Exchange to Change June 2018 E2C-may18-web | Page 13

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A trip to the city of light
Our Masters students made it through winter and the first two modules of the program. As they say, ‘time flies
when you’re having fun’, studying of course! And, as part of the IOB tradition, 60 students took part in a three-
day trip to Paris (18-21 March 2018). The trip started with a quick stop at the Eiffel Tower, where students took
advantage of the opportunity to walk around and take some photos. Afterwards, we proceeded on a boat tour
on the river Seine. During the afternoon, students spent their free time exploring the city, such as Montmartre,
the Champs-Élysées and its surroundings, the Louvre Museum, Centre Pompidou, and many other interesting
places.
On the second day we had the opportunity to visit the OECD Headquarters, and learned about the mission, role
and work of the Delegation by Pieter Vermaerke, the DAC delegate from the Permanent Mission of Belgium to
the OECD; this was followed by a presentation from Jason Gagnon of the office of Migration and Skills Unit. On
the third day we visited the UNESCO Offices and learned about the challenges and opportunities that UNESCO
is facing in terms of establishing monitoring and evaluation schemes for the Sustainable Development Goals, by
Martina Rathner, followed by a presentation on the Ethics of Climate Change and UNESCO’s discussions on their
role in engaging with this subject. This was a great opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the ‘behind the
scenes’ work that these agencies carry out and get a feel for their everyday work.
After the three day trip, we returned to Antwerp, refueled with energy and ready to immerse ourselves in the last
teaching module of our program. Special thanks to IOB Staff (Sara, Gabi, Ivan and Hans) for traveling with us;
their presence was an asset to our trip and made it even more enjoyable.
Nicaragua meet & greet
On the 9 February 2018, the Nicaraguan alumni
chapter had an informal meet-and-greet session
with the alumni and Prof. Johan Bastiaensen in
Managua, Nicaragua. It was a joyful encounter
and further plans for an IOB alumni seminar in
Nicaragua were discussed.
E xchange to change J une 2018