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60 Years of Pioneering beyond Borders. Episode 5: 2006-2016
BUas (and everything that came before) is turning 60! So, we’re diving into the archives to revisit some meaningful moments. In a series of six episodes, we’ll take a journey through six decades of history.
In the last episode, you read all about how the number of NHTV programmes keeps growing. The two NHTV locations (Mgr. Hopmansstraat and Sibeliuslaan) are bursting at the seams by the time Mark Rutte, the then-State Secretary for Education, gives the green light for a games programme in Breda.
Games
In September 2006, International Game Architecture and Design kicks off. The programme, now ranked among the world’s top three, is first housed in the Blushuis and later in the Pakhuis, both part of Breda’s former fire station. That same year, Leisure Management moves into the old Euretco building (also dating from 1966!), which has since made way for what is now a residential area. Later still, in 2013, the SLM programmes (Urban Planning, Logistics and Mobility) move into the Werkplein Breda building on Claudius Prinsenlaan in Breda. And so NHTV spreads out across the city.In de vorige episode heb je kunnen lezen dat het aantal opleidingen van NHTV groeiende is. De twee NHTV-locaties (Mgr. Hopmansstraat en Sibeliuslaan) barsten nog nèt niet uit hun voegen als (toenmalig) staatssecretaris van onderwijs Mark Rutte groen licht geeft voor een Bredase game-opleiding.
With around 17,000 students by now, Breda has truly grown into a student city. And that calls for a place of its own for sport! So the Municipality of Breda, the Breda Student Sports Foundation (BRESS), NHTV and Avans join forces: the former sports centre on Nieuwe Inslag undergoes a thorough makeover and becomes BRESS's new home.
New master's programmes
In 2006, NHTV launches two new master's programmes in fairly uncharted territory: Tourism Destination Management and Imagineering (a blend of imagination and engineering). The number of placements abroad is already well on the rise and, with the arrival of these two new master's programmes, the number of field trips ‘all over the world’ goes up too.
But we’re also making waves closer to home, in the Netherlands. Together with Hogeschool Zeeland (now HZ University of Applied Sciences), we establish the Kennisinstituut Toerisme (Tourism Knowledge Institute). This later leads to the Kenniscentrum Kusttoerisme (Coastal Tourism Knowledge Centre), and also to CELTH (Centre of Expertise in Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality), a partnership with Stenden Hogeschool and HZ University of Applied Sciences. It is our first Centre of Excellence. We now have five of them, see here.
Op 25 november 2006 wordt het 40-jarig bestaan van NHTV internationaal hoger onderwijs Breda groots gevierd met de reünie ‘Re-connect!’. Zo’n 3.000 oud-studenten en (oud-)medewerkers maken van de mogelijkheid gebruik om te re-connecten. Speciaal voor dit jubileum is de expositie ‘Vakantieliefde’ georganiseerd in het Breda’s Museum (nu Stedelijk Museum Breda).
2008 is quite the year for royal visits 😊 On 17 December, Queen Beatrix makes a special trip to Breda to open the revamped Hotel and Facility building on Sibeliuslaan. The new restaurant and training company is given the fitting name Sibelicious. Earlier that year, Princess Laurentien already drops by the Mgr. Hopmansstraat location to launch the national ‘Tijdgebrek’ (‘Time Pressure’) campaign by handicap + studie (now the Expertisecentrum Inclusief Onderwijs). The campaign focuses on students with disabilities.
Years later, royalty comes knocking again: in 2025, it’s Queen Máxima who visits our new campus for a chat with young entrepreneurial talent.
Academic education
In 2009, NHTV embarks on a new adventure with the development of two academic bachelor’s programmes. We are the first, and still the only, university of applied sciences in the Netherlands to offer academic education. Our partners ‘in crime’ are Wageningen University & Research and Tilburg University. From now on, students can study tourism and leisure management at university level.
That university title never quite materialises for NHTV, although the name ‘Universiteit van Breda’ was registered back in 2005. The ambition is certainly there. Strategy papers from the time outline ambitions to become an academic university of applied sciences, and we show the world as much with a cheeky twist: an academic cap perched on our logo. In 2010, a rector magnificus is appointed.
Practice-based research
In line with this ambition, NHTV appoints its first associate professors in 2009, a brand-new phenomenon at universities of applied sciences at the time. Their role is to put practice-based research on the map and further develop it. NHTV's first professorships cover areas including Storytelling, Visitor Management, Imagineering, Cross-Cultural Understanding, and Sustainable Tourism and Transport. The latter grows out of a special chair in Sustainable Tourism that NHTV had already set up back in 1999.
Pre-master's and executive master's programmes
The launch of a pre-master’s in Leisure Studies in 2012 marks another step forward in our journey towards becoming an academic university of applied sciences. In 2014, we take over the academic master’s from Tilburg University, which we now offer as the Master of Science Leisure and Tourism Studies. And our Academy for Leisure further cements its place on the world map when, in 2012, the World Leisure Organization names it the third Centre of Excellence in the world, after Arizona State University and Vancouver Island University.
But closer to home too, we keep moving ('Een wereld vol beweging’ was the slogan back then). In 2014, the Executive Master in Media Innovation launches at Media Park in Hilversum, aimed at professionals already working in the media industry. We had already launched the regular version back in 2010. It is not our first executive master's either: the MBA Imagineering already has one too.
In 2014, the professional master’s in Game Technology launches, in collaboration with the international games industry, and a year later, Dutch Game Garden Breda opens its doors at NHTV. Here, alumni of the games programme can pursue their ambitions of starting their own business. By this point, Atlantis BV is also up and running, a games studio that is part of NHTV Business Holding. Could these be the first hints of what’s coming to our campus with the Game & Tech Centre currently being prepared by the municipality, the province and BUas?
The pope adds his signature
So when does that beautiful campus finally become a reality? In 2013, the letter of intent is signed by NHTV and the ‘Alles voor Allen’ congregation, owner of the convent building on Mgr. Hopmansstraat. It still takes more than a year before the Pope adds his signature, and yes, we really do need it!
Now begins an exciting period, as a dedicated campus project team gets to work on a master plan to finally bring all of NHTV's programmes and activities together on one inspiring, green campus in Breda! Right on schedule, the campus is completed in early 2020, and then…
Next time, the final episode of 60 years of BUas!
2016-2026: At home on the BUas campus
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