Internationalisation has been on the strategic agenda of the University of Applied Sciences for a number of years now. A theme that is of great importance to a university such as ours, in a city with inhabitants of more than 170 nationalities and in a city with the largest port in Europe. Our students must learn to deal with this diversity, whether within or outside the borders of the Netherlands; they must further develop their cultural competences. In 2018, the first HUB Internationalisation took place as an implementation of that strategic agenda. A follow-up to the internationalisation platforms that had already been set up in previous years. A HUB with the idea of experimenting, developing knowledge and, above all, sharing knowledge with regard to internationalisation.

What has been achieved? A better understanding and awareness of internationalisation has emerged in the study programs that have participated in the HUB Internationalisation. A common language with regard to internationalisation has been created through the development of the Triangle of Internationalisation. During the 3 years of the HUB Internationalisation, some thirty study programmes worked on the development of their own ambitions with regard to internationalisation. Interesting developments have taken place in this respect. To give a few examples: programmes have worked on their vision of internationalisation; they have worked on integrating internationalisation into their curriculum, or they have worked on expanding their partner network in such a way that high-quality and meaningful partnerships have been created. They have worked on professionalisation of staff, conducting research and starting concrete projects with international partners. We have also seen that study programs are evolving towards meaningful internationalisation with a very rich context which is more in tune with the curriculum and the delivering of an appropriate educational program. The fact that more stakeholders are involved, not only staff, but also students and professionals, makes it more meaningful and emphasises why internationalisation is so important. At central level, the work has included the development of a screening process of new and existing partnerships. For both quality screening at university and program level, tools have been developed to help the study programs understand with whom they are partnering or starting up a partnership. In addition, research has been conducted into the possibilities of Serious Gaming for the development of intercultural competences. The first experiences with this will be gained in the autumn of 2020. Research will also be conducted into the impact of internationalisation within Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Research that has been done very little at both national and international level. We are proud of the development of the internationalisation professionalisation courses developed with The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences that are offered to lecturers (teams), support departments or management teams.