campus in 2020 near the city centre of Breda.

Academic year opening in the Great Church

In the academic year of 2016-2017, NHTV Breda celebrated its 50th anniversary with the NHTV Festival Week. Highlights included the official convent key handover ceremony, a conference in the Great Church of Breda, the Experience Tour for industry professionals and a roaring alumni party!

Start of the convent renovations

After years of planning, designing and inviting tenders, renovation work on the convent –which would be part of the new campus – was started in May 2017. The next time the president of the board had tea with the sisters, it would be in the care home next door to the former convent.

A new name

All together now!

With the new name – Breda University of Applied Sciences – the institute said goodbye to the NHTV brand name. It was an extensive rebranding project based on the journey so far, and consistent with the international positioning targets. The first academies took up residence in the historical convent.

In January 2020, all study programmes were settled on the new campus. Due to the corona pandemic, students and staff could not be together as much as they had hoped, but they still managed to inspire and motivate each other, even from a distance.

Operating in a continuously changing world

The BUas community continues to work hard on small-scale quality education and on developing a portfolio in line with future industry needs. The master’s offerings have grown considerably and in September 2021 a new bachelor’s programme in the field of Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence was launched.

2016 2017

2018

2020 2021

BUas+ Heading for

On its journey BUas has taken great strides towards the 2030 ambition. The learning communities are growing in maturity, industry involvement has increased, and internationalisation is ingrained in learning and working activities. The beautiful campus is the beating heart of the BUas community.

Something extra

Under the inspiring guidance of Jorrit Snijder, President of the Executive Board, BUas takes the next step. Empowering young professionals on their journey to shape a better world, and preparing students for their role as young professionals in a continuously changing world, requires ‘something extra’. Defining and delivering that + is the core of the new strategy. By using each other’s strengths, combining them, involving our industry partners, and experimenting together, the BUas community will give shape to BUas+.

What’s all the Pluzz about?

The My+ series gives students, lecturers, researchers, and industry partners a platform to zoom in on what the plus means to them personally. Read some of these stories on the following pages.

My+ stories by Maaike Dukker-‘t Hart

I'm glad I can add something extra

Every time when I walk onto campus I get an even bigger drive to do better this day. All the enthusiastic people around me make me feel so. Yes, I’m influenced by others – but in a good way, I’m really inspired. When I'm having a bad day and I'm on campus, I never stay grumpy for long. On campus I feel okay and safe.

I like working on campus, I spend a lot of hours there, because I don’t want to eat, sleep and work all in the same place. So, the campus it is! I really love the diversity, there are beautiful project spaces where I can work with fellow students. And I discovered the silent rooms! Marvellous. Just you and your laptop and your books. No one is talking, everybody is focused. For me a big plus is the freedom and help I get to develop myself and to shape my own personal study path I think this freedom is important because I need some space to be creative. Another big plus for me is the collaborative learning approach. You learn the most from students who are working on completely different projects, and you can often make cool connections.

Every semester I join the round table sessions as a class representative. In these sessions students give feedback on education. What is it that we want to keep? What needs to be improved? I think this is a crucial process, you know why? You choose a university because you want quality education. Joining these sessions is a way to achieve this together. I’m glad I can add something extra in this way!

My+

Maria Kubik from Poland

Creative Business student at BUas

I think it's time for a treasure hunt My+

I definitely liked the way we worked together on the development of the new BUas+ strategy. And now, it needs growing. It needs fermentation, just like a good wine. You can have the best grapes ever, still they need time to let their best juices flavour the wine. That’s where the magic happens, and I think ownership is the most important thing in this process.

I absolutely see a big plus in better translating our research efforts and data into daily educational life, so that more and more ownership and pride are being taken by all stakeholders involved. Starting today – I have actually been doing this for quite some time – I will – in my interaction with students – translate what I’m doing and show them with whom. In every research project I’m working on there is a graduate involved, students of course, and one or more researchers. We always invite a colleague from another domain or department. It’s a kind of unwritten rule, but I must say it’s not always easy. We need to be more flexible and that is quite a challenge when it comes to cross-domain planning. But we can do it; a good example is Innovation Square.

For me our Innovation Square distinctly embodies our Research & Development plus – it is where the experimenting nature of education and continuous interaction between students, industry partners and research come to life. But, unfortunately, it’s not always visible in daily educational life. We are very good at hiding things. I think it’s time for a treasure hunt!

Liliya Terzieva from Bulgaria Senior lecturer and PhD researcher at BUas

It’s not just all about knowledge

My experience is that BUas students are strong at presenting. This is such an important skill, as is the broad perspective you need to be able to make connections. The plus of BUas students is also in their approach – they are enterprising and they go exploring. Taking control themselves, that’s a real added value in a dynamic business.

I mainly see the cross-domain approach of BUas as a plus. Because that’s how it works in practice. I studied Facility Management, and now work in logistics with real estate, infrastructure, innovation, IT and data in my portfolio. I studied together with hotel students in one building. We did financial management for a restaurant, learned about good hospitality; cross-pollination like that already existed. And that’s a good thing, because that’s what the market demands, that you are able to operate in a position where everything comes together and that you can explain things. I hammered at these skills during the accreditation process for the Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence programme. There are plenty of techies out there, but you have to be able to translate things into ordinary people’s language in order to make decision-making at executive level possible.

Being able to make that translation to other contexts is crucial. This is where the new programme of BUas must be distinctive. In my opinion, that’s where the plus has to be. It’s not just all about knowledge; learning to communicate is important too. And I like to help with that, in whatever form. I can’t wait to take on the first graduates!

Rick Pardoel from the Netherlands Chief Strategy & Information Officer at DPD Netherlands

YEARS

HELLO

BUas has always had an international disposition. Marlie van Dun, Director of International Affairs at BUas, looks back on internationalisation throughout the past 55 years.

WORLD!

BUas (formerly known as NWIT and NHTV) once started in the Tourism and Leisure domains, which are international and cross-border by definition, so they bring along internationalisation almost organically. Languages were an important part of the curriculum.

‘I myself studied at NWIT, and I was a good match with the profile as a graduate from pre-university education with a linguistic ability,’ Marlie laughs. ‘But I wasn’t directly admitted; that was quite normal at the time because there were simply too many applicants. Many students that weren’t admitted took a gap year and went travelling or working abroad, and in doing so, they eventually started their studies with quite some baggage and international experience.‘

Catalyst

A good moment to share these first international experiences was during the International Tourism Student

Conference, which was organised in Chambéry (France) in 1986 for the first time. In 1988, NHTV hosted this conference, and students from various European countries gathered in Breda to discuss the theme of Tourism and the environment. ‘This conference has been an important catalyst for developing our international education,’ says Marlie. ‘Actually, this was the basis of the first exchange programmes, and a further collaboration between various European partners.’

An important next step

Another important step in internationalising education at NHTV was the start of the Master in European Tourism Management. ‘It was our first master’s programme and it was a collaboration with partners in Madrid, Heilbronn, Chambéry, and Bournemouth. At the end of the 1980s, such an international collaboration and a fully English-taught degree programme was quite special for a Dutch university of applied sciences.’

The first international tourism conference in the 1980s has been an important catalyst for developing our international education

Intercultural classroom

In 1990, NHTV students could choose a fully English-taught bachelor’s programme for the first time. That was International Tourism and Management Consultancy (ITMC). ‘I worked at the placement office at the time,’ Marlie remembers, ‘and I helped the first ITMC class to go abroad. For the first time, we had a real intercultural classroom. And then you notice that international education is not equivalent to English-taught education. Internationalisation should be embedded in all aspects of the study programme. This also means that case studies should be taken from various cultural contexts. In this way alone, students can be prepared for an international career really well.’

A growing global network

That’s why an international network is so important. BUas started with three international partners at some point, and now there are 130 of them. What’s happened? ‘The introduction of the Bachelor-Master structure enabled European education institutes to accept and recognise each other’s credits,’ Marlie explains. ‘That was crucial for exchanging students and further internationalising education. From that moment on, the international character we had from the very beginning was translated into specific strategic targets. Students, for example have to earn at least 20 credits abroad by going on exchange or doing a work placement. Over 50% of our students do their work placement abroad, and in this respect, we are the leader in the Netherlands.’

The first foreign lecturers

The first foreign lecturers were hired when the degree programmes in the domains of Hotel (2001), Facility and Media (2002) and Games (2006) were launched. ‘We are very glad that we’ve been able to welcome so many talented lecturers from countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Not only do they bring along practical experience, but also valuable and global networks. In any case, having international experience is a selection criterion when hiring lecturers.’

International community

Now that we’re in 2022, the programme offerings of BUas have grown considerably and even contain several academic degree programmes. The percentage of international students varies per study programme and is between 10 and 60%. All degree programmes are offered in English and some programmes, Built Environment and Logistics for instance, are also offered in Dutch. Internationalisation is still a thread

Internationalisation is not only about travelling, studying and working abroad, it is also very much about the international community and campus here in Breda

running through all curricula. ‘Internationalisation is not only about travelling, studying and working abroad, it is also very much about the international community and campus here in Breda,’ Marlie explains. ‘And therefore, we set up the Internationalisation@home programme many years ago.’

Global Engagement

‘In this programme, BUas’ Global Engagement team focuses on all matters that contribute to a genuinely international study and work environment. First of all, Diversity & Inclusion; are we doing the right things to make students feel at home on our campus and in Breda?

I think that speaking multiple languages makes our campus a real international community. Of course, student housing relates to this key priority. We’re constantly discussing this topic with the municipality of Breda and other stakeholders. And there is the Intercultural Classroom; are students and lecturers facilitated for that and how do we create more awareness

and make sure our classes have the international focus needed? Virtual Cooperation is evidently an important issue now, and International Learning Outcome; do we meet the frameworks established to that purpose with our international education?’

BUas Skills for Life

And with this last aspect, we’ve arrived at the BUas Skills for Life, which are stated in the 2022-2025 strategy. What exactly are these international competencies which BUas graduates can distinguish themselves with in the industry?

‘That’s an issue which a working group of lecturers and students are working out now,’ Marlie reports. ‘They’re looking at how we can connect the global mindset to specific BUas skills, and how we can closely link them to our learning communities, so that internationalisation will really become Global Engagement.’

Orange goes very well with green!

BUas' orange is a perfect match with green. We have committed ourselves to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and we are challenging ourselves to think greener in everything we do. This starts of course in education, but it is also reflected in the way our campus is organised and how we behave. And already at an early stage BUas was involved in research in the field of sustainability.

Practise what you preach

How can BUas contribute to the Global Goals? In order to get a clear overview of this a BUas SDG Task Force (since re-named the BUas SDG Support Hub), together with students and staff, has taken stock. 'All fields of expertise were included,' Anna Koens from the SDG Support Hub says, 'so education, research, operational management and community engagement. The analysis was completed in 2021 and it provides an overview of the current state of affairs, possible opportunities and new perspectives in the realm of sustainability at BUas. The purpose of this analysis was to facilitate meaningful discussions across the organisation and to inform our collective thinking on this topic.’

Would you like to know more or take part? If so, please, contact the BUas SDG Support Hub via sustainability@buas.nl.

Co-created by Anna Koens-Waddilove, Vikoria Ivan and Frans Melissen

8 things to know about sustainability at BUas

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Charter

In 2019, BUas signed the SDG Charter. In doing so, we endorse the SDG Netherlands vision and adhere to their terms and commit ourselves to a sustainable, just and inclusive society. Whilst a signature to show our support is important, we can do much more to really bring the SDGs to life at BUas.

SDG analysis 2021

In 2021, a special task force carried out an analysis to identify our institute’s focus on and contribution to the SDGs across all our activities. We now have an overview of how we are contributing to the Goals and a clear idea of opportunities for increasing our contribution.

SDG action plan 2022

The BUas SDG analysis 2021 culminated in an ‘SDG Action Plan’ for 2022, which is putting us on the right path to optimising BUas’ role in contributing to the Goals, and facilitating transparency and accountability in terms of our societal contribution in all our areas of activity.

BUas Strategy 2022-2025

The BUas ‘SDG action plan 2022’ sits alongside the BUas+ Strategy and supports the organisation in implementing its mission of empowering young professionals on their journey to shape a better world and vision of educating for and in a continuously changing world.

Together for sustainable education

Education plays a crucial part in ensuring that future business leaders and society as a whole are sufficiently sustainability intelligent. Together with the Antwerp Management School (AMS) BUas has established a professorship which will promote this agenda.

Management Education for Sustainability professorship

Lars Moratis (AMS) and Frans Melissen (BUas) will research new insights, methods and examples in the educational field which have a sustainable approach at the heart of it. ‘The leaders of the future need to take the initiative in order to make the way in which we produce and consume and also how we organise ourselves more sustainable. This is not easy; it means that we have to critically evaluate our education,’ Frans explains.

SDG Support Hub

One of the main actions of the ‘SDG Action Plan’ was to establish, at the start of 2022, an SDG Support Hub at BUas. The aim of this small, dedicated team is to support, encourage and coordinate sustainability across BUas, using the SDGs as a guiding framework.

Green Office

The Green Office is a student-led community project which focuses on sustainability. By using the SDGs as a framework, students organise events and activities to address social and environmental issues across our campus.

Rankings

Since 2020 BUas has participated in two sustainability rankings aimed specifically at universities: SustainaBUL, a national scheme run by Studenten Voor Morgen, and the Times Higher Education University Impact ranking, a global initiative focused on universities’ contributions to the SDGs.

Studium Generale

The first Studium Generale of 2022 was organised by the SDG Support Hub under the title ‘How to be a leader in an uncertain world’. Supported by two thought-provoking and inspirational guest speakers, we explored the complexity of the climate crisis and the ways it can personally affect us. As a follow-up, and in collaboration with the Green Office, a regular BUas Climate Café event is being established.

‘Do we sufficiently prepare the young professionals for this important task? They will later have to develop new and sustainable business models. Do we need to organise education in a different manner? Does the curriculum have to be changed? How can we, with our education, make a solid contribution to a transition of society towards sustainability? These are the kinds of questions and challenges which will keep us occupied in this professorship.’

Would you like to know more about this or do you have ideas for collaboration? Feel free to reach out via Melissen.F@buas.nl and/or Lars.Moratis@ams.ac.be.

It ain’t easy

Sustainable tourism research has a 30-year-old history at BUas, but changes in focus have not always led to instant acceptance.

In the Netherlands, the impacts of tourism started to draw some attention in the 1980s, but it was not until the 1990s when the need to mitigate these impacts became more widely acknowledged. Sustainable tourism got a boost, and BUas (then NHTV) started to play a role with publications written by Ton van Egmond and Niek Beunders. In 1999, Nico Visser was appointed Professor in Sustainable Tourism Development at NHTV Breda as well as at Université de Savoie in Chambéry. In these early years, the focus of sustainable tourism was on destinations, ignoring tourism transport.

A long and bumpy road

In 2002, BUas’ Professor Paul Peeters started the Centre of Sustainable Tourism and Transport (CSTT). Quite soon, the project MusTT made it very clear that the ‘external costs’ of tourism were dominated by climate change, mainly caused by tourism transport. The European Commission played down the results. A long and bumpy road started.

In 2006 the UN World Tourism Organization wanted a report on the relation between tourism and climate change, and Paul Peeters got the opportunity to contribute the chapter on global tourism emissions. The figures in ‘Climate Change and

Tourism: Responding to Global Challenges’ (UNWTO, 2008) are still quoted today. International reputation was achieved and led to a wide range of assignments, including multiple reports for the UN and the European Parliament.

In 2008, the CSTT also embarked on its unique publication series on the carbon footprint of Dutch holidaymakers (‘Travelling Large’). These annual publications informed Dutch tourism stakeholders on the CO 2 emissions of their products. A summary is published by CBS each year (in Dutch).

Carmacal: ahead of its time

The attention on carbon management projects for tour operator Sawadee, together with increasing awareness about climate change, led to the SIA-RAAK funded project called Carmatop. And Professor Paul Peeters and his team developed – in close cooperation with the Dutch

Co-created by Harald Buijtendijk, Eke Eijgelaar and Paul Peeters

propagating green

Association of Travel Organisations (ANVR) – the award-winning Carmacal, a carbon calculator for tour operators.

Carmacal was the first fully integrated solution for tour operators to offer their clients insights into the CO 2 emissions of their complete trip. It allowed the tourism industry to combine CO 2 data with volume and financial data of packaged tours. This includes information on accommodation providers with the lowest emissions, the most efficient airlines, flights, etcetera. It is a user-friendly web-based application with a simple overview screen, enabling product selection by for instance unique codes, product names, countries, and product types. The overview screen is used for origin-destination transport and, if necessary, for a type of accommodation that is used during the trip. The carbon footprint of flights is specified up to the level of airline and type of plane, for all

scheduled flights available. Because the tool is very precise and detailed, it won several innovation awards from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Tourism and Travel Council.

Unfortunately, Carmacal came too early for its time, and it is only today that carbon management is uppermost in everyone’s minds, possibly forced by developments in climate policy, and the value of Carmacal is recognised.

Make sustainable options standard

In the future, CSTT aims to move beyond agenda setting. Alongside measurements and forecasts of tourism’s environmental impacts, sustainable tourism research at BUas will also focus on the complexities that emerge when actors seek to address contemporary environmental issues, actively guiding businesses, consumers, and policymakers

towards more sustainable forms of tourism. ‘Tourist service providers should lead rather than follow the market, and develop a sustainable range of services’ says researcher Paul Peeters. ‘To do this, sustainable options should be standard instead of optional. It is important not to market sustainable products as specifically sustainable, but to focus on comfort, convenience and pleasure. Make the sustainable travel experience so special that it becomes the norm.’

There is still a long way to go. Promoting more sustainable travelling is not easy. Many market factors come into play, such as purchase prices, supply of accommodation, available flights, and airline interests, not to mention the needs of consumers who often revert to the familiar old ways. Not realising that if we do not change now, there will be no tourist areas left to choose from and enjoy in the future.

Art work is hard work

And the results deserve a place in the spotlight

According to The Rookies, the most talented young design professionals come from two higher education institutes in the Benelux countries. These are Howest University of Applied Sciences (Flanders) and Breda University of Applied Sciences.

The Rookies is a worldwide platform where young designers, creators and artists can showcase their talent to professionals and the industry. Students can submit their own work to compete for the Rookies Awards. Based on the work submitted by at least eight participating students, a degree programme can be awarded a place in The Rookies World School Rankings.

We are proud to showcase a number of awe-inspiring productions by our talented Games students.

time for a hunt! treasure

The first promo videos with Web@Work (1999)

It is hard to imagine, but once upon a time there were no booking sites. Early in the digital age, a new idea emerged. Promoting accommodation on the very first travel company websites through videos!

A group of pioneers from BUas (then NHTV) headed to the office of Thomas Cook – a company where many graduates were working – to further shape and progress the idea. And so Web@Work was born, a training company in which first-year students, under the supervision of older students, set to work making the first promo videos.

Suppose we create a chain of all those years of research and education, which gems from your domain should not be missing? As it turned out, this question was not easy to answer, because after all, which ones should you choose?

In the past 55 years, so much has been researched and discovered, so many theses have been written, ideas born and developed, often across sector boundaries. And all with the idea of adding something new to help the world move forward. We have picked out a few of these sparkling gems. They are special because they were progressive at the time, such as Web&Work, or because they were groundbreaking, such as the software that contributes to safer cancer operations.

‘It’s time for a treasure hunt’, as senior lecturer and researcher Liliya Terzieva says in her My+ story on page 16. Discover some of our sparkling gems here!

With a rental car and brand-new recording equipment of a slightly larger size than we know today, the students set off to film locations in holiday regions all over Europe. ‘Content is King' was the motto, because in addition to filming, everything was measured and photographed according to the ‘Toeristiek’ standards of the time. Learning by doing, because how do you actually edit such a video and who pays for the damage if you accidentally drive your rental car into a pole? In the end, a beautiful script was created and all the start-up problems were solved.

Think of it as one of the first learning communities of BUas, in which students – together with lecturers as Web@Work trainers – learned from professionals in the field.

A contribution by students, lecturers and alumni from the various study domains

Creative Organisations Linked In Networks (started in 2006)

Reiswerk Travel Challenge (2017)

Hotel & Facility

The first 100% dark kitchen of the Netherlands (2018)

Colin was founded as a network organisation for creative activity in Brabant, partly thanks to financial support from the municipalities of Breda and Tilburg. As an advanced practical workplace of BUas (then NHTV), bridges were built between culture, economy, public space and society. Because of the link with education and research, students from various universities formed the heart of Colin.

Colin's starting point was the development of a transsectoral creative network and the promotion of cultural entrepreneurship. Gradually, however, a shift took place towards the creative economy and the crucial value of creativity and innovation became linked to sectors such as healthcare, tourism, logistics, agriculture or housing. Colin's network grew to approximately 5,000 individuals and organisations.

Over the years, the funding base also changed. At first, in addition to support from NHTV, government subsidies were the most important basis. Later on, income had to be obtained from the market. For this reason, Colin developed products such as Vonk! and Creatieve Marktplaats, which focused on promoting innovation. Colin had its own research line: 'Uncover: Colin's Quest'. This included studies of creative hotspots and networks, the concept of the European Capital of Culture, and social design. The activities of Colin have been integrated into the Leisure & Events study programmes.

What started out as a brainstorming session on top of a jeep in Malta, has eventually turned into a wonderful collaboration with Reiswerk, the knowledge platform for all those working or wanting to work in the travel industry. The idea of Rian Verkooijen and Marco van Leeuwen was to have the best Tourism students of various universities of applied sciences battle with experienced managers and CEOs. BUas won the Reiswerk Talent Award with top students, such as Jaap Hoogesteger and Sebastian van Kemenade, which resulted in an intensive coaching track for these new talents.

Alumnus Rens Bekkers studied International Facility Management and opened the first delivery kitchen of the Netherlands in 2018. In America, food delivery is nothing new, but Rens – with his Bright Kitchen – was the disruptor in the catering and hospitality sector in the Netherlands. No tables, no chairs, no service, no trendy design, no dishwashing area, but instead a smart kitchen that focuses 100% on delivery with a great many tablets on the wall and ticket printers on the workbenches. This delivery-only focus is a huge advantage: all the attention goes into preparing good food that can be delivered quickly.

Rens was the first in the Netherlands to open a dark kitchen with a fully plant-based range of food products. In this way, he wants to contribute to a better environment. In 2020, his Vegan Burger Brothers was at the top of the list of 'most ordered' via Deliveroo.

The Next Tourism Generation Alliance (NTG) attended this Reiswerk Travel Challenge in 2019. The NTG Alliance is a European partnership, providing education and industry with a set of modules in digital, green and social skills. Lobke Elbers, representative of NTG on behalf of BUas, shared the main outcomes of a survey, that had been conducted among eight European partner countries, with the top of the Dutch travel industry.

There are challenges galore for new talents in the travel industry, just think of digitisation and sustainability. Since 2013, BUas has worked together with Reiswerk in these fields in e-travel platform TravelNext. TravelNext organises events for professionals, which BUas students, lecturers and researchers make a substantive contribution to in order to make the travel industry more future-proof.

Rens is now developing the virtual franchise concept. ‘This is the model of the future. Working together with catering partners who can prepare the burgers in their own kitchens, then hand them over to delivery services and thus hitch a ride on Bright Kitchen's marketing, purchasing and technology. We started in January 2022 and we can already see that it works,' says Rens.

Reducing medicine waste with Medica-Turn (2018)

What do you do with medicines you no longer need? Students of the BUas-wide minor of Modern Business in a Changing World analysed how many unused medicines are returned to pharmacies. That volume is equivalent to an amount of €100,000,000 and the study also showed that only 30% of the Dutch population return excess medicines to the pharmacy.

Many people are not aware that the improper disposal of medicine waste is harmful to the environment and aquatic life. The students decided it was time for an awareness campaign and started the project Medica-Turn in cooperation with Logistics Community Brabant (LCB) and the municipality of Breda.

The illusion that is called perfection (2018)

Games

Development of software for cancer operations (2019)

How wonderful would it be if cancer operations could be performed even more safely? BUas students designed software that can help with this. In close cooperation with scientists and surgeons from the Dutch National Fund against Cancer and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Centre in Amsterdam, the student team from the programme of Creative Media and Game Technologies developed pioneering software in six months' time.

Many youngsters dream of a career in the modelling industry. Charlotte van Buuren, model and a former student of Creative Business, has experienced it all. The nice and creative side of the business, but also the high work pressure, strict dietary regimes, sky-high requirements. She set herself a goal during her studies. ‘I wanted to commit myself to a healthy fashion industry and make a documentary about my life as a model.’

Under the motto of 'Improve your life by returning medicines', Breda residents were encouraged to return their surplus medicines to a pharmacy or to a waste collection centre for the municipality of Breda to subsequently take care of the proper processing. The ultimate goal is redistribution of returned medicines. Items are currently being collected through various projects, such as awareness campaigns, additional return locations at supermarkets or via the recently opened LCB Zorgplein or LCB Retourencentrum, and the collection of surplus nursing articles and incontinence products from healthcare institutions. At the moment, LCB Retourencentrum contains around €80,000 worth of collected items, which would otherwise have been destroyed.

‘With the documentary I wanted to say goodbye to the life in which I pursued –in my view – the highest attainable success as a model. It helped me in my search for myself. Who am I now that I’m no longer a model? And with my documentary I want to make the modelling industry think about the impact the behaviour of people in the industry has on young models.’

The documentary premiered via the LINDA.meiden platform. Furthermore, Charlotte took part in an episode of NOSop3, in which the negative impact of the fashion industry on models was brought to the public’s attention. This episode has been awarded the Data Journalism Award ‘Public Choice’ category. ‘My documentary has been mentioned in NOS Journaal, a Radio 1 show and I talked about my view on the fashion industry in a Radio 3FM show, with state secretary Paul Blokhuis.’ Charlotte’s personal story and the documentary showing great daring have thus contributed to the public debate about this theme, and added to the attention paid to a healthy fashion industry.

The software enables real-time simulations of the organ which is the target of the surgery. With this new technology, which is based on electromagnetic tracking, surgeons can navigate with pinpoint accuracy and determine the position of their instruments in relation to organs very precisely. This allows them to pinpoint the exact location of vital structures before and during the operation, thus preventing healthy tissue or surrounding organs from being damaged during the operation. With this new software, it is no longer necessary to rely entirely on a camera during surgery. This leads to better results and increases patient safety.

The students won the Microsoft Imagine Cup in a global competition dedicated to new and innovative technologies that make a positive contribution to solving societal issues.

Built Environment

Built Environment & Logistics

Salt caverns durable energy project

(2019)

Tim Bachmayer, graduate of the Built Environment programme, has the feeling that the discussion regarding energy transition is very one-sided. ‘It’s either talk about wind farms and solar energy or about the fact that we need to live more economically. I think the real solution should be found in technological innovations, in areas that we aren't looking into right now,’ Tim says.

In his research, he proposed to use the salt caverns surrounding the city of Haaksbergen as storage for sustainable energy – by way of RFA batteries, hydrogen, or compressed air. Salt extraction company Nouryon is interested in this idea, and how they can bring a second life to their caverns. Tim's idea could be a possible solution. Now that he is working for two agencies – engineering company Antea and design agency CroonenBuro5 –there's space and time to expand on the ideas. 'At Antea, I can improve my proposal on a strategic level; what technique is necessary, how do we get funding? At CroonenBuro5, I can expand on the designing side of things; how will the landscape change due to my interventions?’

Improving quality of life in Experience Lab (started in 2019)

Meet our Delivery Robot LOWIE (2020)

LOWIE was born on 28 September 2020. On this day BUas started a practical pilot project with an electrically and autonomously driving delivery robot, distributing various non-food goods on the campus in Breda.

Tim received the KuiperCompagnons Graduation Award for his thesis. 'It's a massive honour. Due to this prize, I started believing in my plan even more.’

People experience life every day from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to bed. To make a distinction between the experiences they want to remember and don’t want to remember, people are guided by their emotions. They are even willing to pay for the way experiences make them feel, which means that emotions drive the value of leisure, tourism, hospitality, and entertainment experiences. That is why understanding and measuring emotions is important to create the best possible experience.

In the Experience Lab, attention and emotion are measured and mapped over time and space over the course of an experience. These insights will contribute to better quality experiences for everyone, eventually improving quality of life in general.

Students help building the Experience Lab. They go out into the field for experience measurements during events. There, they use smartphones and the Empatica E4 wearable wristbands to record signals of emotions in the body. Phones track location and allow participants to take photos. The wristbands track motion, temperature, heart rate, and the sweating of the skin, which is extremely sensitive to emotional engagement. These methods have been used in projects ranging from roller coasters in Europa-Park to the F1 Qualifications at the Zandvoort car racing circuit.

The great thing is that delivery robots are available 24/7, they are electric and therefore sustainable, and they take over routine tasks, allowing people to focus on more meaningful tasks. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for autonomous vehicles has increased because they reduce the need for human interaction thus preventing further spread of the virus.

In cooperation with Future Mobility Network and Airlift Systems, LOWIE was used to research the benefits and the scope for scaling up its deployment. During the pilot project, students researched the delivery robot's impact: the vehicle's performance, the environment's behaviour, such as that of the pedestrians and cyclists on campus, as well as the user friendliness of such a robot.

New and smart mobility is an important theme within the Built Environment and Logistics programmes. Project leader Jeroen Weppner: ‘In the past our research contributed to the self-driven bus in Drimmelen's marine area, to name an example. In that context, it became very clear how important it is to test new forms of mobility in a controlled setting.’

a community of

Training company Sibelicious (see page 48) has been operating on the basis of the learning community concept for a very long time. It is a community of learners where students not only learn from their lecturer or instructor, but also from each other. We have now added something extra by inviting industry partners to come to the campus to learn, develop and produce together with students, lecturers and researchers.

Growth mindset

Students are expected to make active contributions in a learning community. They are coached to take the lead in their own learning process. It’s not just

The principle of the learning community is definitely not new to BUas, but in the last couple of years we added something extra.

A contribution by lecturers from the various study domains

Logistics Community Brabant

What is it about?

Together with the province of NoordBrabant, the municipality of Breda and strong regional partners, such as Eindhoven University of Technology, Tilburg University and the Netherlands Defence Academy, Logistics Community Brabant (LCB) is working on logistics innovations around themes such as the liveable city, data-driven logistics, smart industry, multimodal solutions, event logistics and care logistics.

How does it work?

LCB is a learning community in which not only industry partners, but also universities of applied sciences, research universities and governments find and strengthen each other. The ‘Improve your life by returning medicines’ project (see page 30) is a wonderful example of how LCB works together with the municipality of Breda and students on solutions to current issues.

What does it bring?

learners

about the end product. That’s just a tool to keep the process going. How do you get to the end product, what knowledge do you acquire along the way? Learning communities inspire a growth mindset in students and all people involved, or in other words, the drive to keep developing themselves.

No fixed format

There’s no such thing as a fixed format for a learning community.

The minors of Esports and Tourism Impact Lab are designed as learning communities in which students, lecturers and industry professionals develop knowledge together. And in the domain of Logistics, a learning community is

created around issues that transport company Arriva is contending with, in which Arriva’s Young Professionals also learn along in the process. And that’s exactly the goal of a learning community. As you can see in the following examples, in which several facilitators talk about the underlying idea of their learning community, learning communities can take many forms.

Successful projects, such as DALI (Data Science for Logistics Innovation), Fieldlab Evenementen (Field Lab Events), Atlas Leefbare Stad (Atlas Liveable City), DDSZ (Digital Data Square South Netherlands) and partnerships with Micro and ASML. Results are always made available to the industry (SMEs) and education.

If you want to cooperate with LCB, please contact us via info@lcb.nu or take a look at www.lcb.nu

connected to the buas domains of built environment & logistics

Do you want to work together with students, lecturers or researchers in one of our learning communities? Or do you have ideas for new learning communities? We would love to hear! Please contact us via innovationsquare@buas.nl

People on the Move

What is it about?

Actually, the entire new first-year curriculum is structured according to the principle of the learning community. Students are eager to find solutions to real-life issues; their understanding of such issues grows through collaboration with industry partners. One of these issues is, for instance, passenger transport, which is changing due to a different balance between work, study and private life, the intensive use of social media and data, new consumption styles and rising prosperity.

How does it work?

In the learning community, new solutions to mobility issues are created in collaboration with Arriva. New developments are identified and knowledge is shared through study projects, working visits, placements and guest lectures. Arriva and BUas challenge each other from various angles in, for instance, hackathons where innovations can be tested in Arriva’s everyday practice.

What does it bring?

In the learning community, cooperation with other BUas disciplines – from new media to gaming and data-driven technologies – is given full scope. For example, by responding to the need for a stronger (virtual) experience in public transport or at bus stops, which is developed together with the Games degree programme. This collaboration enables Arriva to translate the knowledge that is available at BUas to the public transport sector. And a contribution is made to accelerated innovations in the field of mobility, just think of digitalisation, sustainability and flexibility.

connected to the buas domains of built environment & logistics

Tourism Impact Lab

What is it about?

If we want future generations to be able to travel too, we have to innovate now. Stichting Travel Impact Lab (Travel Impact Lab Foundation) supports start-ups on their path to success and helps existing travel organisations to become futureproof. They do so together with BUas minor students who – in the Tourism Impact Lab of BUas – work on new and impactful business cases for start-ups and partners of the foundation. They learn about entrepreneurship and experimentation with values such as sustainability, connectedness and positive impact as guiding principles.

How does it work?

Together with their facilitators, the students research the client’s problem or need, come up with feasible solutions and start implementing them. Examples? For SNP Natuurreizen, work is being done on how to make train travel an attractive alternative to flying. Travel Diaries is examining, together with students, the potential of an app that travellers can use to design a diary and photo album. And for The Big Parasol, students are looking at how holiday homes can be made more childfriendly.

What does it bring?

With this learning community we have created a kind of ecosystem where start-ups, established travel companies, lean experts and students learn together and strengthen each other. You get more done together than when you operate solo. Industry partners benefit from the latest developments BUas is working on in, for example, the Experience Lab (see page 31) and the XR Stage (see page 39) and they have the opportunity to test innovations before making any major investments. Students gain relevant experience, have a platform to showcase themselves and build a network.

connected to the buas domain of tourism

Specific Interest Guilds

What is it about?

In the domains of Games & Media the concept of the learning community is not new. We used to talk about Experts Groups but found out that this name scared some of the students away, so now it is Guilds. We have almost 30 in existence with 10 to 20 active participants each. These are students, lecturers, researchers, alumni and industry partners.

How does it work?

Guilds focus on a specific interest such as Animation, Tech Art, Narrative, Deep Learning, Marketing and Media, Level Design, and System Design. Members of a Guild meet every Friday and discuss relevant topics or projects they are working on. Alumni or representatives from the industry regularly give guest lectures. They also bring in current issues for joint reflection.

What does it bring?

Reflecting on what we have achieved so far, we are convinced that the learning community is one of the core pillars of the BUas+ approach. It opens up and encourages collaboration in ways that make sense. Sometimes a discussion in a Guild is so interesting that a project on that topic is created for credits in the next academic year. Our Research & Development team (see page 39) also facilitates some of the Guilds. Together we work on innovative projects with new and emerging technologies, testing new products and learning about developments within the industry. And in the end, this knowledge flows back into education.

connected to the buas domains of games & media

Sustainable Strategic Business Design

What is it about?

In this learning community, we invite third-year students to create a business design that is both sustainable and strategically solid. Guided by a facilitator, and in consultation with external experts in the fields of hotel and facility management, they embark on a collaborative journey that includes (trend) research, discussions, peer feedback, designing, project assignments and individual work.

How does it work?

We have noticed that students are a bit overwhelmed by the new way of learning, which makes it challenging to find time and space to invite industry professionals. Last semester, we experimented with a fully studentcentred learning community, in which students are provided with the learning objectives and are completely free in how to achieve these goals. The feedback so far has been very positive.

What does it bring?

Analysis shows that most students appreciate working in learning communities as well as being assessed based on reflection. They recognise that both methods have an effect on their professional development, how it shapes them into autonomous professionals, ready to enter the professional field.

connected to the buas domains of hotel & facility

Attractions & Theme Parks Management

What is it about?

In this learning community, some 40 students work closely together every year with professionals working at theme and attraction parks, zoos and entertainment centres. More than 100 industry partners are active in this community; together with lecturers from various fields they help the students on their way in the business. They do so in the form of industry orientation in year 1, placements in year 2, practical assignments in years 2 and 3, and a strategic minor project in year 4.

How does it work?

This programme has been running for eight years and a strong community has emerged consisting of students, lecturers, alumni and national and international industry partners, such as Disney, Efteling, Europa-Park, Plopsa, Toverland, Duinrell, Libéma, Walibi and many more. It is a multi-million euro industry, but almost all managers and CEOs know each other. Students start building an essential network as early as during their education.

What does it bring?

Industry partners can get to know and select the most talented young people for their company. They get direct feedback on the results of the students’ projects. One example is Serengeti Park (a zoo, theme park and resort in Germany) where students worked on a storytelling concept. Another example is the Change Management project, which engaged students in the takeover, integration and change of the This Is Holland attraction (a 5D flying experience over the Netherlands).

connected to the buas domains of hotel & facility, leisure & events, tourism

... my student days laid the foundation for my working life and my love of the city of Breda’

Jan Baanstra | Business leader of dance company de Stilte and Brabant International Children’s Festival | Studied Leisure Management at BUas from 2000 to 2005

… when I walk around the campus and see my colleagues, I feel that we are all committed to the same thing, which is the development and growth of our students’

Else Krijgsheld | Lecturer at Leisure & Events | Has worked with BUas since September 2000

… BUas has been the basis for my career and network in the events industry’

Jack van Mourik | Brand Partnership and Live Revenue Coordinator at Q-Dance | Graduated from the BUas International Event Management programme in 2018

… of the warm, friendly and professional ambience working with a truly amazing team and students alike. It is an honour to work in such an enthusiastic, passionate and driven organisation like BUas’

Avril Mary Hartigan | Lecturer in Hotel & Facility Management at BUas

… BUas, like no other, embraces the involvement of the business community in all aspects of the various Leisure & Events programmes’

Freke Reimer | Owner of events agency SOLID Event Crew

… from my first day at school, BUas felt like a safe, accessible, colourful and pleasant place to be. I really experience BUas as a community where everyone is equal’

Nanou Dekkers | Student at BUas | Specialising in Events for Business

I feel connected

… each time a trainee of BUas starts with us I am surprised at how easily and quickly they become part of the team; it’s quite impressive’

René Michielsen | Director of Operations for Europe at HMSHost International

… its students are disciplined, have a very positive attitude and show a lot of initiative in their work placement environment’

William Lim | Director of Learning & Development at Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur

… the BUas campus feels like a second home outside Hilton. I take great pleasure and pride in supporting BUas students in taking the next steps in their careers’

Björn Olthof | Senior Recruitment Manager for Europe, the Middle East & Africa at Hilton Hotels | Has been affiliated with BUas since the start of the Hotel School in 2001, currently as Assessor IV and founder of the BUas Hilton Class

… eight years after graduating I am still part of the family. Whether attending a networking event in Berlin or Dubai, giving a guest lecture, or mentoring students. No other hotel school has the same warmth and 'gezelligheid' as BUas’

Lars Heesbeen | Multi-Property Director of Sales

- The Abu Dhabi EDITION, Marriott Downtown Abu Dhabi & Marriott Executive Apartments Downtown Abu Dhabi

… it always feels like coming home. It is with great pleasure that I give the company presentations on campus and I feel extra proud whenever I can offer a placement to a student of BUas’

Maud van der Hoeven | Training Manager at W Amsterdam Hotel

… it always feels like a warm nest’ Frans van Eersel | Director for EMEA - Real Estate, Workplace, Safety & Security at Netflix

… of the connection with the lecturers. You are not a number, but definitely a name’

Sam

de Groot | Second-year student of Logistics Management at BUas

… BUas and TUI have been cooperating very closely for many years in many areas, such as innovation and sustainability. Many of our current managers once started their journey and career at BUas’

Arjan

Kers | General Manager of TUI Nederland

… it brings together motivated international students and lecturers. These diverse backgrounds create a unique opportunity of seeing different perspectives to challenges and their solutions’

… there is always someone there that I can relate to’

Roxana Prodan | Student of Hotel Management at BUas | Currently working as a Revenue and Finance trainee for Sircle Collection in Barcelona

Liam Prosser | Third-year student of the Bachelor of Science Tourism at BUas

Sam Michael Schmidtal

| Student of International Facility Management at BUas

… I feel part of a community – a place where I am able to be myself and simultaneously work on improving myself, with the help of the BUas community’

… I studied there myself and because as Nature.house we enjoy working with BUas by providing a placement and learning environment for current students’

Dick

Vulto | CEO of Nature.house

with BUas because...

… it is part of my professional origins’

Erik van Hal | Traffic Planner at the municipality of Eindhoven

… it connects my old field – attractions, zoos and holiday resorts – with the latest knowledge in this field. With this knowledge, I try to inspire students and to form one strong community together with the leisure industry and my colleagues’

Goof Lukken | Lecturer of Attractions & Theme Parks Management at BUas | Graduated as Recreation Business Manager from BUas in 1995

… the experiences and memories will always last’ Auke Hilbrands | Digital Marketing Executive at Social Media College in Sydney

… without their organisational talent, innovative ideas and ability to convert concepts into successful actions, ’Fieldlab Evenementen’ would not have been possible during the corona crisis’ Prof. dr Andreas Voss | Senior Researcher at Radboud UMC and member of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT)

... many years after graduating, the BUas team has always kept me involved throughout the years, and allowed me to help to shape the future of the university, with media, marketing, and innovation at its core’ Thijs van de Wouw | Group Strategy Director at Wieden & Kennedy in Tokyo

… it’s the place where I found what I excel at’ Julia Meijer | Teaching Assistant in Creative Business at BUas

A continuously changing world

Look around you. The world is changing and it is changing fast.

Our daily lives depend more and more on technology and we are digitally connected in countless ways. Developments follow each other in rapid succession and – if you make the right connections – they reinforce each other. How do we keep our education up-to-date and prepare our students, or better say digital natives, for working in a continuously changing world? By providing our students with a unique set of skills for life, we prepare them for their future role as professional in that rapidly changing world. For instance the world of (serious) gaming and high-tech, esports, and Data Science & Artificial Intelligence.

Empowered by Mathijs van der Kroft, Liedewei Ratgers, Jur van de Graaf, Stephen Paine, Carlos Pereira Santos, Frank Peters and Bram Janssen

Game changers

In the media and entertainment sector, the world of (serious) gaming and in the high-tech sector, boundaries are constantly pushed, and the search for new ideas, technologies and connections that can change the world never stops. Take, for example, game technology that is used in the production of films, in which case we are talking about Extended Reality, or XR Stages.

Bye bye green screens

XR Stages are currently being used for television and film projects and have many advantages over traditional filmmaking. In traditional video editing, green screens help video editors to change the background to immersive new worlds, relocating the actors from their location to any place imaginable in the world (and beyond). Over the past few years, the industry has been adapting to newer technology, ditching the green screens, and using massive video LED walls to give visual artists a better understanding of the environment.

Change the scene on the fly

XR Stages allow production teams to work seamlessly with any possible virtual environment, all within the comfort of the studio. Virtual environments can be displayed using game engine technology and a camera tracking system, allowing actors to move through the 360-degree virtual space as the background reacts to these movements. This adds realism to the scene and allows actors to interact directly with

the virtual environment/characters. As a result, all parties in such a production are brought closer together, because the director can change the scene on the fly with little to no effort; with no need of expensive reshoots at a later stage. Furthermore, the special effects will look more natural since the screen projects similar colours, and you don’t have to deal with a green glow.

The tech of the future

Several professional studios are experimenting with this technology, Disney’s The Mandalorian is one of such examples. That’s why BUas, in collaboration with ROE Visual, recently built and launched its own XR Stage that will help students learn the tech of the future. Our Academy for Games & Media can now work together with other domains on substantive projects and content creation, drawing on the strengths of both programmes. Game students can create the backgrounds and animated characters as well as 3D objects in the scene, while Creative Business students use their pre-production, production

and post-production skills to create the content as well as plan and carry out the shooting and editing. Eventually this will be integrated into the curriculum by creating a study track tentatively called ‘Film and VFX’.

XR Collaboration Stage

The full name of this BUas facility is the XR Collaboration Stage because collaboration will be at the heart of this shared space. Imagine Tourism students making presentations or giving tours of renowned tourism locations within a virtual environment. Or demonstrating services or facilities that are available to tourists before they decide to purchase them. Or Built Environment students creating interior or exterior environments and modelling live participants in those spaces. Or using the space to study specific urban features such as transportation hubs. Leisure & Events can use the power of virtual environments to create cutting-edge, online presentations, or hybrid events such as live theatre or esports.

Talking of esports

Esports is another development that has emerged with lightning speed. Esports stands for electronic sports and can be considered as pioneering in terms of interactive digital sports experiences. Making a perfect blend between on-site, offline, and digital experiences, esports is the driving factor in creating engaging experiences in this digital age.

At the forefront

BUas has been at the forefront of this field, having developed a well-rounded minor in esports and media management as the first university of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Furthermore, a bachelor’s track in Sports and Esports was launched in addition to several initiatives and projects relating to industry, education and esports. One of them is the official cooperation with the municipality of Breda, where BUas will be actively involved in an esports field lab and building a community around the Breda Guardians, the esports team of Breda.

Learning community

The guiding principle is to make esports at BUas a learning community where students, industry and lecturers share the common goal to learn from and with each other. In education BUas looks at esports from the perspective of the fans and the community.

In this respect, understanding the world of esports and its fans is key. Furthermore, BUas looks at the production of esports events, both fully online and in hybrid form, and how to employ esports as a strategic tool. Education and industry work closely together, which is reflected in numerous curricula assignments, student projects, guest lectures, and field trips.

Place to be for esports in Breda

As the esports industry is still relatively young, BUas believes that it can play an important role in developing the industry further by providing critical and

well-educated students. We are proud to be the home of the Breda Guardians, with a dedicated esports room in the Frontier Building on the BUas Campus. From tournaments to practical education and research, all these activities – and more – will create a genuine esports community.

Come visit us in the Frontier Building (Fe0.032) to find out more about the esports world (and perhaps play a game or two!).

Mindful today or focus on tomorrow?

While mindfulness with focus on the here and now is definitely healthy for your own brain, it will not be the formula for business to move healthily into the future. If you as a business react to what you see happening today, you are not moving fast enough. You need to get ahead and use data from the past to make decisions for the future and match your technology to customer needs. Data management and artificial intelligence are here to stay.

Influence on daily life

More than we realise, data management and artificial intelligence affect our daily lives. We allow ourselves to be influenced by all kind of data. Just think of social media and online platforms such as Tripadvisor, Trivago, TheFork. A restaurant or hotel may be awarded five stars by an expert jury. But if a review website tells you that someone gave it a measly six, you might change your mind. So these data do something to us.

Everyone is familiar with the concept of face or finger recognition. Virtual assistants like Siri, the opening screen of Netflix, the control of self-driving cars –it is all possible through the use of big data and artificial intelligence. Did you know that there are drones that can spot diseases in crops? Or imagine a robot delivering pizza to your home.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is radically changing our lives and well-being. For example, the application of AI is already resulting in better diagnoses and treatments in healthcare, adapted homes for the elderly, smarter energy networks and sustainable food production.

Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

With its brand-new professional degree programme in Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence BUas primarily wants to contribute to safe and ethically responsible applications of all those new possibilities, mainly focusing on the practical implementation of Artificial Intelligence.

This bachelor's programme trains students in Data Science, AI, consultancy skills and technological (programming) skills. Their professional career requires them to have both a broad knowledge of data management and artificial intelligence and deep skills in their chosen area of expertise: Data

Science, Consultancy or Programming. One of the topics is machine learning. Machine learning is interesting, because it is essentially the practice of teaching computers to learn stuff by themselves. Giving them instructions to analyse, they use that information to make predictions or identify patterns. For instance, Netflix will adapt the home screen with new personalised recommendations, based on your previous viewing habits.

Entangled throughout our lives

As Data Science and AI are entangled throughout our lives, the degree programme will incorporate this specific expertise across all BUas study domains. There are plans to provide BUas-wide minor tracks and to set up projects where cross-domain interaction is key. In this process, we will use the expertise of our students, lecturers and researchers to improve quality of life and create new technologies across all BUas fields of expertise.

Raise the bar! Block by block

A fair production chain

Hotel student Emmelie Westerhoff is convinced that you can create a better world with small steps. She demonstrated this with her research that focuses on making the chocolate production chain transparent and fair, especially for the farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast who grow the cocoa beans.

Hi fresh brain

For her graduation project, she mainly studied the potential of blockchain to make the payments and transactions in that chain transparent and reliable. With her research, Emmelie is taking a small but important step towards making a complex chain of interlocking interests fairer.

‘After my placement I realised I wanted to do more than just look after guests in luxury hotels,’ says Emmelie. ‘So, after completing the BUas-wide minor of Sustainability, Social Responsibility & Professional Identity, I decided to focus my graduation project on a case where geopoli tical, economic and social factors interact in a complex way. With this research I wanted to take a critical look at products that many of us consume thoughtlessly, such as chocolate.’

With her thesis titled ‘Raise the bar! Block by block’, Emmelie won the Multatuli Student Award 2021, because it provides an innova tive response to societal issues concerning poverty reduction, fair trade, a fair production process, transparency, and fair re muneration.

Holy Walls

Create your own inspiring workspace with holographics

In the first year of the International Facility Management programme, students compete in teams in the Capstone Project, in which they come up with ideas to improve the workplace environment from a digitalisation perspective. Vera van de Loo is one of the students of the winning team of 2021.

‘We researched trends and obstacles in the workplace environ ment and then brainstormed about creative digital solutions,’ Vera says. ‘Let me explain our concept we have named Holy Walls. Employees in an office building select a date and time with an app. They then select the desired size and location of the room they wish to work in. Once the reservation is made, the employee activates the room in the app. And then the holographic touchscreen walls are projected, al lowing employees to personalise the space according to their needs. We have also deployed technology, the Sound Masking system, to prevent noise disturbance.’ The concept contributes to a solution to the pro blem that offices are not always used efficiently. And it offers em ployees a very creative and inspiring workspace that they can use as they see fit.

‘I found the final pitch, in which we had to present our idea to industry professionals, very exciting,’ concludes Vera. ‘Fortunately, everyone was very pleased with the outcome!’

pitch your project please!

Logistics issues of a carnival parade

Crowd Management in Hubs & Events

Meet fourth-year students Lars van de Wouw (Logistics) and Quinten Kentie (Leisure & Events). They participated in the BUas-wide minor of Crowd Management in Hubs & Events. The assignment was to develop a solution to the mobility problem during the annual Prinsenbeek carnival parade for carnival association BAK van Boemeldonck (Prinsenbeek near Breda). A workable mobility plan was the ultimate goal, but Lars (photo) and Quinten took a broader perspective and worked on further improvements in the concept of the event. ‘It surprised me how much logistics is involved in the execution of an event like a parade,’ Lars admits. ‘Therefore, we took a very practical approach to the mobility plan.’

‘The great thing for me,’ Quinten says, ‘was the collaboration between the Logistics and Leisure & Events domains. In this way, we were able to consider the logistic processes, but also orchestrate a great experience for the visitors. This created a nice balance between a well-organised and safe event and an excellent customer journey. The various touchpoints, as we call them, were efficient, but also pleasant for the customer.’

Lars and Quinten will continue this fruitful collaboration with BAK van Boemeldonck and Logistics Community Brabant in their graduation journey. In their graduation projects, they will dive deeper into flow-through locations in the context of events and how to improve.

Bike Guerilla

Tactical Urbanism to solve mobility problems

Fresh brains, that’s what we call our students. Because of the unique set of skills for life they develop during their studies, and – unhindered by fixed business visions – they are able to come up with unique fresh ideas and solutions for the industry like no other and make clever use of the knowledge of their lecturers and fellow students.

Fourth-year student Mare Thijssen (Built Environment) dived into Tactical Urbanism in his minor in Urban Retrofitting. It is an approach to urban design and activation using short-term, low-cost and scaleable interventions to solve mobility problems. Mare joined a group of six students who got the opportunity to bring Tactical Urbanism into practice in Bilbao (Spain), facilitated by Alain Laiseka Villalba of Diputacion Foral de Bizkaia and coached by BUas lecturers Ineke Spapé and Tim van Wershoven.

Bilbao, known from the world-famous Guggenheim Museum, has to deal with traffic jams and unsafe situations due to the growth of tourism. That’s why Mare and his team came up with interventions and organised a Bike Guerrilla event. ‘A Bike Guerrilla is a form of Tactical Urbanism. In a very short time, with a very limited budget and in a pressure cooker setting, an ode to the bicycle is made – guerrilla style – to get people cycling as much as possible,’ Mare explains.

‘To create enthusiasm for cycling, we gave students and staff of Leiao University the opportunity to try riding an e-bike, and we also looked at how kids in Amorebieta can get to school safely. The e-bike might really be a solution in this part of Biscay since it is rather hilly. Children are the future, I think that if kids can get into the habit of cycling, this may have a great impact on future transport.’

Bike Guerillas work, we know from experience. The actions are nice, friendly, but also confronting and sometimes disruptive, but most of all: they are easy to implement at low investments. The experiences and results can be found in the (Dutch) Bike Guerilla handbook of the Province of Noord-Brabant.

Empowered by Saskia Kuiper and Ingrid van der Meijs

YEARS

BUas ...

e never stop learning in Breda. In this respect, with BUas, we have a special education institute within our city boundaries. An education institute that closely collaborates with other universities and universities of applied sciences in the region. Where students from home and abroad enjoy studying at a high level. That is what I as Alderman for Learning can only be proud of!

Their ambitions for the future are really something. ‘Ambitions with a plus’ is what we read in the new strategic direction of BUas. A plus that also stands for the added value for society at large. Something that businesses play a big part in as far as the several knowledge themes are concerned.

The internationalisation of BUas fits seamlessly with the international ambitions of the city of Breda. As Municipal Executive Board we enjoy working together. We do so by collaborating in various projects. When carrying out these projects, we like to make use of the students’ expertise; they can contribute ideas for addressing our social issues like no one else.

We work together in the projects of City Deal Kennis Maken and in the Urban Living Lab. We work, for example, on developing Virtual Reality for a fast cycle route, we try to find future-oriented solutions for urban distribution, develop a dashboard to be able to regulate visitor flows at events, and work on acquiring game businesses.

This collaboration yields fresh and new ideas. And for students this means more bonding with their (university) city, because – though BUas educates students for an international career – we would evidently want to maintain this talent pool for and in the city of Breda.

BUas offers a fantastic environment to attend and deliver classes, study, share knowledge and meet up. Certainly with the new campus now having all study programmes under ‘one roof’ and offering all the space, literally and figuratively, to shape an even better Breda together.

Arjen van Drunen Alderman for Learning Municipality of Breda

World for a better A

s our global population is growing, living longer, becoming more prosperous and increasingly urbanised, we must find new ways to remain healthy, consume less energy and use fewer resources, protect the environment, and deal with the threat of increasing geopolitical instability and other possible new crises.

Apart from enabling solutions to many challenges, technology poses new practical, ethical and legal challenges of its own. Robotisation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence will transform entire industries, the nature of work itself and the individual’s relation to society.

Industries and society in general expect higher education and research institutes to deliver professionals who can help and lead them through these transitions. In all BUas' study domains, students are trained to take up this challenge. In the learning communities, together with lecturers, researchers and industry professionals, they develop the skills they need to make the world a more beautiful place.

The next page features a deep dive into the domain of Leisure & Events and its quest for a better world

Co-created by

Peter Horsten and Simon de Wijs

Leisure

Hundreds of initiatives have meanwhile been set up and supported within Performatory. A few inspiring examples (based in Breda):

> BO Diversity stands for ‘Be Open-Minded’ and is committed to raising awareness of prejudices, stereotypes and taboos.

> Climate Streamers inspires people to take climate actions via online media, storytelling, events and games.

> Goedzooi is a creative agency that composes impactful stories and is based on the mission of ‘do love’.

> Stekkie creates mini-ecosystems with houseplants and aims to raise awareness of issues such as sustainability, recycling and circular economy.

More info about Performatory or interested in working together? Go to their website: www.performatory.nl

The leisure industry has undergone enormous development in recent decades. Traditionally, the leisure sector has paid attention to its potential impact on, for example, health, education, participation or training, as well as to organisation and policy in this area. The sector acts as a driver for spatial, cultural and social changes. Leisure has everything to do with the transition of physical urban environments, with the empowerment of specific groups, with new encounters, and with contributing to quality of life and happiness.

There is a growing need in society for social change on a local, regional and global scale. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are a significant catalyst to actually realising these changes. The leisure sector seems to occupy a special key position, but in what way do students and lecturers of Leisure & Events contribute to improving the world?

Meaningful initiatives

In the leisure sector, we see more and more examples of activities and initiatives that focus on social challenges. Leisure should not only be an experience, but above all meaningful. This is visible and tangible in the following initiatives, in which students and lecturers of BUas play or have played an active role.

Museums, such as the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, are working on inclusiveness through better accessibility of products and services. In paid football, think of NAC Breda, there is a concept called Football Memories to combat loneliness and enrich the social lives of elderly people. Pop concert venues, like Gebouw-T in Bergen op Zoom, are a platform for behavioural change and regional cooperation around themes such as biobased materials. Events are often testing grounds on the way to a sustainable world, where themes such as energy, food and waste are in the spotlight. An example is the Digital Festival (DGTL) in Amsterdam. Another inspiring example is Possibilize, an organisation that operates on the basis of what is possible rather than what isn’t and makes music festivals accessible to both hearing and deaf people. In the organisation of the Dutch Grand Prix, societal impact is considered on a par with economic impact. And what about Dutch Happiness Week, a theme week centred around the entire spectrum from personal happiness to the liveability of society at large. These are all leisure initiatives for a better world.

With the specialisation area of Social Innovation, in which students within Performatory work on social innovation, BUas is building a better world together with industry partners.

for a better World

Leisure as a playground

Why is the leisure sector such a fertile ground for working towards a better world? Hans Mommaas, former professor at BUas and currently general director of PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, reported in 2019 in Uncover magazine that leisure should not so much be regarded as a sector, but more as a testing ground where you can bring about behavioural change. And it is precisely in this methodological approach to leisure as a means of change that an enormous opportunity lies. Leisure is a means to connect the system world of industries with the social issues in the everyday world of citizens and consumers. Leisure has the core quality and expertise to approach projects with a methodology in which design research, storytelling and imagineering enable a different kind of creative, innovative and playful approach. Subjects and systems that normally degenerate into structures, laws, constraints and 'heavyweight' arrangements, are given a special edge within the context of leisure in which there is room for happiness, pleasure, hospitality, humour and 'lightness'.

A perfect breeding ground for bottom-up changes, in people's daily environments.

Performatory

With this in mind, BUas has developed a learning community within the Leisure & Events domain that is based on the power of leisure as a means of bringing about change and thus creating social impact. This learning community is called Performatory. Performatory is a contraction of Performance and Laboratory. Within Performatory, students work on transformative social innovation in practice. This is about improving social interaction between people in such a way that they embrace or invent new ideas, perspectives or solutions themselves. It involves innovations that address social, ecological, economic and/or cultural challenges.

Anne van den Broek talks about a Performatory initiative to combat loneliness among the elderly.

Social

innovators of the future BUas thus educates the social innovators of the future. A social innovator connects people and organisations around a particular social theme. Students facilitate and encourage the process of co-design and co-creation based on their knowledge and experience. They get the chance to become social innovators in their own field of interest. This may be in the world of sports, culture or music, but it may also be outside the leisure sector, in healthcare, non-profit organisations and governments. Students work at the interface of various sectors and use their qualities as experience designer, community designer or process designer to create a basis of support among all stakeholders and thus realise social innovations.

Every morning we catch up for half an hour and discuss what needs to be done. Then we start our brainstorming session. We came up with the idea to combat loneliness amongst the elderly. This obviously was already an issue before corona, so we do want to develop something which will be of use later on as well. This gave rise to the idea of a large colouring picture, where each elderly person colours a piece. Eventually it will become one joint picture with the message: Together against corona. The message can be changed after the corona crisis. The idea has taken shape together with welfare organisation Surplus Breda and is well received in care centres.'

Anne van den Broek | Social innovator of the future

Learning to run a business with your help

Sibelicious

The perfect place to enjoy lunch or dinner

Sibelicious is more than the stylish restaurant in the historical former convent on our campus. It is a training company where students from the Hotel and Facility Management programmes gain experience in various disciplines of the profession.

By enjoying your lunch or dinner at Sibelicious, tasting beautiful wines in our Taste Lab, or having your conference organised in our stylish chapel, you are part of a strong international learning community. With your help, students are given the opportunity to practise their skills before they go on a work placement. First-year students learn about all kinds of practical matters such as cutting techniques, beer tapping and wine tasting. Second-year students are completely responsible for running the

business, including planning, staff briefing and financial results. Together they create the menus by choosing the food and beverages they would like to prepare and serve.

We cordially invite you to visit Sibelicious some time. Please keep in mind that we are not open all year round because of students’ schedules. In school weeks, our students serve lunch five days a week, welcoming guests between 12.00 and 12.30 hrs. Sibelicious is open for dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a welcome between 18.00 and 18.30 hrs.

We would love to have you as our guest! Feel free to make a reservation via sibelicious.buas.nl or by calling +31 76 53 32 81.

When I started studying, it was quite an eye-opener to me that everything here goes according to protocol – from welcoming guests to setting tables. Everything has to be just right, to the smallest detail. I like that, I am all for structure and I’m also a true perfectionist. I think this etiquette is a good thing, it contributes to a positive experience.'

Yentl Stuiver | One of the students who gained experience in training company Sibelicious over the past few years

Empowered by Ingrid van der Meijs, Ursela van de Noort, Danny Linssen and Charlie Hicks

A big plus of working in the Production House is the collaborative learning approach. You learn the most from students who are working on completely different projects, and you can often make cool connections.'

Maria Kubik from Poland | One of the students who gained experience in the Production House over the past few years

Production House

Production House is the in-house training company of the Creative Business programme, where students work on media-related projects for industry clients. Whether you are in need of a promo video, a new brand identity, a website, marketing plan or social media campaign, our students are there for you.

Guided by expert supervisors, you – as a professional in the industry – give our students the opportunity to act in a professional industry setting and develop their planning, project management and communication skills. As this learning

We create what you need

process goes hand in hand with the creative process, it creates an inspiring environment for both our clients and our students to collaborate in. As our clients state: ‘It is really fun to work with these enthusiastic students!’ You will experience that the input of our young professionals can give you an extra boost in the right direction by bringing youthful thinking into your business environment.

Production House students are also responsible for managing and creating content for the HUB. This is the BUas campus-wide entertainment network powered by Creative Business students.

Newways

The HUB offers entertaining and informative articles, videos and a 24-hour-a-day online radio station programmed by the students, for the students and the BUas community.

Got inspired? Get in touch with us and we will see what our students can do for you. We’re happy to help you. Check it out via BUasproductionhouse.com or contact the HUB via HUB@buas.nl

Working on your assignment from A to Z

Each academic year, a group of some 15 students are in charge of running Newways, the training company of the Tourism Management programme, located at Innovation Square on campus. It is a great opportunity for students in their fourth year to hone their skills and start their career.

Students doing a minor at Newways organise field trips, conferences and events, such as the BUas Education Day, Industry Days, the Corporate Travel Symposium, the Reiswerk Travel Challenge, and the Everything Procedural Conference of the Games programme. In this way, students learn to run a business in the tourism, travel and conference industry! It is through the Newways Travel Desk that BUas employees can easily arrange travels and accommodation when going

abroad for BUas. But the students of Newways are also happy to help people from outside BUas to organise a conference or event. So, with your assignment, you can help them gain experience and build a solid network in the Tourism and Leisure & Events industry.

Through Newways, students work hard on their personal development. They are regularly ‘on the road’ and often ‘on stage’ as event managers. For our students it is one year of work experience, working on an assignment from A to Z, getting personal and intensive on-the-job coaching in a professional and international work environment with inspiring colleagues.

Want to work with the students of Newways?

Please contact the team via newways@buas.nl

It may sound strange, but I have a totally different work experience here from the one I had during my work placement. At the time, I really felt I was a student on a work placement who could do some odd jobs. At Newways, I myself am responsible for an assignment or a project, and that really means from A to Z. That is what you learn the most from.'

Nikki Scheffer | One of the students who gained experience in training company Newways over the past few years

Only people can

In their future role as innovative professionals and critical thinkers, our students will work in specialist domains where complex challenges are felt every day.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital spaces and realities open up new frontiers for governance, organisation, and management. Moreover, they make it necessary to think about ethical challenges (e.g. the need to develop people's digital human rights). Digitalisation and climate change drive the innovation of business models and governance in the tourism, leisure, and hospitality domains. In the quest for circular and sustainable business models, facility management concepts are changing fast. Liveable cities increasingly require smart logistics. The built environment needs to be reconsidered and redesigned to remain liveable, creative places that inspire communities and visitors to tackle societal challenges.

To make a difference for the future of these sectors, BUas strives to be much more than a higher education institute offering degree programmes. BUas engages in research from the idea that

knowledge contributes to solving these societal issues. At the same time, it allows students to better understand and respond to them. Therefore, BUas recently launched a BUas+ Research & Development (R&D) programme in which professors and researchers collaborate with society and industry. They help industry partners innovate, adjust to society’s challenges and transform through research, development, and design projects.

Four Focus Areas

‘The starting point of the R&D programme is the interaction of people in the physical and social environment. Only people can shape a better world,’ says Jos van der Sterren from the BUas research committee. ‘Our R&D mission is to support individuals as well as their organisations, businesses and communities. This mission is based on the vision that BUas R&D is recognised for shaping a better world by achieving sustainable development through its impact on people, cultures, places and flows. When translating this vision into a research strategy, we defined four focus areas. Reflecting the strengths and expertise, these areas are connected to the educational programmes and to societal challenges.’

The joint projects on the next pages touch upon the true international, inquisitive and co-creative identity of BUas. Interested in collaboration? Please contact the R&D team via BUas.nl/research

Today’s global society is faced with many complex challenges. The BUas Research & Development programme helps industry partners to innovate and transform, but – above all – allows our students to better understand complex societal issues.

Our students will work in specialist domains where complex challenges are felt every day

Co-created by the BUas R&D team, Lobke Degenaar and Jan Willem Besselaar

Project SmartCulTour

Places and Flows

The first focus area is working on liveable, attractive places and sustainable flows. People come together in physical places such as cities, villages, communities. And they organise flows of goods and services to facilitate their lives. If we better understand the dynamics of these interactions we can contribute to liveable, attractive places and sustainable flows.

Experience

The second focus area is all about social transition. The BUas R&D team is strongly convinced that everyday experiences are catalysts of interaction between people and their environment. Understanding the nature and motivations of these interactions allows us to support experiences for cultural understanding, social inclusion, and societal transition.

The aim of this EU-funded project is to support the development of European regions that are rich in cultural heritage and assets, and to develop these cultural destinations sustainably.

Researchers are identifying and testing a framework of sustainability and resilience indicators and developing a decision support system for measuring and monitoring cultural tourism and its impact. They do so by identifying innovative cultural tourism interventions through existing case studies and trialling specific interventions within six community-led Living Labs.

Within the SmartCulTour project BUas partners up with KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Split (Croatia), University of Lapland (Finland), MODUL University Vienna (Austria), Ca’Foscari Università di Venezia (Italy), UNESCO (France), CIHEAM (Spain), Toerisme Vlaanderen (Belgium) and Quantitas (Italy).

1 focus research

Project JOIN

BUas is doing research into experiences for cultural understanding in the JOIN project.

Cultural activities such as visiting a museum or attending a theatre show more often act as a marker of social boundaries than as an invitation for social interaction. To reverse the resulting social fragmentation, members of separate ‘bubbles’ have to share time, place, content, and experience. For cultural activities, this means bringing in emotionally engaging visitors and both frequent and infrequent visitors in joint experiences. In the project we measured how frequent and infrequent young adult visitors experience cultural activities, as well as their overall post-experience evaluations.

Measuring experiences of participants both inside and outside the cultural ‘bubble’ is needed to understand how social group membership affects emotional engagement and how to develop policy to promote social interaction and to broaden social inclusion amongst young people.

BUas is doing this research together with Tilburg University, Stichting Cultuurmarketing, Theaters Tilburg & Rotterdam, and Groninger Museum.

Digireal-XL

Digital realities are smart and interactive digital environments that integrate seamlessly with data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, modelling simulation, and game and media technologies such as virtual and augmented reality.

These innovative technologies are already being used in many fields, but there is a need for cross-disciplinary theories, methodologies and tools. That is why the SPRONG-group DIGIREAL-XL is building a Research, Development & Innovation centre with the central theme of Digital Realities for socio-economic impact.

BUas works together in this project with Mindlabs, Fontys, Tilburg University.

Competencies for a circular economy (C-4CE)

The transition to a circular economy (CE) can only succeed if professionals possess the required competencies. Governments expect that the CE will generate a lot of employment. At the moment, however, very few educational programmes on this subject are offered in the south of the Netherlands and in Flanders.

Existing educational offerings primarily have a general and introductory character, are mainly technology driven and focus on the circular application of materials. The CE, however, is broader and is not just about process technology and the use of commodities and materials, but also about value creation and value capture via circular business models.

That is why BUas has joined forces with CENTEXBEL and Interreg Flanders-Netherlands to uncover the competency needs of employers, identify relevant training and education, and help education providers to meet these needs. As a result, the alignment between labour market and employees is improved and future-proofed.

The fact that more and more people interact in digital realities can be used to shape a better world. That’s why the third focus area is all about understanding their potential. That enables us to contribute to using digital realities for better governance and management of societal challenges.

Sustainability

The last focus area actually runs like a red thread through all the other ones. The transversal goal of our research and development is to contribute to sustainability transitions. Sustainable Development Goals are the operational framework for this.

Digital Realities areas 4

People

make BUas

Co-created by Isabella Hardenbol-Kuiper and Chris van Dorsselaer

When you work at BUas, you are continuously interacting with others. Not only with your students, the lecturers within your team or with researchers, but especially also with people from other disciplines and from the industry. Our strength lies in these relationships and crossovers.

For the people who work at BUas, this is great. Every field, every domain has its own expertise and a solid network that has been built up over the years. We look for each other’s expertise and take a broader perspective towards innovative solutions to societal issues.

Peter van der Aalst from the Leisure & Events domain:

‘The knowledge from the Logistics domain has helped us understand and tackle issues such as crowd safety. Together we have developed smart and creative solutions to prevent safety incidents. After all, no one wants a repeat of the tunnel disaster at the Love Parade. But it is also about crowd control at railway stations and airports, and coping with severe weather conditions at festivals like Pukkelpop. It is precisely these between-domain crossovers that make working at BUas so valuable and diverse!’

Early adopters

BUas is a knowledge institute that is constantly on the move. Students, lecturers and industry partners meet in learning communities. They all learn from each other by working together on, for example, research and projects, symposiums or events. Knowledge and skills are developed together with leading companies in the field. This allows our students to develop skills that make them not only early adopters of new ideas, knowledge and technology, but also innovators of the future.

BUas Skills for Life

The changes in our international context occur in rapid succession. That is why subject-specific knowledge alone is not enough to be able to contribute to the

future. Open-mindedness, critical thinking, an international scope, and the ability to think differently are indispensable skills too. They form an important basis for our students and thus for the professionals of BUas. Professionalisation is not a buzz word for us. We give it substance together. By continuing to look outwards and giving each other space.

If you have a good idea and a well-founded plan, BUas will give you all the space. You get a lot of freedom, and autonomy is very important to us. On the other hand, a high degree of flexibility is also required. T herefore, sufficient attention must be paid to mental fitness. You have to l ook after your people and pay close attention to how that flexibility take s shape.’

Annemiek van der Schaft | HR & Management Consultant at BUas

Want to know more about working at BUas?

Together we shape a bright future

Growing together

Ten ideas on how to join forces!

Fresh brains

Are you up for a healthy dose of fresh ideas?

Fresh brains, that’s what we call our students and staff. It is surprising to see how well they are capable of thinking outside the box. You have already seen some great examples in this magazine.

Our cross-cultural community, in which we work together with students, lecturers, researchers, staff and industry partners from different cultural backgrounds, is an enormous asset in this respect. So are the various learning communities (see pages 32-35) and Innovation Square where students, lecturers and industry partners work together on various societal challenges (see page 6).

If you are up for a healthy dose of fresh ideas, please be our guest! Your project, placement or graduation assignment will help our students to become the qualified young professionals you need.

> Set our minor students to work on your research project

> Interact with our fresh brains in your own guest lecture

> Discover workable and innovative solutions for your company

> Join one of our learning communities

> Host a company visit and put your business in the spotlight

> Help our graduates with your feedback and assessment

> Come and meet our talented students on an Industry Day

> See what our Production House does with cool promo videos

> Book a bespoke masterclass for your staff

> Join one of our industry or accreditation committees

Lifelong learning

Improve your strategic and creative thinking skills!

In addition to full-time professional and academic master's programmes, BUas also offers two executive master’s programmes in the field of Imagineering and Media Innovation, and one part-time master’s programme in Strategic Events Management.

These programmes have been designed especially for professionals who want to improve their strategic and creative thinking skills through acquiring deeper theoretical understanding and cooperating with others.

Valerie Wapperom (image coordinator), BUas archives, Andy van Tilborg, Antoine Ruedisueli, Arno van der Linden, Chris van Dorsselaer, Esther Kupers, Jordy Mastbooms, Paul van Rijckevorsel, Robert Aarts, Robert Grigg, Ron Magielse, Shutterstock.com, Stadsarchief Breda: Johan van Gurp, Unsplash.com