The universities in our region are under pressure. In the Netherlands, a discussion has arisen about the desirability of international students. In Germany, there is the “Abi-Lücke” in 2026 and in addition, in Germany as well as in Flanders, some studies in the classical Agrofood field have been suffering from declining student numbers for some time, from decreasing interest and popularity. Talents are leaving our region to study in Eindhoven, Cologne or other major cities. For the euregio rhine-maas-north this is an undesirable development. Fewer students lead to less attractive cities and fewer future employees for our companies.
The importance of the agrifood topic (in which our region is very strong) is increasing worldwide. Professionals are needed everywhere, whether it is as a classical food technologist or an expert in the field of future farming. With the HAS, UM with the new Venlo Campus, Uni Hasselt and Hochschule Niederrhein, there are several leading European institutes in our region within a radius of just 100 kilometers, each with their own specialties. Students still hardly make use of this opportunity. Our present project wants to change this in the coming years with a low-treshold internationalization programme boosting the labour market in the border region.
