From 19th to 22nd of June, IBCM was happy to channel its activities into the first International Week, that took place in the Riverside Campus in Mitrovica. The theme of this International Week was “Socioeconomic Challenges of the Region” with subtopics of leadership, intercultural communication, effective group interaction and creativity. The working language was English.
This International Week was a joint initiative of IBCM and the University of Exeter from the United Kingdom, created to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide, as well as, promote programmes among institutions. IBCM International Week is an opportunity for all participants to celebrate and highlight the role that internationalization plays on IBCM campuses.
The group of 20 Exeter University students under the guidance of Mr. Paul Blackmore and Mrs. Jackie Bagnall, using methods of experiential learning, together with IBCM students, attended lectures and workshops and participated in study visits, social and cultural activities and discussions – through which they exchanged knowledge, experiences and strengthen their relationships.
The week started with presentations from OSCE representatives, to be continued with interactive lectures from Mr. Blackmore and Mrs. Bagnall. Later that day, the students also had the chance to visit the city of Mitrovica. On Wednesday, students worked with IBCM’s local and international partners from the public, private and non-governmental sector, such as Mitrovica’s South Municipality, ViPrint, AC/DC and RDA North, to solve real life cases related to the main topic. The experts from the above-mentioned sectors assisted students work throughout the week. Later that week, the Exeter and IBCM students visited Prizren as a whole-day field trip.
Considering that for our Exeter University guests it was the first time they visited Kosovo and IBCM, we decided to ask the staff and students about their experience, thoughts and perspectives on IBCM. Find some of their quotes below:
Mr. Blackmore: ”IBCM has a genuine mission beyond high quality education, which is reaching all communities, and it notes real progress”.
Harry: ”IBCM is very professional, it is modern and has diversity.”
Olly: ”IBCM has very nice buildings, and for the rest I agree with Harry.”
Cleo: ”The people at IBCM are very integrated, they have high aspirations and they are very hard workers. They made me understood how privileged I am just because I live in another country, and how hard people at IBCM have to work to achieve things.”
Eliot: ”IBCM as an institution is very ambitious, and it’s a great representative of Kosovo’s future.”
For our IBCM students, the International Week has been an amazing experience as well. Some of our students described it as:
Abide: ”The last week was very fun and a new experience. We exchanged a lot of information about our cultures with the students from UK. And we had an amazing time with some very amazing people”.
Qendresa: ”It was an amazing opportunity for us to meet new people and create new friendships. We also had the chance to show our friends from UK IBCM and our country, and especially how kind and friendly the people here are”.
Very grateful for this experience were the companies and institutions involved as well. RDA North declared that: ”We thought that the group who visited us was a team of extraordinary students, eager to listen and absorb knowledge. With all the curiosity and interest, they sure were handful of work, but we enjoyed every moment with them! RDA North team hopes that Exeter Students enjoyed spending time with us and that their experience moved and empowered them especially in the sphere of the social and economic development in Kosovo.”
We would like to thank the Exeter University for the excellent cooperation and thank everyone else involved for making this awesome experience possible for the participating students.