Rik Van de Walle hands over presidency of CESAER
(19-12-2023) In the past 4 years, our rector has served as president of CESAER, an association of 58 Science & Technology universities. From 1 January, Orla Feely, president of University College Dublin, will take over the presidency of this European lobby group.
By the end of the year, rector Rik Van de Walle completes his second and final two-year term as president of CESAER. One of CESAER's main missions is to weigh in on EU policies with regard to science, innovation and (higher) education. Besides, the 58 members from 28 different countries are strongly committed to exchanging knowledge and best practices on a whole range of relevant policy areas.
In an editorial, Rik Van de Walle reflected one last time on his presidency. Despite the challenging circumstances of the past few years (most notably the corona pandemic), CESAER has continued to grow as an organisation and is known in Brussels and beyond as a constructive partner in the further development of European policies regarding science, innovation and (higher) education.
At its general assembly meeting in Madrid in October, the members of CESAER elected Orla Feely, president of University College Dublin, as its new president. She will lead the association for the next two years. Ghent University will still play an active and visible role within the organisation, most notably through continued participation in the general assembly and the activities of the seven CESAER task forces.
Belgian Presidency
In the next few months, rector Van de Walle will continue to be actively involved in CESAER as well, as he was appointed as CESAER's Envoy to the Belgian Presidency of the European Union. This means that he will fulfil a bridging role between the directors of CESAER and the Belgian politicians and diplomats who will oversee the Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2024.
To prepare for the Belgian semester, the directors of CESAER during their meeting on 12 December at Ghent University met with Matthias De Moor, general representative of Flanders to the EU. In his presentation, Ghent University alumnus De Moor elaborated on the research and education priorities of the upcoming Belgian presidency.
Ghent University is strongly committed to advocacy towards the European institutions and takes up this role in various ways. In the past two years, for example, Wendy Sonneveld, senior policy advisor for European Affairs at Ghent University, has been co-chair of UnILiON, an informal network that provides an important bridge between universities and the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.