'Chulalongkorn visit an enriching experience for our partnership'

A delegation from Chulalongkorn University, the oldest and most prestigious university in Thailand, recently paid a visit to Inholland in Diemen for the purpose of updating their partnership agreement. 'This visit – the first from this important delegation – is very special to Inholland, and to Creative Business in particular. It underscores the importance of our collaboration and exchange', according to host Wim Honders, who, as a lecturer in and the international coordinator for the Communications programme, plays a vital role in this partnership.

Chulalongkorn University, which is situated at the centre of Bangkok, is rather the equivalent of Harvard in Thailand and is a strategic bridgehead to partners in Asia. Inholland has had a partnership with ‘Chula’ for student and lecturer exchanges since 2015. To date, eight students from Chulalongkorn have studied at Inholland and thirteen adventurous Inholland students have gone overseas to study at Chulalongkorn. In early 2018, Wim Honders was the first lecturer to travel to Bangkok to deliver guest lecturers on behalf of Inholland, and to set up the partnership with Creative Business.

Large delegation travels to Inholland
This time, it was the Thai university's turn to come to the Netherlands. The delegation turned out to be a large one: 37 people. Those on hand included the Dean, Deputy Deans, Department Heads and a numerous lecturers and members of staff. It proved to be a successful visit that strengthened our connection to the Thai university. The programme included a lunch and various presentation by both Chulalongkorn and Inholland, after which the new partnership agreement was signed. There were also round-table sessions in the Living Lab at Inholland, which gave the partner institutions a chance to share their respective experiences and best practices.

Continuation and expansion of the partnership
Nicolette Bakhuisen, team leader of the Communication and AD Crossmedia Communication programmes says that plans include an intention to continue exchanging students and lecturers. New forms of collaboration will also be added, such as in connection with student projects focusing on creativity, visual communication and storytelling. Nicolette: 'What's more, we've been invited to publish the results of our research in the magazine of the Faculty of Communication & Art at Chulalongkorn University. We intend to exchange knowledge and experience with regard to education and student participation as well. The Thai are very interested in the educational innovation taking place in our Associate Degree programme, Crossmedia Communication.'

Thai visitors impressed by Dutch hospitality
'The partners were impressed by both the reception and the programme we had prepared', according to Nicolette. 'They enjoyed the lunch, where several of our lecturers joined them at the table to get to know one another. We found a great deal of common ground, both within our curricula and in our experiences with education and students.'

Wim Honders – who continued to serve as host in the following days, accompanying the Chulalongkorn guests to the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum and Van Gogh Museum – emphasised the depth of the delegation's appreciation for our hospitality: 'The fact that, during the visit to Diemen, we had a programme for children of employees where exchange students from Chulalongkorn and Inholland played games with the kids, gave a presentation on Dutch culture and offered a sampling of Dutch treats, was extremely well-received. I feel certain that the positive course of this visit will yield fantastic forms of cooperation in future. That means that not only has this event enriched the Communication programme, it is quite significant to the university of applied sciences as a whole!”