BIP for Staff: Micro-credentials Master lab

Olivier Dubois is a lecturer in Applied Psychology and Social Work within PXL People & Society, with expertise in change management and lifelong learning.

His goal for the Master Lab is to co-create an international micro-credential that promotes intercultural wellbeing, belonging, and inclusive collaboration in digital work and learning environments.

Inclusion in Arts, Design & Media explores access, representation and fair participation in education and practice. 

With partner schools, we aim for co-creating knowledge, cross-disciplinary teamwork and turning differences into opportunities for personal and shared growth.

Hervé Van de Weyer is Head of the Bachelor in Communication at PXL University of Applied Sciences, bringing extensive expertise in communication management, direct marketing, and entrepreneurship education.

His goal for the Master Lab is to co-create an innovative international micro-credential that strengthens entrepreneurial mindsets through practical communication, collaboration, and real-world impact.

Since 2015, I have coordinated interprofessional internships where occupational therapy, social work, nursing, and physiotherapy students collaborate in hospitals, residential care settings, psychiatric care, and medical pedagogical centres. Over 11 years, 891 students participated. The experience has been highly valued by students, patients, residents, and staff. In this BIP, I aim to explore further opportunities for interprofessional collaboration.

Drawing on her experience in interprofessional collaboration, Katrien Biesmans hopes to reflect within an international context on the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary learning. Through the Master Lab, she aims to exchange good practices, explore how institutions can collaborate more effectively, and strengthen interprofessional approaches that support the transition toward person-centred care.

With the International Media course, I would like to foster international collaboration by connecting Journalism and Communication students with peers from other universities of applied sciences. Through comparative assignments and joint presentations, they explore different media systems and journalistic cultures, gaining first-hand intercultural experience.

Anniek Orye is a teacher educator and researcher at PXL-Education. She works as a promoter on several VLIR-UOS research projects carried out in collaboration with UTN in Ecuador, RUPP in Cambodia, JU in Ethiopia, and NWU in South Africa, focusing on advancing educational inclusion while respecting cultural identity.

Lieve Cuypers works to create powerful, safe learning environments through compassionate, inclusive, and decolonising educational approaches, drawing on, among others, Peace Education, Nonviolent Communication and Deep Democracy. She contributed to a VLIR‑UOS project (2023–2025) promoting educational inclusion and cultural identity while decolonising curricula with educators and researchers from Cambodia (RUPP), Ecuador (UTN), South Africa (NWU), Ethiopia (JU) and Belgium (PXL).

During this lab, participants from partner institutions collaborate to design an innovative micro-credential that strengthens students’ intercultural awareness, global mindset, and professional adaptability. By combining international expertise and practice-oriented approaches, the lab aims to create learning experiences that prepare students for meaningful engagement in a global tourism environment.

As a social work educator, I am interested in strengthening the place of eco-social work within higher education. 

The growing interconnection between ecological and social challenge calls for international exchange and collaboration. This offers valuable opportunities for shared learning and curriculum development. A global perspective is essential to prepare future social workers for local and global realities.