Exchange to Change January 2018 E2C January 2018 web | Page 10

10
AT I O B
In the meantime...
Kick-off weekend
Another academic year has begun! This year IOB
welcomes 72 students from 30 different nationalities.
Again we are very lucky to have kind of mini–global
classroom to learn from each other’s experiences. And
as every year, this academic year was also ‘kicked off’
by the ‘kick off weekend’. The weekend is meant to give
the students an opportunity to get to know each other
better and get a taste of Belgium.
On Saturday teambuilding activities were organized,
which culminated in the (in)famous ‘één tegen allen’,
a game where students as a group need to complete
50 challenges within the hour. Singing, dance battles,
flipping around the table, moonwalking, are just some
of the challenges the students aced. Later that evening
the IOB quiz tested everyone’s knowledge of the world
and IOB matters. The night ended with a real IOB-
party. The next day the students were treated to a
guided tour through Europe’s capital. There are worse
ways to spend a weekend …
E xchange to change J anuary 2018
Debating Development
Every Tuesday in October and November,
Debating development served up a lively debate
between two experts on a ‘hot’ development
topic. This year’s debates gravitated around
the issue of natural resources. Several leading
experts in this field such as prof. Hany Besada
(Diamond Development Initiative), Harry
Verhoeven (Georgetown and Oxford University),
Prof. Gavin Hilson (University of Surrey),
Manfred Santen (Greenpeace Germany), Prof.
Bram Büscher (University of Wageningen), Prof.
Ian Taylor (University of St. Andrews) presented
their views on the topic. After the keynote the
debate with the discussant and audience was
moderated by an IOB professor. The debates
attracted a big audience of more than 320
people, among them not only students, but also
university staff and interested outsiders.