"We must dare to dream and think big. And our proposition must be in line with that. Big," says Patrick Bemelmans, Director of the Academy for Communication and Creative Business at NHL Stenden.
It is a few days after the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. Faber Audiovisuals from Sint Annaparochie supplied the LED screens, video projections, media servers, TV circuit, and, above all, skilled personnel for the event, which attracted more than 200 million television viewers. 'Proof that you can become an international player from the region. And that's why, at the Media Innovation Campus that is now being created in Leeuwarden, you have to think much bigger than city, province, region, or even the Netherlands.'
New daily reality
When Patrick Bemelmans, a Belgian, settled in Leeuwarden in 1992, he could never have imagined that 25 years later he would have the ambition to establish a leading creative center here together with all his partners. With a solid range of courses and thousands of students enrolled in creative programs in Leeuwarden, the Media Innovation Campus feels like the next step for Patrick.
Because time is on our side. If we hadn't already realized that the world has gone digital, we certainly did during the coronavirus pandemic. Digital technology offers many possibilities, especially in the field we train people for. What we come up with in Leeuwarden can be applied anywhere. Distances and borders hardly exist anymore. We work in a hybrid way, at home and on location, and we connect with each other via Zoom and Teams. What felt a little awkward a year and a half or two years ago is now everyday reality."
Right scale and climate
In this new reality, Leeuwarden has an advantage over cities such as Amsterdam or Groningen. ‘Leeuwarden is still manageable and has a certain raw edge to it. Amsterdam and Groningen are actually already a bit too big and certainly too expensive. Here, we have the right scale and also the right climate for this challenge.’
In addition, this region is also ideally suited to the chosen profile of the Media Innovation Campus. "The Media Innovation Campus must become the leading specialist in the field of media and communication for every transition that comes our way. And the transitions you are talking about are something we experience every day around us here in this region."
Climate, energy, landscape, food, health. You name it. We see it here, we feel and experience it here. And we can translate it, in an atmosphere of togetherness. On the design and production side. Guided by higher professional education, with the craftsmanship of vocational education, in collaboration with the business community and the parties that initiate transitions in society. It's now or never.'
