Project Weeks

In a first for Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, students at its Amsterdam campus recently organised their own Project Week, which saw five groups competing with thousands of other students from around the world for the annual Hult Prize - developing a start-up idea with a huge impact, often around a single social issue. This year the theme is "Food for Good".

For their latest Project Week, students at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences got to examine the skill of turning a problem into an opportunity and moving from risk to resilience through the lens of COVID-19. Students who write the most original essay on the questions posed to them will be awarded Junior Fellowship status in the 20/20 Vision Program and Network.

Nine students at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences stand the chance of becoming Junior Fellows of the 20/20 Vision Program and Network – an interdisciplinary project stretching from 2020 - 2025 where participants collect and review lessons learned on strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure before, during and after a crisis – such as COVID-19. The project is the brainchild of founder Prof. Eelco Dykstra, and Wittenborg senior lecturer Bert Meeuwsen is a senior fellow.

The winning teams of Wittenborg's Sustainable Business Idea Undergraduate Project Week Competition were announced after a tough decision by a 3-member jury. The 'Recyclables' team claimed the top spot while the 'Toy Box' team won second place.

During the recent Project Week assignment, bachelor's students at Wittenborg were engaged in activities that require them to address the issue of 'Sustainability through Innovation of Circular Business Ideas'. The main aim of this real-life project is to encourage our students to be aware of environmental issues that are plaguing the world today.

Apeldoorn, the city where Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences has been located for the past 10 years, believes it has all the necessary ingredients and ambition to attract international investors and businesses without compromising its spot as "the green heart of the Netherlands". Alderman Jeroen Joon of the Apeldoorn City Council spoke to Wittenborg undergraduates about these ambitions as part of the first Project Week of the new academic year, which requires students to draw up an advisory for the city on how to lure international businesses to its shores. Joon was interviewed by Wittenborg CEO Maggie Feng in an online video made accessible to students.

As part of the first Project Week assignment for bachelor's degree students in the new academic year, Wittenborg CEO Maggie Feng spoke to the managing director of one of the biggest employers in the Apeldoorn region, Centraal Beheer, about the importance of good cooperation between local government, business and educational institutions like Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences.

Royal Auping is a family business based in Deventer that specialises in the production of beds, mattresses and box springs. The company was founded in 1888 with a mission to bring rest to the world. During this block's project week, Ine Stultjens, Manager of Marketing & Communication at Royal Auping shared how the company adapted its production process to cope with a reduction in customer orders due to the lockdown imposed across several countries during the COVID19 pandemic.

While the COVID-19 outbreak has been disastrous for many Dutch companies, others suddenly found themselves in a plum position to meet the needs of the pandemic economy. Case in point: Van Gerrevink Ltd., an Apeldoorn-based company that benefitted from the bizarre toilet paper craze that swept the world after the outbreak. Its owner, Marc van Gerrevink, explained to Wittenborg students how the pandemic impacted his company – both in a positive and negative way - as part of the final Project Week.