Junior colleagues

The Rector, Professor András Szöllösi-Nagy, welcomed the new batch of students to the UNESCO-IHE family and said that instead of calling them students, he would rather call them junior colleagues as they will soon become newly graduated water professionals. He stressed that besides the fun and great parties a lot of hard work lies ahead in the coming 18 months to address the most critical of water issues, learn from each other’s experiences and discover new and innovative approaches to address global and local water challenges.

Right combination

Guest speaker Mr. Wim Kuijken, Government Commissioner for the Delta Programme and member of the IHE Delft Foundation Board, then addressed the students about finding the right combination between academic excellence and developmental relevance, the main drivers for the activities of the Institute.

Revaluation

Kuijken continues by saying that currently in the Netherlands, more specifically in the world of academia, increasing emphasis is put on academic performance over societal relevance. "I would like to take this opportunity today to plead for the revaluation of the engineering disciplines in academia to not lose competitive strength in a global (needs) market that comes with its own priorities.

Global need

We have to understand that we must continue to value engineering science in one and the same category with all sciences. If we fail at this, our advanced position in water, as well as in other fields of engineering science, will soon deteriorate, which will not only affect our position in a global market, but will also go at the cost of the immense global need for development in the world of water technology and delta technology,?" he added. "It is needless to say that educating water professionals, such as UNESCO-IHE is currently doing, is imperative to deal with the immense challenges. If this did not happen, also the work of the Government Commissioner for the Delta Programme in the Netherlands would be made increasingly difficult."

Dutch herring

After a musical interlude by Nemanja Trifunovic, current students and representatives of the Student Association Board, Patrick Sandikie and Juliette Cortes Arevado, then addressed the newcomers by giving some insights into what they have experienced in Delft so far after having been at the Institute for one year. Stefan Uhlenbrook, interim Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs at UNESCO-IHE, finally addressed the students on ways that UNESCO-IHE contributes to sustainable development and achieving the Millennium Development Goals through research and education. Soon after everyone was invited to the welcome party where traditional Dutch herring and licorice were frowned upon by many.