European students expand their horizons at Northumbria

Students from Italy, The Netherlands, Romania and Spain joined Gateshead College students for a series of interactive talks hosted by Department of Geography at Northumbria University.

On 1 December 2016, the diverse international group was welcomed by lecturers and researchers from Northumbria, who shared their knowledge and expertise in a series of workshops on managing the urban environment with a particular focus on developing students’ employment skills.

Academics covered topics ranging from Environmental Impact Assessment to Electric Energy and Transport, allowing students to produce a creative development plan, implementing posters/film production, for their chosen city.

Richard Kotter, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Northumbria University, said: “These campus-based activities should support the learner visits at key institution across Tyneside, and help to equip and stimulate the students for their creative learning tasks as a group whilst here.”

A two-year European project ’My Future: a closed door or an open window’ led by Gateshead College has a focus on our changing world - economically, socially, culturally, environmentally and politically – and helps develop students’ employability skills, such as problem-solving, working with others, presenting information etc.

There are six partner schools and FE colleges from across Europe, including Gateshead College as the overall lead. Highly-regarded institutions Gymnasium Celeanum, Netherlands, and Colegiul National Vlaicu Voda, Romania, are just two of the schools and colleges involved in the project.

Mr Kotter, added: “We at the Department of Geography, and Engineering and Environment overall, at Northumbria are keen to support the internationalisation of learning on societal challenges such as urban and environmental change, and how young people can learn more about career opportunities, skills and Higher Education in the many relevant domains that connects to.”

Anne Briffa, Gateshead College co-ordinator for the project, said: “This has a much wider scope than is often appreciated since it encompasses the air we breathe, the water we drink, the place we live and how we interact with our surroundings etc. Hence the variety of employment opportunities available is extensive.”

Northumbria offers flexible undergraduate courses with BSc (Hons) and BA (Hons) Geography, and Integrated Masters MGeog in Physical and Human Geography, in addition to BSC (hons) Environmental Science and BSc Geography and Environmental Management.

For more information visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/geography.