Thursday 20 October 2011, marked the day that UNESCO-IHE officially welcomed 155 Masters of Science participants from developing countries. Prof. András Szöllösi-Nagy, Rector, welcomed the participants in the auditorium in the presence of many high-level guests, members of the diplomatic community, staff and participants.
UNESCO ADG and KNUST Vice-Chancellor address
This year, honorary speaker, Prof. Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, welcomed the students on behalf of the UNESCO family and Prof. Ellis, Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, came on stage to call upon joining efforts in postgraduate education before signing an agreement to establish a joint Masters of Science programme between KNUST and UNESCO-IHE in Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation (KNUST), and an MSc degree in Municipal Water and Infrastructure (MWI), with a specialisation in either Sanitary Engineering or Water Supply Engineering (UNESCO-IHE).
Laudatio Chris Kalden
Finally Chris Kalden, was called on stage. He retired from the board of the IHE Delft Foundation and the UNESCO-IHE Governing Board last August after 15 years of serving the institute in a governance capacity. He currently serves as the Director of the Dutch Stateforestry-service, which manages 250,000 hectares of nature reserves across the Netherlands.
Guided City Tour
The official ceremony was preceded by a guided city tour, and followed by the annual 'Experience the Netherlands' reception. During the tour, the new students enjoyed discovering Delft by boat, and getting the best inside information during a guided walk. At the 'Experience the Netherlands' reception, all guests were invited to discover the Netherlands through all their senses: tasting typical Dutch food, smelling the sweet odours of Dutch ‘stroopwafels’.
Video
Video opening, containing speeches Szöllösi-Nagy, Ellis, Kalonji (wmv, 28 min.)
To play video a Media Player should be installed on your PC (download here).
