UWC Council Meeting

2018-10-16T09:32:57+01:00October 27th, 2015|

Larry with Jakub CrchaThis week the UWC Heads of the 15 colleges and schools gathered in Split (Croatia) for their biannual meeting. They then transferred to Mostar for the annual UWC Council Meeting with all guests wonderfully hosted by the students and staff of UWC Mostar – guests were invited to participate in Balkans Studies’ workshops, community service projects and a workshop taster on ‘Education in a Conflict and Post-Conflict Context’. The UWC Mostar students put on a stunning cultural show for Council members on theFriday evening.

Larry met up with Jakub Crcha (Slovakia and RCN graduate of 2015) who is currently working at UWC Mostar as a volunteer and making a valuable contribution.

The agenda for the Council Meeting was full of stimulating items – from community engagement strategy to a state of UWC address by the new Executive Director (Jens Waltermann), from a presentation by the Chair of the International Board (Sir John Daniel) to college / school annual reports.

RCN has offered to host the UWC International Board on campus in February for its biannual meeting – and the Board members are looking forward to visiting the College in mid-winter!

The Rainforest

2018-10-16T09:32:57+01:00October 18th, 2015|

Before the lectures...Every term RCN students organize a special day on global topics – they are called Global Concerns Day. This term we decided to talk about the role and plight of the world’s rainforests, not just because it is an actual problem but because this year’s Norwegian TV Aksjonen (TV Action) – a day of enormous national cooperation – is being dedicated to this issue. TV Aksjonen is organized by the National TV, NRK, that broadcast programmes about this topic for months before the action day of 18th October. Last year TV Aksjonen collected more than 250 million NOK which was used to help supply healthy drinking water in several countries, not to mention its importance in raising awareness. This time the donations are going to be given to Regnskogfondet (Rainforest Foundation). All donations will go directly towards the protection and development of rainforest areas in Peru, Papua New Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil.

Our GC day was part of the county`s official TV Aksjon programme. Students explored the topic of rainforests in many different ways – in workshops looking at the issues from environmental, humanitarian, cultural and political standpoints. At the end of the day we had two guest lecturers: Johan Haffner Knagenhjelm, a former student of our College, from the Regnskogfondet,  and Pål Gran Kjelland from the Norwegian Glacier Museum. They gave lectures about climate change and the problems and possible solutions for the loss of rainforest.

After the lectures Kristin Sandal – another guest – and Johan Haffner Knagenhjelm met students from Brazil, Peru and Congo. In this fruitful discussion students shared their personal stories about rainforests and received advice from the the Regnskogfondet. The event was followed by a special auction on Saturday where items like special kayak trip, Italian dinner, real English tea for two or professional profile pictures were auctioned – and we are pleased to say that more than 8,000 NOK was raised! On Sunday about 20 of our students volunteered to collect money locally for the national TV Aksjonen campaign.

We are sure that these days have helped to raise awareness among our students and have given them useful information about the situation of the rainforests. We hope we can contribute to the important work of the Regnskogfondet.

Many thanks to all those who worked so hard to make the Global Concerns Day such a success.

Svein Sæter: Visiting lecturer

2018-10-16T09:32:58+01:00October 16th, 2015|

Welcoming Svein SæterThis afternoon we had the wonderful opportunity to listen to a lecture presented by the Norwegian writer and journalist Svein Sæter. Sæter is currently travelling to different parts of Norway as part of “Den kulturelle Skulesekken” / “The Cultural Schoolbag” and his presence at the school is thanks to the fact that UWC RCN is included in this initiative. Sæter spoke about his recently published book, ‘Operatøren’, which describes the fascinating life of Knut Haugland. Haugland was a soldier and adventurer who took part in both the Heavy Water operation during the Second World War and the Kon Tiki expedition which was led by his friend, and world famous adventurer Thor Heyerdahl.

Sæter’s presentation gave staff and students a humorous, interesting and personal insight into the life of Knut Haugland, revealing him to be a modest man who participated in great, historical events without ever being boastful. The lecture was genuinely appreciated and the audience was clearly moved, rewarding Svein Sæter with enthusiastic, sustained applause. We hope to see him back soon and hope that he will return with more stimulating lectures.

HAFS Meeting

2018-10-16T09:32:58+01:00October 16th, 2015|

BreakfastSparebanken Sogn og Fjordane hosted a joint breakfast meeting for businesses in the HAFS region (Hyllestad, Askvoll, Fjaler and Solund) at the Høegh centre on Friday morning. CEO Arvid Andenes has challenged our region to think about how we want to develop over the next 15 years. The reply has been to create an environment which puts inclusion as a top priority. Both the College and Haugland Rehabilitation have been invited to take an active role in the follow-up work together with other local key players.

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