Arab universities visit Groningen

12 February 2014

Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 February saw the University of Groningen hosting a ‘Leadership visit’ from members of the Association of Arab and European Universities (AEUA). Leaders from 6 universities in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Egypt came to Groningen to discuss the future and development of university leadership.

Groepsfoto — In front: Mahmoud El Kishnen (Alexandra University, Egypt), Mohammad Amin Awwad (Philadelphia University, Jordan), Sibrand Poppema (University of Groningen), Abed Amin Yakan (Jinan University, Lebanon). In the back: Kamalan K. Sha’ath (Islamic University, Gaza, Palestine), Ben Verheijden (on behalf of UG), Jan de Jeu (UG), Inge Bolwijn (UG), Ahmed Anwar Dezaye (Salahaddin University, Kurdistan Region, Iraq), Bert Verveld (UG) en Madeleine Gardeur-Veltman (UG).

The theme of the meetings was ‘Leading universities in a global context, preparing for the future’. How do you lead a university in an ever-changing world and how can you best prepare young talent to take on roles in society in future? The visit revolved around these two issues. It was interesting to note that leaders in the Arab world struggle with many of the same problems and dilemmas as leaders here.

Future leaders

‘Universities are responsible for training future leaders to work in an open, global society. They must be able to contribute to developments in their own countries as well as to a sustainable world. Cooperation between Arab and European countries provides an opportunity for different cultures to share experiences and look at things from each other’s point of view. It is a chance to look at education and research and the way higher education is currently organized from an international perspective’, said President of the Board of the University of Groningen, Prof. Sibrand Poppema, looking back on a successful visit. The Arab guests will be visiting another European university this week, the University of Oldenburg.