University of the North organizes successful first roadshow

Last November, the University of the North presented its knowledge agenda. This year, three roadshows will be organized in the northern provinces to allow stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the ambitions and activities of the University of the North. The first roadshow was held on Wednesday 6 July, on the Greenwise Campus in Emmen.

Within the University of the North, the University of Groningen, the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the Hanzehogeschool Groningen, NHL Stenden, and Van Hall Larenstein want to work closer together with each other, as well as with businesses, governments, and community associations to help contribute to the most important change assignments in the north of the Netherlands.

Around 100 interested participants joined us in the former bus depot in Emmen, the future location of the new Innovation Centre of the Greenwise Campus, to discover how knowledge institutions, businesses, and governments in the Emmen region work together on challenges in the regions of South Drenthe, South-East Drenthe, and Northern Overijssel.

Steering committee members Jouke de Vries and Erica Schaper kicked off by introducing the University of the North, after which Raymond Wanders (alderman of the municipality of Emmen), Anne Kroese and Mike Rozeboom (Greenwise Campus), Arwin Nimis (Drenthe College), Gert Zwartscholten (Volker Wessels), Herman Gijlers (joint business owners association), and Henriëtte Herbschleb (Dutch TechZone) discussed the various aspects of successful cooperation in Emmen.

Katja Loos, professor of Chemistry at the UG, and Vincent Voet, associate lector at NHL Stenden, concluded the substantive programme with their presentation ‘Van kennis naar kassa’ (‘From Knowledge to Cash’), about the role of TRL trains , continuing learning and research trajectories, and hybrid research groups. A networking lunch concluded the programme.

The University of the North’s second roadshow has already been planned. On 7 September, Roadshow #2 will visit Campus Groningen to introduce the innovation ecosystem and its current collaboration projects in Groningen.

Want to know more about the University of the North or its roadshows? Contact Gernant Deekens, secretary and administrative advisor for the University of the North, via g.e.deekens rug.nl

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