Abu Dhabi, Aug 14th, 2012 (WAM) -- Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi students recently travelled to Europe for a weeklong fieldwork focused on urban planning across several border cities in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
Invited by the European Union Institutions to visit Brussels, the delegation of Geography and Planning third year B.A. students met with Miss Fatema K. Al Mazrouie, UAE Deputy Chief of Mission to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union. The tour was part of their curriculum created to enhance their course work with interactive teaching and site visits in the research field. The students met several officials, stakeholders and specialists that featured lectures focused on urban planning, economic development policies and regional integration. The student delegation was comprised of 15 students from different nationalities including Emirati, Algerian, English, French, and Swiss. Welcomed by the European Union Commission in Brussels, they attended a seminar conducted by an international and strategic relations expert. The first part was devoted to EU institutions, the second one to the European Common Security and Defence Policy and the UE-GCC cooperation. UAE Deputy Chief of Mission in Brussels Miss Fatema K. Al Mazrouie, gave an impressive lecture to students delegation on the importance of economic, political and cultural relations between the UAE and Belgium, Luxemburg and the European Union and the role of the mission in empowering and developing these relations. In the following reception students had a valuable opportunity of informal exchanges with other members of the Embassy. Prof. Dr. Jean Yves de Cara, Executive Director of Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi said, "At Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, our courses are exclusively tailored and some include interactive study tours that prepare our students with international experiences and cross-cultural tools to meet the challenges of the future. This trip provided them with distinctive perspectives of various urban planning strategies and their implementation that will enable them to cultivate a new way of thinking. We are grateful to the several officials and professionals for their valuable time and cooperation in enhancing the academic experience of our students and providing them with an exposure that will be crucial for their future careers."The delegation was accompanied by Prof. Philippe Cadene, Professor of Geography at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi and Dr. Brigitte Dumortier, Head of the Department of Geography and Planning.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2012.
