In an interview with Devlop' a year ago, our Rector, Vincent Blondel, expressed his desire “for Louvain Coopération and UCLouvain to strengthen each other as much as possible”. This strengthening is achieved through the many collaborations that are taking shape between our sister organisations, and we thought it would be interesting to report on them.
RESEARCH: A number of researchers, doctoral students, dissertation students and other students from UCLouvain work with Louvain Coopération because they are studying issues or questions directly related to our projects or work themes. We give them easier access to the field, to contacts, information and people to talk to, and our teams or partners often take part in the study... while they offer us an analysis of our actions, an opportunity to take a step back and innovate in our projects, in order to increase their impact. It should also be noted that several professors from UCLouvain lend a hand to our NGO on a specific issue or to analyse the quality of a project, and even make a long-term commitment by joining our Board of Directors.
STUDENTS: Nowadays, most students want to complement and compare their academic achievements with meaningful human experiences. Louvain Coopération enables some of them to do just that, whether through the Ingénieux-Sud course-programme, medical internships in the countries where we work, the Étudiant Solidaire programme or the competition organised with the Louvain School of Journalism.
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP AND SOLIDARITY: Louvain Coopération organises a number of activities with a common objective: to ensure that the wider university community becomes aware of the global system and its various relationships of domination and, above all, commits itself individually and collectively to an inclusive, sustainable, fair and caring society.