B2U LECTURES

A new student initiative to bring both worlds more closely together has emerged from the collaboration between Ekonomika and the Leuven School of Business of Economics (LSBE). Two editions have been held so far during the past academic year, at each time addressing relevant economic issues for a broad student audience.

Pieter Reynders, co-organizer of B2U Lectures, says Ekonomika wanted to answer the increased demand amongst fellow students for relevant economic debate. ‘Earlier initiatives mostly deal with political concerns, whereas no real economically inspired debate had been organized yet.’ Ekonomika already has the reputation of organizing great events. This initiative means to add to this reputation, while at the same time it tries to reach out to a new audience.’ 

In November of 2008, the first edition of B2U Lectures has been organized which relevantly dealt with the credit crisis, and how to manage through the financial turmoil. An impressive list of speakers had been assembled as former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme himself, and Michel Tilmant, former CEO of the ING Group, attended the audience with introductory speeches. Debate afterwards was sparked by the presence of experts such as Marc Eyskens, another former Belgian prime minister, and professor De Grauwe, renowned expert in financial economics. Both governmental and corporate representatives agreed on more stringent regulation policies, and enhanced transparency on financial transactions. Consequently, every seat of the Pieter De Somer aula was taken by the afternoon, as the first edition was about to set off.

In April this year the second edition appropriately focused on the future of Belgian banking, as Fortis Bank, Dexia, and KBC each had incurred severe financial problems. This debate was entirely conducted in English, so as to encourage international students’ attendance. Thibault Thevissen, co-organizer, believes a new event has been added to the calendar of enriching student activities Leuven has to offer, as they certainly plan to organize a third edition of B2U Lectures. ‘Besides adding value to student life, we also believe to have significantly contributed to corporate enterprise.’