Nova Academy welcomes seven new partners for lifelong learning

Nova Academy, the lifelong learning network of which UAntwerp is a member, is growing rapidly. Seven new partners have joined. The aim is to make our range of further education and professional development courses more accessible to a wider audience and to collaborate more closely on the content. ‘Lifelong learning should be the norm,’ says Jan Dries, vice-chair for lifelong learning.

Since 2021, the University of Antwerp, Ghent University and the VUB have joined forces on lifelong learning. ‘We bring our range of courses together in a clear and organised way via a digital platform, which is continually being optimised,’ says Jan Dries, coordinator of Nova Academy at the University of Antwerp. ‘When several universities of applied sciences and arts showed their interest in joining forces, we were happy to oblige. They bring considerable added value because they’re firmly rooted in professional practice. Plus, this means we’re able to offer a wider range of courses, with currently around a thousand available.’ In fact, seven universities of applied sciences and arts joined in June: Artesis Plantijn (AP) University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Antwerp; Erasmus Brussels University of Applied Sciences and Arts; the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp; Antwerp Maritime Academy; HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts; Howest University of Applied Sciences; and Artevelde University of Applied Sciences.

Nova Academy’s operations are supported by both an IT team and a communications team. Jan Dries explains, ‘The digital platform was certainly a major challenge: all those different courses and digital applications had to be brought together on a single website. The fact that this was achieved in less than six months shows just how much goodwill there was.’ Collaboration also on communications means greater scope, particularly when it comes to promotion.

As Jan notes, the importance of lifelong learning is growing: ‘Our society is evolving so quickly that you have to constantly keep developing new knowledge and skills. If we as a university want to stay relevant, we must make lifelong learning our priority.’

Flemish people are lagging behind

OECD figures show that Flemish people are lagging behind the rest of Europe when it comes to continuing professional development. Jan Dries says, ‘The norm is still that you study between the ages of 18 and 23, and after that, your education is over. While continuing education should be an integral part of society, it should also be seen as essential if we want to keep up our reputation as a knowledge region. As a university, we can play a unique role in this. We’re actively involved with research and new insights, and are able to translate that knowledge into practical training programmes. To make it easier to access further training and education, we’re putting the emphasis on micro-credentials: relatively short courses that you can combine with work and family life.’

As a network, Nova Academy also aims to influence policy. Jan Dries explains, ‘A good example is the framework of agreements on micro-credentials that was recently finalised, where the government adopted 90% of our proposal. We’ve become a respected partner in discussions.’

In the future, Nova Academy intends to continue its outreach efforts, consolidate or streamline its existing offer where necessary, and move towards a more demand-driven approach. ‘Most courses are closely tired to their local region, but sometimes it makes more sense to combine efforts. For example, together with the three universities, we’re organising The ABC of 5G course, a further education initiative within the Faculty of Applied Engineering. And we’re already working together on the substance as well,’ adds Jan Dries.

Nexus: professional development for legal professionals

At the University of Antwerp, Nexus has been the hub for continuing professional development within the Faculty of Law for more than 40 years. ‘Lawyers are obliged to keep up with their professional development, often to meet legal requirements. This means offering continuing professional development is one of our core tasks. Nexus gives us a solid foundation to build on, and the range of programmes has steadily grown. Thanks to this long track record, we were involved in the launch of Nova Academy,’ says Filip Seuntjens, faculty director of the Faculty of Law.

New courses are added regularly. ‘It usually starts with a good idea from a professor, many of whom have great links with the sector and therefore understand exactly what it needs. But it’s a long road from an idea to an actual training programme. Nexus provides support at that stage: they help the professor get started with areas such as registration fees, certificates and diplomas, online streaming, classrooms and catering.’

‘We sometimes work in partnership with other institutions or organisations,’ says Reinhilde Tulkens, operations manager at Nexus. ‘One example of this is our mediation course. ‘As UAntwerp doesn’t offer a degree programme in psychology, we run it in collaboration with the faculties of Law and Psychology at Ghent University, with classes held on both campuses.’

Netflix for courses 

One incredibly successful micro-credential is environmental mediator, a course for professionals who want to facilitate or resolve deadlocks in spatial change processes, such as the redevelopment of a street. Filip explains, ‘This involves not only the law, but also, for example, architecture, climate, the environment and communication. It means that Coordinator Professor Sigrid De Bois involves both internal and external lecturers from various disciplines in the programme, each with their own specific expertise.’

They hope that Nova Academy’s recent expansion may create further opportunities, for example in marketing and collaboration with universities of applied sciences and arts. Filip goes on, ‘Or why not set up a streaming platform for recordings of further education courses? A sort of Netflix for training courses, where participants can scroll through courses organised by theme. Having several partners means such an investment might be feasible.’

Postgraduate programme HAZMAT Advisor

Professor Vera Meynen, head of the Department of Chemistry, is also a firm believer in lifelong learning. She has been the coordinator of the postgraduate programme Hazardous Materials Advisor (AGS) since 2010. ‘We train people to provide rapid and structured advice to the emergency services and management when dealing with incidents involving hazardous substances, so that they can take appropriate action on the ground and minimise the impact on people and the environment.’ The course is run in collaboration with Campus Vesta, a training centre for safety training, and was introduced in response to demand from the sector. ‘Every two years, we train between 12 and 20 participants, often from the fire service, the chemical industry, civil protection, etc. Due to the highly specialised nature of the course content, the training is delivered by more than 40 different instructors.’

The steering committee has involved numerous other organisations alongside Campus Vesta: the Federal Knowledge Centre for Civil Security, various fire services (including those of Antwerp and Ghent) and the chemical industry, including BASF. Vera Meynen adds, ‘Within our university, we also work in collaboration with the bioengineers and the pharmaceutical sciences programme, which creates an extensive network. And it means that when the situation calls for it, our specialists know how to find one another.’ 

Engaging teaching

The fact that the course is constantly evolving only reinforces the importance of ongoing further education. Vera Meynen explains, ‘Technology that barely existed twenty years ago now requires new knowledge and insights when incidents occur: just think of the developments in battery parks.’

Lecturers try to keep up with current trends in education. Professor Meynen favours active teaching methods. ‘For example, I show a photo of an overturned lorry with a product leaking from it and ask my students what steps they would take. That’s tricky because you can’t know the answer straightaway and you’re missing some information. But it’s the same with an accident at work: at first there’s a lot of uncertainty, yet you still have to react quickly. They need to learn how to deal with this through the skills they’ve learnt.’

She finds enormous satisfaction in teaching the course. ‘You’re addressing people from the field, who’re often looking for very practical solutions. That means you can see the results of your work quickly, which makes it very rewarding.’