By Debby-Esmeé de Vlugt and Camilla van Kooten
On a sunny Saturday morning, a small group of UCR students found itself surrounded by skyscrapers and modern architecture in the center of Rotterdam. Together, we travelled to Erasmus University College (EUC) to attend a conference that was organized by the UCSRN. After months of preparation by the student representatives, it was finally time to learn about Utopia – Peaceful and Sustainable Living.
The conference was hosted in one of Rotterdam’s oldest buildings, which is situated in the cultural center of the city. Although it might look incredibly modern to someone who is used to Middelburg’s architecture, the building was constructed in the 1920s and was among the few to survive the bombardments of 1940. After being welcomed by Dr. Maarten Frens, the Dean of EUC, we were able to attend lectures and workshops presented by both students and professors on topics ranging from the refugee crisis to utopian economics. The workshop on utopian economics investigated how a pluralist economics education contributes to a more sustainable and peaceful living. Pluralist economics accommodates a diversity of economics schools of thought and it is argued that when facing complex challenges like climate change, one eventually has to accept that we need a wider range of theories to understand complex realities. Besides UC speakers, two key note lecturers shared their expert knowledge about climate change and space exploration. By speaking about their own experiences, these lecturers provided us with different ideas about shaping the world. Whereas some encouraged us to become involved in politics and large scale projects, others taught us to make small changes on a local level.
Speeches on problems like sustainability and peace could make you want to change your whole life around, but some speakers succeeded at this more than others. Personally, we were most inspired by Anne de Graaf, former journalist and Head of Department at Amsterdam University College (AUC). “Young people play an important role in everyday peace building,” according to the professor. She stimulated her young audience to become agents of change by actively reaching out to victims of conflicts in their local communities. To illustrate this, she invited a group of AUC students to speak about a school program in which they teach refugees Dutch, receive them as ‘guest students’ in their academic classes, and become their buddies. Another great lecture was given by UCR’s own Dr. Hanekamp, who encouraged his audience to think critically about climate change and sustainability.
It was a wonderful experience to meet students from different colleges, and to look around at one of the youngest schools in our UCSRN family. By engaging with one another we were able to share ideas and perspectives, which we believe to be at the core of the University College experience. We also gathered with nearly twenty UCR students to travel to the conference, and to bring knowledge back to the RASA community.
At the beginning of her lecture, Dr. de Graaf asked us if we did not have anything better to do on a Saturday. We believe we did not. As the next generation, we have the opportunity to change society, and we have found the inspiration to make a change at this conference.
Debby-Esmeé de Vlugt, Class of 2016, is a social history, religious studies, and philosophy major from Harderwijk, the Netherlands.
Camilla van Kooten, Class of 2017, is a law, political science, and human geography major from Alblasserdam, the Netherlands.
