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Wednesday 29 September 2010
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 29 September 2010, 18:45
Last month I followed in Brussels a training in North/South cooperation and development issues. I was waiting for attending this session since 8 months... Now I know why this "Infocycle" meet with such a success. Organised by the BTC - the Belgian Development Agency - this demanding program is an unmissable opportunity for those who are interested in the sustainable development of emerging countries. Let me demonstrate it in 6 arguments :
Wednesday 20 January 2010
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 20 January 2010, 00:48
As a member of the UNeECC student board, I participated to the last UNeECC general assembly in Vilnius (Lithuania). During the student workshop, we had to do a brainstorming about Innovation, Creativity and Culture in order to conceive a project which can include all these elements. With Karl Fromberger, from the University of Essen in Germany, we developed a new concept of student exchange programme : the UNeECC week.
In few decades, European Union managed to build a political union between so different countries and people. However, when it comes to culture, citizenship, and identity, Europe seems to be still on progress, mainly for a majority of young people who are still looking for answering the question : what does it mean to be (a young) European?
Nowadays, student mobility tremendously contributes to intercultural understanding. While a lot of European programs like Erasmus or Leonardo succeeded in making progress the feeling of belonging to Europe, and promote the purpose of the European building, for many reasons, they unfortunately concern only a little part of students or youngsters in the EU.
Saturday 31 October 2009
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Saturday 31 October 2009, 18:39
The General assembly of the University Network of european Capitals of Culture was held at the end of october in Vilnius (Lithuania). As an ex-member of the Student Committee Board, and a participant of the first UNeECC student workshop in Pécs (Hungary), I was kindly invited to participate to the second student work shop organised on the occasion of UNeECC General assembly.
Like in Pécs, some representatives of student associations came up to share ideas, good practices and make some brainstorming about possible UNeECC projects dedicated to european students. 10 different nationalities were represented ; there were students from Bologna (Italy), Antwerp (Belgium), Sibiu (Romania), Pécs (Hungary), San-sebastian (Spain), Warsaw (polonia), Graz (Austria), Essen (Germany), Vilnius and me who was considered as a representative of the Catholic University of Lille (France). The main topics we discussed during this workshop were creativity, culture and innovation. We had to consider these 3 subjects within their mutual interactions to find some innovative ideas which could be put into practice within the student UNeECC network.
Wednesday 8 July 2009
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 8 July 2009, 03:04
Du 23 au 25 avril 2009, la prestigieuse université de Pécs, Hongrie, à l’origine du réseau des universités des capitales européennes de la culture (UNeECC), organisait dans ses murs la première édition de l’UNeECC Student Workshop. Ce colloque avait pour objectif de réunir des représentants d’associations étudiantes issues des universités membres du réseau UNeECC, afin d’impliquer les étudiants et leurs associations aux activités du réseau, qui ne cesse de prendre de l’ampleur à mesure que le titre de Capitale Européenne de la Culture gagne en prestige et en notoriété.
Pour cette première édition, l’Université Catholique de Lille était représentée par deux membres du pôle « relations internationales » de la FEDE (Fédération des étudiants de la Catho), Margaux Lugand et Cédric Pierre-Louis, qui ont saisi avec enthousiasme cette opportunité exceptionnelle d’échange et de coopération à la fois multi et interculturelle.
Monday 23 February 2009
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Monday 23 February 2009, 11:30
Last week I passed my last exams to get my Master 2 degree. That means that from today my student life is unofficially over!!! I still need to find an internship position abroad, but practically I don't have classes anymore... and I have to admit that it's quite strange to stop in the middle of the academic year. I already made many friends jealous...
Anyway now I hope I will have more time to post on my blog, because this year was incredibly intense in terms of working, responsibilities and decisions making. Currently I'm working on my Master thesis and is about how Internet can be a fantastic tool of politic mobilization. Maybe you will understand why this subject looks so interesting for me... Finally, I will post some surprises within 2 or 3 months, so stay tuned!
Friday 18 April 2008
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Friday 18 April 2008, 23:32
There is something I really like about the University of Valencia; that is the incredible number of subjects available. Just a quick look in the “asignaturas de libre eleccion”/optional modules shows you the vast range of choice; for example you can study "Empresas y negocios en China" (Business in China) Or "Marketing on-line" (as I will study it in June) And some courses are taught both in Spanish and English. The only problem is that maybe there is a lack of information about all the opportunities offered by the University. The very worst informed about this are more often the ERASMUS students, but maybe most of us are not really interested.
Anyway, a few months ago I was checking my mail and I discovered a mail which invited students to subscribe to an interesting subject : “Gestión de la producción en el sector del automòvil”. As I like to learn new things I subscribed, and I think it was a really good idea! During 3 weeks we received intensive courses (5 hours with some short breaks) from various executives working for the Ford factory in Valencia, among the teachers we had the privilege of having the Director of production himself during the first session. And I have to admit that you quickly realize why is the Boss ; his presentation was the clearest; the most interesting, the most fascinating: definitely the best in fact.
But the best part of this module was visiting the factory in Almussafes (a village close to Valencia city), in one word: impressive!!! I think we were all like kids with wide-opened eyes, just amazed by what we discovered. I could not help asking myself how human beings could build such big and sophisticated thing. The manufacturing process of a car is really amazing: every 25 seconds a car was produced, in 270 hectares factory where work everyday 7300 people; we are talking about a real city! In 2006. The Ford plant in Almussafes was the one which produced most cars in Europe : 420 000. To conclude with figures, the Ford Motor share of the Valencian Community GDP was about 8,2%.
It was a really educational trip. No regrets. The next plant I want to visit: An Intel’s microprocessor factory. Can someone in the audience help me?