Eurekaweek will be inclusive, safe and sustainable, so participants can ‘spread their wings without any worries’

Candice Moolenaar is the chair of the management committee, and this is the third year she’s been involved in the Eurekaweek. Last year and the year before, she worked as a volunteer. “My studies began in 2020, so because of the pandemic, the Eurekaweek was quite different. It made me feel like I’d missed out on the ‘normal’ orientation week. That’s why I’m always involved in organising week.”

The theme for this year is ‘Spread your wings’. Moolenaar explains that it symbolises a new phase of life. “There are so many opportunities at university to develop yourself, and to find out who you are and what you want to achieve in life”, she says. “With the Eurekaweek, we hope to give first-year students a good start and help them find their feet, so they can then spread their wings in Rotterdam without any worries.”

As in previous years, the Eurekaweek Management – the team of students that organises the Eurekaweek – is offering parallel evening programmes. “We want to offer fun activities for everyone and for the week to appeal to as many people as possible”, says Moolenaar, who graduated last year with a Bachelor in Pedagogical Sciences. “For example, we’re offering a concert where pop hits are played in a classical-music style as an alternative to the Take-off party in Maassilo. What’s nice is that they’re both being held in the same building at the same time, so participants can cycle there together and make their choice at the last minute.”

The management also wants to get all student associations involved in the orientation week. Normally, associations have to pay if they want to have a presence at the event. “But new or small associations don’t yet have the resources, so this year they’ll get a stall at the information fair free of charge”, says Moolenaar. All associations are also listed on the website and will be mentioned during the opening ceremony. “This will give new students a good general idea of all the associations, and it will also give small associations a chance to introduce themselves to first-year students.”

Moolenaar says that she and her team want to continue the positive steps taken by organisers in previous years, which includes the use of confidential counsellors. “They will be there for participants 24/7. Students can call a confidential counsellor if they’re worried about something or if they want to share something”, Moolenaar explains.

Eurekaweek also works with Safe@EUR, the central reporting centre for inappropriate behaviour at the university. If anything happens, participants can make a report. “Safe@EUR can help you make a report, and they can refer you to the right people and help you take the next steps.” 

Moolenaar says that sustainability is also a high priority. For example, participants will be provided with vegetarian and vegan lunches, reusable cups and sustainable ponchos made from sugarcane. “But we won’t be giving out reusable bottles anymore, because most people already have a lot of bottles at home, so we’ll ask them to just use those instead.”