Shaping Global Minds in the Euregion
The research center Global Minds at Work aims to facilitate the development of the global competence of young professionals. By doing so, we boost their employability, but also encourage them to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable society. We are very much involved in research and education, and connect to businesses as well.
In reaching our goals, we seek cooperation with businesses and initiatives that bring together students and business professionals. And as we are located in the beautiful city of Maastricht, working interculturally is almost a given. However, do we use that untapped potential? Looking at the figure below, we’d have to say no.
Figure 1: Available jobs in the NEtherlands, with and without border barriers (Marlet, 2019).
So why is it that we find it so difficult to work together across borders? As the major advocates of the Global Mind Monitor, we are ready to explore this. And we are not alone. On May 22nd, we visited the Euregio Summit 2024 at the Discovory Museum in Kerkrade. Representatives of the governing bodies of Aachen, the Dutch Parkstad region, and Ost-Belgien (German speaking), together with representatives of knowledge institutes (e.g., RWTH Aachen) and the business practice (e.g., Chemelot) got together to discuss the future of the Euregion. And on May 28th, our research center was invited as one of the speakers on the Award Ceremony for “the most attractive employer of Limburg”, held at the Gouvernement in Maastricht. This event, organized by Meet The Youngsters, brought together nominated businesses, governing bodies, knowledge institutes ánd students. And these students were also given the podium to discuss how companies can stay attractive for future generations in our cross-border region. These events, just one week apart, shows the importance of Global Competences for all parties involved. We will continue to work on this, continue collaborations with industry partners, and continue to contribute to making our Euregion future-proof.
Figure 2: Students taking the stage at the Meet The Youngsters event.
