The ASEM Education Secretariat Belgium welcomed the colleagues from the Indonesian Secretariat in the Ministry of Education and Training Flanders. During 2 weeks both teams worked together to hand-over the tasks of the ASEM Education Secretariat (AES).
In the first week, Enda, Irma, Nadia and David discussed about the renewed structure of the Senior Official meetings as agreed in the Chair’s Conclusions of the ASEMME7 in Seoul. This structure aims to develop more discussion and interaction through workshops to feed stocktaking report but also the ASEM Education process as a wole. Patrizia Jankovic from the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research in Austria, joined these discussions for a day, as she is in charge of hosting the SOM1 meeting in Austria in October. The first draft of this renewed structure will be further discussed with the ISOM-team in Indonesia, and we will disseminate a draft programme as soon as possible.
In the second week, both teams focused on more practical aspects of the AES tasks such as the website and newsletter, but also contacts and procedures. Also the ASEM Education Initiatives were discussed in more detail in order to transfer all necessary information to guarantee smooth continuation and following up of the initiatives. The Belgian team plans to soon contact the coordinators or leaders of the ongoing initiatives to get a good view on the planning for 2018 and beyond.
During evenings and weekends, the Indonesian colleagues also had some time to enjoy Brussels and even Paris. They visited the Atomium, Manneke Pis, the Grand Place, the Eifel Tower and the Louvre,… We also could enjoy the spectacular Brussels Bright Festival with Irma, which is a festival with light art installations in the streets of Brussels.