"Multi-culturalism will push the Netherlands into a New Golden Era"

The phenomenal growth of international students in the Netherlands and the role of universities of applied sciences in attracting them is highlighted by Wittenborg Amsterdam lecturer, Dr Dadi Chen, in an opinion piece he wrote for RNW Media’s Chinese website Helanonline. The group cooperates with many Chinese news outlets, including Phenix Media in Hong Kong and KLM magazine.

A New Golden Era

He uses Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, where 85% of students are international,  as an example of a private, vocational education institution which has grown into one of the most international universities of applied sciences (HBOs) in the Netherlands.

Over the years, the Netherlands has become one of the most ...

"I don't believe in fate or luck. I believe in hard work"

Diverting from his usual academic writing style, Wittenborg's Head of the School of Business, Dr Rauf Abdul, has contributed to a newly published book of essays, detailing his journey from a schoolboy in Pakistan to a PhD in the Netherlands and what he learned on the way.

Abdul is one of several authors who contributed to The Only 21 Stories you will Ever Need to be Successful in Life & Business: From Hardship to a Purposeful Life  - a book compiled by renowned Dutch speaker and author, Lucinda Douglas, who united 21 authors to share how they coped with hardships and came out stronger. The online copy of the book was released on Amazon in October and will be published in hard copy this month. Douglas is also a ...

The Next Education Fair to Meet Wittenborg is in Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey

Want to study abroad? All the information you need might just might one click away on Google, but another option to gain in-depth information is to attend an education fair.

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences participates in several fairs in the Netherlands throughout the year, but also around the world. The next one will be the StudyExpo Fair in Istanbul this weekend on 17 and 18 November 2019, before it moves to Ankara, also in Turkey, on 20 November. Wittenborg will be represented at both fairs by Sinan Çölaşan, one of its current MSc students, who is also Turkish.

So what makes attending one of these education fairs worth your while? Well, for starters you can talk to university delegates of different universities from different countries. The fair gives you the opportunity to ask them questions in person...

Book on Corporate Sustainability also to be Launched on 14 December

To celebrate its new Amsterdam location, Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences will open the building for a grand tour to all visitors on 14 December 2018 from 16:00 – 18:00. Drinks will be served from 17:00 – 18:00.

The new location is housed in the Dali Building, in southeast Amsterdam close to the Amsterdam Arena (now known as the Johan Cruijff Arena). It opened in September at the start of the 2018-19 academic year, signalling a new beginning for Wittenborg Amsterdam, which first started offering programmes in the Dutch capital in 2015.

Wittenborg's IBA in Entrepreneurship & Small Business, also known as Entrepreneurial Business Administration (EBA) programme is offered in Amsterdam. From September, Wittenborg will also offer its ...

Coming soon: Whiskey Burn - The Distilleries of Ireland by Vespa.

The Irish sequel to Wittenborg’s book exploring the whisky distilleries of Scotland has just come off the printing presses. Published by WUP, printed in Holland and written by Wittenborg in-house writer/proofreader Ben Birdsall, this second book is a similarly anecdotal study/travelogue/guide/reference book which will interest a range of readers from whiskey fans to those working in the hospitality industry.

Ben’s book is a record of his 3-week trip around Ireland on his trusty 1979 Vespa 50, the same one which he used to travel across the highlands and islands of Scotland. By his own admission, he started the Scottish trip as something of a whisky novice, learning as he went along, but he came to the Irish trip with a sounder knowledge of the processes and practices

Nuffic Impressed with Wittenborg's Enthusiasm for Student Ambassador Programme

Nuffic, the agency promoting Dutch higher education abroad, held a successful workshop on social media and storytelling with its Study in Holland student ambassadors at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences' campus in Apeldoorn recently.

 The student ambassadors are international students from institutions all over the Netherlands, including two from Wittenborg - Witney Emmanuel and Romeissa Laib - who have both taken over the Study in Holland Instagram page for a week and also written blogs.

Mechteld Bous, Nuffic's communication officer for its Student Mobility team, said in an email that they chose Wittenborg as they were impressed with the institute's "enthusiastic" promotion of the ambassador programme. On Instagram you can follow them on @studyinholland.

According to Bous they started the programme ...

"Landing the job was as easy as writing  a good CV and cover letter"

Sportswear brand Nike has been lauded far and wide for its recent social-conscious marketing choices, from the New York Times to the Australian Herald - which makes Wittenborg student, Tomi Oshin, even prouder to work as a sales advisor for Nike’s flagship Amsterdam store in the Kalverstraat. He believes he can learn a lot from their continual on-target marketing strategies.

Oshin, who is from Nigeria, is doing an IBA in Economics & Management at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences. He has been in the Netherlands for 4 years and stays in Amsterdam, although he studies at Wittenborg’s Apeldoorn campus.

“I always wanted to work for Nike – it is a great brand which pays a lot of attention to detail and they really understand their target market as you can see from their ...

Wittenborg to Launch Book on Corporate Sustainability on 14 December

The challenges of transitioning to a more sustainable energy management model in the Netherlands as well as Europe was the theme of a D66 event hosted at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences in Apeldoorn this week.

About 30 participants attended, looking at European policy on matters of sustainability and how it plays out in reality on a local level, the limitations and the possibilities.

The event was opened by Wittenborg CEO, Maggie Feng. Also in attendance was Wittenborg’s Head of Research, Dr Nicolet Theunissen, and senior lecturer, Dr Teun Wolters, who recently co-authored a new book on corporate sustainability, which calls on businesses to ramp up their sustainable practices.

Dutch language besieged by English at the unis

The article reports that the spread of English in Dutch universities has prompted a group of lecturers to predict a looming "linguicide" and suggested that the government in The Hague imposes restrictions on allowing new English language courses until an official impact analysis can be carried out.

Loss of Dutch Identity?

The BBC quotes a professor of linguistics at the University of Amsterdam as posing the pertinent question: "What happens to the identity of a people of a country where the native language is no longer the main language of higher education?”
 
The Dutch have always had a strong proficiency for English, second only to Sweden in the latest EF English Proficiency Index. And the rich heritage of Dutch culture is not going anywhere soon.  The Dutch tend to ...