 |
The PARENT project's final conference took place in Brussels on 4 and 5 June, 2019. It brought together political actors, researchers and civil society organisations concerned with energy and sustainability in Brussels. Over two days, the conference discussed the project's core themes: sustainability, collaboration and technology. This was done in a collaborative and interactive environment amongst the 90 participants, with workshops organised by various partners, information stands from seven different organisations across Brussels, and an evening session with a keynote speech from Chris Roorda. As a result of the project, several mapping initiatives have been launched, with the ambition to fill the gaps in knowledge on sustainability actions in the region. The dialogue set up amongst actors will continue in the future, as we continue to push for a more sustainable Brussels.
On Monday 3 June the IES welcomed 18 students of the University of Southern California (USC), enrolled in the Brussels Programme on European Foreign Policy. They will spend their first week getting to know their individual internship places at various institutions. The students will be staying in Brussels for five weeks while attending lectures on topics such as European integration and foreign policy, European security challenges, and European trade and environmental governance. The programme is organized every spring. It is led by Dr. Daniel Fiott and Dr. Luis Simon.
After several years of declining attention for defence matters in the Belgian political debate, emerging international trends are putting the foundations of national security back on the agenda. Belgium has traditionally safeguarded its international interests within the framework of a strong transatlantic relationship that also supports European integration. NATO membership, in particular, is at the core the country’s security and defence policy and reflects its decision to guarantee security in a multilateral framework. But the balance of power between the world’s major powers is shifting and Belgian policy-makers are therefore compelled to reflect on how to continue to safeguard security and defence going forward. 
In the framework of the Royal Visit to the Republic of South Korea, VUB’s Vice-Rector Romain Meeusen signed three MoUs with Korean universities – two of which were directly related to activities at the IES. General research and teaching cooperation agreements were signed between the VUB and Hankuk Universtity of Foreign Studies (HUFS) and between the VUB and Seoul National University (SNU). With HUFS, the IES has had a long standing relationship, starting with student exchange between 2009 and 2012 and with research cooperation ever since. With SNU, an additional MoU was signed to organize a summer training programme on EU Studies for their international relations students. Starting July 2019, between 20 and 30 Korean students will travel to Brussels for a two-week course programme at our Institute. 
After delivering the successful 2018 Masterclass on the Middle East: 
The VUB and the University of Warwick (UoW) have launched a joint PhD programme, in which 2 PhD fellowships are available to enable young and promising researchers to be jointly supervised by academics from both universities. The PhD candidate is expected to spend at least 12 months in each institution. The fellowships will start between October 2019 and January 2020. 
A new IES report to which our researchers 
Korea-Foundation-VUB Korea Chair
IES is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Email: ies@vub.ac.be
| Research | Publications | Training & Education | Events |
The Institute for European Studies info@ies.be Login |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
IES is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Email: ies@vub.ac.be
| Research | Publications | Training & Education | Events |
The Institute for European Studies info@ies.be Login |
|---|---|---|---|---|
