ece students’ participation in ‘experience europe a higher ......transparency of quality...

ECE students attend Higher Education Study Trip to Brussels (Belgium) – July 12-16, 2010

Report prepared by Usman Masud (August 2010)

ECE students’ participation in ‘Experience Europe – A Higher Education Study Trip to

Brussels’

Excursion to Brussels – July 12-16, 2010

Bathed in the serenity of its sublime nonchalance, Brussels, the de facto capital of the European

Union (EU) as well as the host to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), amiably

attracts and warmly welcomes thousands of tourists from all over the world on account of its

internationalization in terms of both linguistics and culture.

We started our journey from Kassel in the morning, and travelled through the Netherlands on the

way to Brussels because of the unexpected traffic jam on the motorway. Windstorms and a slight

hurricane were indicative of an overcast weather at our destination. A moderate, cloudy climate

was ready to welcome us in the city after a seven hours long drive. Citadines Apart'hotel, our rest

house in Brussels, was a reasonable place to stay during our visit. The decision of our organizers

to select it was worth appreciating on account of its intimacy to the city centre.

After check in, we decided to pay a brief visit to our vicinity in order to explore the supermarkets.

After taking our meal, we felt somewhat refresh and went to explore the nearby. The downtown

and its surroundings amply reflected a typical west European edifice. Medieval construction is

dawned upon the tourists by places like the famous Grand Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage

Site, and the Laken Castle.

Welcome to Belgium

(left to right: Mohsin,

Alfin and Usman)

ECE students ready for

the EU Parliament, a

plausible FBI escort

(left to right:

Francisco, Usman,

Mohsin)



The next day we woke up in time to visit the famous European Commission (EC). The lectures

were new and informative for us. The speakers explained in some detail the infrastructure and

working of the Commission. The lunch was also very good inside the refectory, and everyone

enjoyed it. Afterwards, there was again a lecture on the functionality of the various committees of

the EC, its aims and objectives, and future prospects. This was followed by our visit to the

working chamber of the European Parliament. There were 24 interpreter cells, for the different

languages of the EU. The seating plan was impressive, as well as the arena of the chamber. Our

guide was kind enough to grant us permission for photography inside the chamber. In short, the

EU Parliament is worth seeing and mentioning. This was quite a tiresome day, and therefore we

came back to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Usman with the EU

map and Mohsin with

the respective flags

Grand Palace: the

legend of Brussels



Our appointment at the European University Association (EUA) marked the start of the next day,

which is a consortium of various universities across Europe. Besides educational programmes,

this organization arranges many extracurricular activities in these universities. The Association’s

mandate in the Bologna process, contribution to EU research policy-making and relations with

intergovernmental organisations, European institutions and international associations, ensure its

capacity to debate issues which are crucial for universities in relation to higher education,

research and innovation. This was followed by our visit to the Academic Cooperation

Association (ACA), a federation of national organizations from Europe and beyond, which all

fund and encourage the internationalization of their higher education systems. ACA also acts as a

bridge between European multilateral platform and rest of the world, and thus is involved in

different inter and intra European collaborations. Next, we went to the UNICA headquarters,

which is a network of 42 universities from the capital cities of Europe. The utmost objective of

this body is to promote academic excellence, integration and co-operation between member

European universities. UNICA articulates the views of member universities to European

institutions and to national, regional and municipal governments. Then we were briefed about the

ERASMUS programme, the community and its objectives at their working place in Brussels,

which marked the end of that day.

Carmen and Usman

inside the EU

Parliament

During the lectures at

the EUA



The last working day began with our visit to the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR)

headquarters. As an alliance of European representative bodies of quality assurance agencies,

students, universities and other higher education institutions, EQAR undertakes the level of the

transparency of quality assurance in higher education in Europe. It has a detailed web based

register that logs the performance indicator of quality assurance agencies. Our next stop was the

Flemish Department of Higher Education. This was indeed remarkable, and there were many

interesting points during their presentations. A key focus was the critical and unbiased overview

of the Bologna Process, depicting its merits and demerits. Apart from informing us about the

organization’s infrastructure, they also updated us about their current and future policies. The

students had a healthy participation during this session.

The Flemish Department of Higher Education arranged a four hour ‘walking dinner’ for all the

participants into the old, historical part of the city. We had abundant chances to observe the

chronological structure of Brussels. The spectators viewed many buildings with rich Medieval

architecture. It reminded me of my last year’s visit to Graz (Austria) and Prag (Czech Republic),

where I was able to see many old architectures. However, here our hosts did a considerable favor

to us by offering us a four course customary Belgian cuisine, which constituted famous dishes

from the country’s capital. This guided tour was one of the most memorable parts of this trip, and

ended with a mouth-watering dessert.

The magnificent EU

Parliament in the

background

Glimpses of the

‘walking dinner’, with

some smiling faces



We had almost a half day left for ourselves, and we decided to pay a visit to Brugge, better

known as the ‘Venice of the North’. It is located in the West Flanders and embarks as a

prominent World Heritage Site of the UNESCO which elucidates it as a major tourist attraction in

Belgium. The downtown was full of foreign vacationers who were busy in photography or buying

souvenirs at various shops. We also bought some decoration items and then moved back to

Brussels in the early afternoon, from where we drove back to Kassel by bus.

On the whole, the trip was a major success in terms of both education and entertainment. Most

people in the department of higher education, University of Kassel, were good and friendly. The

time that we spent with them will always be memorable; especially Carmen’s amicable attitude

and Elena’s lively disposition are worth mentioning. The organizers were cooperative and we

appreciate their efforts. To sum up, Brussels sparkles luminous among its European

contemporaries like Prag, Amsterdam and Basel, and vows to cordially host many spectators in

future on account of its rich cultural, traditional and historical legacy. A blend of various

nationalities marks its acme in terms of ethnicity, and we strongly recommend others to pay a

visit to this splendid metropolitan.

Welcome to

Brugge:

Venice of

the North

Waiting for the

unforgettable dessert



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Usman Masud joined ECE in 2007 from Pakistan and was the first International Tutor of the

programme. He completed his Master recently, and started his Ph.D at the Institute of Nanostructure

Technologies and Analytics, University of Kassel. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Muhammad Mohsin Khan joined ECE in 2009 from Pakistan. He currently holds the seat of the ECE

Speaker as well as Student4Student ECE. He can be contacted at [email protected] or

[email protected].

Francisco Josue Moncada Navarro joined ECE in 2009 from Honduras. He can be contacted on

[email protected].

Left: Brugge Experience (left to

right: Mohsin, Alfin, Usman, Hoa,

Sarah) and bottom: Group foto

of the participants at the EU

Parliament

mailto:[email protected]




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