English breakfast giving a taste of Leiden
Mijanou Blaauw and Annet van der Helm of Leiden Law School recently travelled to Glasgow to present an inspiration session on Leiden Law Park at CEAC 2022. During this annual event, universities, colleges and other non-profit organisations gather to share knowledge and experience in the field of education and alumni relations.
Mijanou: ‘Our session was very early in the morning, so it was great that so many people turned up for it. An important part of our presentation was explaining how we were helped setting up Leiden Law Park by including external parties at every stage in the process. Outside-in! That was also the eyeopener for participants – when developing something new, for example a new master’s programme, you have to involve interested parties, potential users and alumni. Also, giving alumni an official position in an advisory council was met with enthusiasm and seen as something new. In doing so, you have a structural sounding board.’
Annet: ‘This well-attended event was live again for the first time in two years. UK universities in particular were represented in large numbers; there are also always many fund directors and other fundraisers present. Out breakfast session was attended by colleagues from ETH (Zürich), London School of Economics, University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh, Regents University, Universiteit Utrecht and WUR. The approach used by Leiden Law Park is based on Design Thinking. This was also a concept discussed during the inspiring presentation given by Durham University about Durham Venture School. We made contact and will definitely be learning from each other in the future!’