By following your study programme, you are helping to build your future. You are working towards your diploma, with a view to getting a job afterwards. But through your studies, you are effectively also choosing what your role in society will be. As a site manager in the house-building sector, as an HR adviser with a local authority or as a web designer for a big advertising agency. Whatever occupation you end up choosing – in any job, you can contribute to the major challenges facing our society. Like climate change, protecting biodiversity and the exhaustion of the natural resources we currently still use in abundance. At CoE BWNO, we’ll help you discover how you can do that – by conducting research. Because by demonstrating how to conduct research among businesses or groups of people, our research activities will show you how to acquire new knowledge yourself and communicate it to others. And how to use that knowledge to change the world around you – even if only a little. Because if enough people take a small step, together we can make a big difference for a better world in the future.
What is a wellbeing economy?
Currently, we still measure prosperity mainly in terms of economic growth and financial progress. In other words, in terms of money. We regard the use of raw materials and people as an inevitable fact, while preferring not to dwell on the exhaustion of natural resources and exploitation of people that are the result. But the earth and society are approaching their limits. We need to do things differently, and we can. To this end, we need to start thinking of our prosperity in terms of a ‘wellbeing economy’.
A wellbeing economy incorporates everything people consider to be of value. Things and money, but also, for example, education, healthcare and a pleasant environment to live in. A wellbeing economy also means that everyone, everywhere, now and in the future, can enjoy that kind of prosperity for themselves. In order to achieve that, we need a new kind of entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship that contributes to human and natural values and strives to repair the damage done – or better yet, prevent it. The transition to a wellbeing economy calls for a different way of looking at things, for new knowledge and insights. For students, too.
What do we do for (and with) students?
We want to work with students to make a difference to society. How do we do that? By conducting practice-based research together. In concrete terms, we work with students by:
- Enabling students to work with our researchers and professors on research;
- Organising graduation workshops and supporting students with their graduation;
- Providing graduation assignments and student assistantships;
- Supporting student start-ups in their social entrepreneurship;
- Organising meetings for alumni to bring them up to date on new developments and new insights in the field.
Everything we do, we do in co-creation. We talk to each other, explore how we can help each other and, if there is a ‘match’, we start working together.
Want to get started?
Do you want to discover how you can help build a better world through research? Complete the contact form by clicking on the button below and we’ll get in touch.
Would you like to know more about our knowledge programme and research groups? Go to this web page.