1. Report on Erasmus-Exchange to Hanzehogeschool Groningen 1.4.2009 to 4.4.2009
(http://www.hanze.nl/home/International)
Hanze University Groningen is the largest University of Applied Sciences in the northern part
of the Netherlands and is located in the vibrant student city Groningen. Hanze University has
a wide variety of Bachelor Programmes, Master Programmes, Certificate Programmes,
Exchange Programmes, Dual Degree Programmes and Preparatory Courses. The university is
situated a little bit outside the city so as to gibe enough space for the campus, which now
consists of a number of modern buildings that seem to meet the best standards and supply
ample room for teaching and
studying.
The City of Groningen is rather
impressive because of the
many students (more than
40.000) that dominate public
and cultural life. Schooling and
education probably are the
biggest part of Groningens
economical turnover.
The town meets all classical
clichees of a typical Netherland
city with it’s Graachten,
drawbridges, houseboats and
thousands of bicycles.
In the first 7 weeks of the
summer semester the faculty of Social Studies ran a program on migration and integration.
The end of this part was marked by an Erasmus Exchange program, inviting 5 teachers from
different universities to talk about their
experience in their countries.
David Urban from České Budějovice (
Czech Republic), Elisabeth Welser and
myself from St.Pölten / Austria, Connie
Gunderson from Bremen / Germany and
Saleh Mousavi from Porsgrunn / Norway
My part was a lecture on international,
European and Austrian law concerning
foreigners and asylum seekers.
The lecture consisted of an introduction into
the legal framework of the United Nations
(Declaration of Human Rights, Convention
on the Status of Refugees), the European
Union and Council of Europe (Charta of
Fundamental Rights, Charta of Social
Rights) and of Austria (Niederlassungs- und
Aufenthaltsgesetz, Fremdenpolizeigesetz).
The second part of the lecture was a
discussion of what this legal framework
means to us social workers and how the
political development influences the

2. opportunities and chances of integration of foreigners and protection of refugees in Austria
and Europe.
As the number of students was rather large they were devided into 4 groups. We gave the
lectures twice on Thursday and twice on Friday. The groups on Thursday were rather
overcrowded and on Friday rather small, which probably had it’s background in a clever
weekend-engineering of the students.
Bert Gijsbers from the Hanzehogeschool was responsible for the
program. He gave us a very warm welcome, introduced us to his
colleagues and organized meetings with some staff of the
university, including the dean Han de Ruiter. He also gave us a
great opportunity to get to know the city of Groningen and it’s
gastronomical miracles.
After the lectures we made a quick evaluation of the program.
Everybody seemed to be pleased, a continuation of this program
appears to be quite recommendable. There should be provisions
next time to make it possible for the lecturers to take part in
each others lectures, so that there is more exchange within the
staff. An evaluation by the students is to be undertaken 2 weeks
later, to see how they liked the program.
I like to thank Bert Gijsbers for his work!
MagFh Sepp Ginner
seppginner@mvnet.at
0043 680 1259586