Wittenborg President Highlights Wittenborg’s Impact During Burlington Delegation Visit

26.05.2025

Delegation Commemorates Liberation of Apeldoorn, Exploring Future Collaboration

As part of the 80 Years of Freedom commemorations, a Canadian delegation from Burlington, Ontario, visited Apeldoorn on 6 May to honour the long-standing ties between the two cities — a relationship rooted in the liberation of Apeldoorn by Canadian soldiers in April 1945.

Among the participants was Peter Birdsall, President of Wittenborg, who joined a special event focused on mobility, climate adaptation, urban transformation and trade.

The delegation included Mayor Marianne Meed Ward (C.Dir.) and Councillors Kelvin Galbraith and Rory Nisan from Burlington. After exploring Apeldoorn's city centre with Aldermen Marco Wenzkowski and Nick Derks, as well as municipal advisors and area manager of Apeldoorn, Jaap van de Rijt, Tom Brands and Bernie ter Steege, the group attended the afternoon programme at TOMRA Collection Nederland. The event was hosted in cooperation with MKB Trade Office and Oost NL/GO4EXPORT.

Birdsall gave a short talk during the business meeting, emphasising Wittenborg’s regional and international reach.

“I highlighted Wittenborg’s impact and how we might collaborate with similar institutions in Canada. There is real potential to strengthen the relationship between Apeldoorn and Burlington through academic exchange and applied research,” said Birdsall.

In follow-up discussions with the Canadian delegation, Birdsall proposed a concrete path for future joint efforts — a link between Wittenborg’s MBA programmes and those of McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, located just five kilometres from Burlington. DeGroote is AACSB-accredited and part of a university ranked among the top 100 globally.

“We discussed the idea of MBA-level collaboration, including exchanges and joint projects between students and faculty. The mayor and her team expressed interest and agreed to connect us with the business school to explore the next steps,” he noted.

Wittenborg is currently in the final stages of its own AACSB accreditation process, with a review panel expected in September. Birdsall expressed optimism that the university will join the global top 5% of accredited business schools by the end of the year.