Dutch ambassador speaks about challenges of a changing world during TUS Athlone visit
The Dutch Ambassador to Ireland highlighted the political and economic challenges Ireland and the European Union are facing in a lecture to students in TUS Athlone on Thursday last (March 9).
Ambassador Adriaan Palm told students that Europe is facing a range of interconnected challenges in areas such as climate, energy, and competition - challenges which have been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During his lecture, entitled The EU's Economic Challenges in a Changing World Order, Ambassador Palm emphasised that there are also enormous opportunities within reach which can ensure a more prosperous and peaceful future for this generation of students and all of society.
"Becoming climate neutral is a key priority for Europe, and Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine has reinforced the urgency of taking steps to decarbonise all sectors of our societies," he said.
"One thing is very clear from the experiences of the past few years: we in Europe have learned that we need to be more independent of countries like Russia and China, so that we are more agile. We need a real, open, strategic autonomy.
"This means ensuring that we have the capacity to cope alone if necessary, but without ruling out cooperation whenever possible. That involves relying on our foresight to identify threats and ensure we have the necessary resilience by anticipating the required responses," Ambassador Palm said.
Many European nations were represented among the 70 TUS Athlone students who attended the lecture, including a large contingent of students from Politecnico di Torino, the Italian college which has forged deep ties with TUS in recent times.
Dutch-Irish links are also blossoming, as TUS is also part of the Regional University Network (RUN) alliance of like-minded European higher education institutions which includes NHL Stenden University in the Netherlands.
Prior to his lecture on Thursday, Ambassador Palm was welcomed to the campus by a number of dignitaries, including lecturers Henry Joyce and Karen Guest, and the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Hospitality, Michelle McKeon-Bennett.
During the Ambassador's tour of the Athlone campus, TUS officials highlighted work underway to further develop the facilities, including the recent announcement that a multi-million euro STEM facility will be constructed, one which will create capacity for up to 1,300 students.