The new home of RUG/Campus Fryslân in Leeuwarden, the Beursgebouw, will officially open its doors to students this autumn, and the University of Groningen’s branch in Friesland is aiming to makes its mark with a special scientific programme focused on climate studies.
Translation by Hans de Preter
UPDATE: 5:51 p.m., Friday, 5 July
Engelien Reitsma, communication advisor at RUG/Campus Fryslân, says that a letter of intent has been signed, and the programme will likely initially start small in the form of summer school.
Regional Frisian broadcaster Omrop Friesland reports that Leeuwarden as a whole wants to develop further as a university city: in addition to RUG/Campus Fryslân, Leeuwarden is also home to NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and Van Hall Larenstein.
Professor of Governance and Innovation Andrej Zwitter took over as dean of RUG/Campus Fryslân in early 2019 following the departure of professor Jouke de Vries, who became president of the University of Groningen in late 2018. Zwitter says that if the programme proves a success in Leeuwarden, the campus intends to offer access to the programme at other universities. “There needs to be a network of knowledge about this major challenge for the world,” Zwitter says.
The branch campus has offered a bachelor-level academic programme in Global Responsibility & Leadership since 2017, and collaborates with other Dutch universities and local knowledge institutions on a number of Friesland-focused themes such as water and minority languages, namely sustainable entrepreneurship, governance and law in digital society, tourism geography and planning, multilingualism and water technology.
