Research Centre Gears Up for Globalisation Forum and International Projects

14.10.2026

October Meeting Highlights Global Collaboration, Student Engagement and TourXpeRience

Wittenborg’s Research Centre met online on 7 October, bringing together updates on research, international collaboration and upcoming projects and events.

Head of Research Partnerships and International Mobility Aydan Holtrigter opened the meeting with preparations for the Globalisation Forum, before Erasmus+ Project Coordinator & Researcher Jian Liu shared developments from TourXpeRience. Updates on the research proposal cycle, publication policy and Erasmus+ Days completed the agenda.

Globalisation Forum takes shape

With the Globalisation Forum approaching on 2 and 3 November, Holtrigter outlined preparations for the two-day event and the involvement of Wittenborg colleagues, students and international partners.

The Forum opens at Apenheul Conference Hall in Apeldoorn on Monday, 2 November, before moving to Wittenborg’s Apeldoorn Campus on Tuesday, 3 November.

Bringing together participants from different fields, it will explore how globalisation is shaping the world while creating opportunities to exchange research, ideas and perspectives. Bachelor’s and master’s students will be part of the audience, with students also playing an active role in presenting and sharing knowledge.

The event will have a distinctly international character. Representatives from around eight partner universities are expected to participate, with institutions from Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Georgia and Türkiye among those mentioned.

The programme is built around Wittenborg’s 10 research themes, but the discussions themselves will leave room for participating experts to shape the conversation.

Wittenborg Dean Rauf Abdul raised this point during the meeting, asking how moderators should approach potentially interconnected panel themes and whether they could work directly with panellists to establish the focus of their sessions.

Holtrigter encouraged that flexibility, explaining that moderators and panellists could shape their discussions around their expertise while keeping the broader research themes and student audience in mind.

“We leave that fully to the moderators and the panel members to decide,” Holtrigter said.

The approach gives participating academics space to draw on their different backgrounds and perspectives, while keeping discussions relevant and accessible to the wider Forum audience.

TourXpeRience explores new approaches to tourism education

Liu then updated colleagues on TourXpeRience, including its current and upcoming activities and opportunities for further involvement.

The project explores how Extended Reality (XR) can help transform vocational education and training (VET) in tourism. It incorporates technologies including Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) to create more interactive approaches to teaching and learning.

TourXpeRience responds to the tourism sector’s changing skills needs by supporting the development of digital competencies alongside environmental awareness and sustainable entrepreneurship. It also seeks to help educators integrate emerging technologies into their teaching.

Collaboration plays a central role in the project, bringing together VET and higher education institutions, industry stakeholders, third-sector organisations and policymakers. The aim is to develop approaches that can strengthen tourism education while contributing to a more digitally skilled and environmentally conscious workforce.

Liu’s update invited colleagues to look beyond the project’s technology and consider opportunities to contribute to its ongoing and upcoming activities.

Proposal cycle and publication policy

Research processes formed another part of the October agenda, with Holtrigter providing updates on the proposal cycle and publication policy.

Both subjects had already been explored in greater depth during an earlier teachers’ meeting, allowing the Research Centre session to focus on relevant updates.

The two areas form part of the Research Centre’s wider work to support the development and publication of research across Wittenborg.

All in all, together with the Globalisation Forum and TourXpeRience, these updates reflected the connections between research, education and international cooperation running across the meeting.

From preparing for international discussions in Apeldoorn to exploring XR applications in tourism education, the October session provided a snapshot of the range of activities currently bringing Wittenborg researchers, students and international partners together.