Hogeschool Zuyd

Hogeschool Zuyd
Brusselseweg 150
6217 HB Maastricht
P.O. Box 634
6200 AP Maastricht
Tel: +31 (0)43-34 66 635
Fax: +31 (0)43-34 66 619

Project medewerkers

Nol Reverda          Directeur MA CESS/CESRT   +31 (0)43-34 66 635        a.reverda@hszuyd.nl
Karel Toussaint     netwerk onderzoek RECES   +31 (0)43-34 66 244        c.toussaint@hszuyd.nl
Maurice Hermans   netwerk RECES                 +31 (0)43-34 66 244        m..hermans@hszuyd.nl

The Hogeschool Zuyd:

The Hogeschool Zuyd is one of the largest universities of higher professional education in the Netherlands with 52 different study programmes offered at a full and part-time basis and at both a bachelor and master level. The study programmes span a full range of professional areas such as economics, social work, health studies, education, technical studies and art. Its three campuses in Maastricht, Heerlen and Sittard are in the Province of Limburg and offer students significant (Eu)regional and (inter)national labour market opportunities.
Currently, there are about 12,000 students and 1,350 employees at the Hogeschool Zuyd.

Mission Statement of the Hogeschool Zuyd

Hogeschool Zuyd/Zuyd College is a knowledge enterprise. She designs inspiring student focused learning processes for initial and post initial higher professional education.
Its study options are many-sided, both in contents and format. In her nationally and internationally oriented professional courses the Hogeschool emphasizes the aspects of  quality and innovation.

Hogeschool Zuyd has a vital function in the development of knowledge and culture in her environment -The Euregion. She conducts applied research and develops and disseminates expertise. She functions within social networks and participates in cultural activities for various target groups. College Zuyd is a flexible organisation - with a focus on people. She is inventive in originating ideas and effective in achieving testable   targets.   

Research Centre Comparative European Social Research and Theory (CESRT):

CESRT is a centre of expertise of the Hogeschool Zuyd that was established to promote applied research in higher professional education. CESRT is designed to deepen current social work education programmes, to professionalise teachers and to enhance social professional practice.  The development and application of research and theory in social work education and practice is approached from a comparative and European context. The approach is based on the conviction that globalisation affects both the education and the profession of social work.

The processes of social exclusion and inclusion are central in CESRT. They encompass notions of participation and accessibility to society's main institutions and traditions, e.g., education, health care, work, leisure, social services, public services and human rights. They echo the consequences of the shifts in responsibilities between the state, the market and civil society.  They symbolize the risks of insecurity and uncertainty for many people in today's society. On the whole, the processes of social exclusion and inclusion contain challenges shared throughout Europe and have a direct impact on social work educators and practitioners. 

CESRT's main objectives are to conduct comparative European research that enables social work educators and practitioners to master their profession in a learning and information society; to improve the theoretical basis of education programmes through the application of research and theoretical models in curricula; to promote an integrative approach to social work education and practice through cooperation with relevant local, regional, national and international stakeholders, i.e., working field organisations, government entities, private enterprises, etc., and lastly, to disseminate skills and knowledge by organising and contributing to events, publications and projects.

The research centre is led by an associate professor and comprises 8 researchers. Currently CESRT is conducting research in the field of social integration of migrants, lone mothers and youngsters. Furthermore, the model of partnership in a welfare society is explored and the impact of international education programmes on the professionalisation of academic staff is analysed.

CESRT vision on RECES:

CESRT aims both to improve the quality standards in social professional education and to develop comparative social research into social practices in a European context. More concretely, CESRT focuses on an analysis of the challenges of integration - social exclusion and inclusion - and the involvement of the social professional as a practitioner. From this point of view CESRT is involved in the Interreg III project RECES, which is situated within the Euregio Meusse-Rhine.

The RECES project, which focuses on social exclusion in the Euregio, is aimed to compare policy and practice towards social cohesion and integration in the different regions within the Euregio Meusse-Rhine. Given its expertise in the field of comparative european social research, CESRT hopes to contribute to the development of strategies, on practical and policy, to combat social exclusion in the Euregio Meusse-Rhine.

Site: www.hszuyd.nl/cesrt

E-mail: a.reverda@hszuyd.nl