Dutch and South-Korean universities join hands

ILS lecturer Monica Veeger of Fontys ILS joined prime minister Mark Rutte together with representatives of other Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences on a trade mission to Seoul, last September. Monica was invited by EP-Nuffic, A Dutch organization for internationalization in education. The main goal of the trip was to establish living labs, uniting universities, businesses and public organizations in providing state of the art applied research opportunities and real-life research assignments for researchers and students on Smart Aging, both in South-Korea and the Netherlands.

One of the highlights of the visit was the signing of a MoU on collaboration in Smart Aging in Seoul by Mr. Theo Hooghiemstra and President of Konkuk University Mr. Sang Gi Min. Director of EP-Nuffic Hooghiemastra represented Fontys ACI and a group of Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences with expertise in Smart Aging.

Neso Korea, representing EP-Nuffic in Korea, had organized a successful town hall meeting between Dutch Prime Minister Rutte and more than seventy Korean students and alumni. During a seminar at the Samsung medical center, the visitors listened to an inspiring presentation about the Futures Research and an aging society. They also visited the Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, which will collaborate with Konkuk university in the living lab Smart Aging. The purpose of this center is to support start-ups in order to achieve and realize a creative economy. Next on the program was a visit to the Seoul innovation park, a playground for social innovation.