Students studying

Public Governance students make Oxfam Novib Clinic a real success

Between April and June 2018, the first-year students of the Bachelor of Public Governance participated in the first Governance Clinic, which is a course where the students participate in real-world commissioned research. The course originates from one of the driving ambitions of the Bachelor of Public Governance, which is to teach students how to identify and negotiate real-world governance challenges.

by by Niels Karsten

This is because having an understanding of the day-to-day practice of public governance is a crucial asset for students in their later career. In addition, this setup allows students to develop 21st-century public-governance skills. This clinic is a good example of how the three elements of the Tilburg educational profile - knowledge, skills and character - are integrated in education.

Annemeike, first-year student of Public Governance

“The Governance Clinic was very interesting because it showed the practical side of Public Governance. To be able to work with a huge NGO like Oxfam Novib in the first year of study was extraordinary and also very enjoyable. Working on a real-life case added so much value to the project because it was not a hypothetical one, and our research could actually have some impact on the future development of a Private Sponsorship Schemes in the Netherlands.” 

Oxfam Novib’s assignment

This year, the assignment was provided by Oxfam Novib, a Dutch NGO that works towards tackling the injustices that cause and perpetuate poverty. Our students were asked to develop and conduct a research project into Private Sponsorship Schemes (PSS), where refugees can resettle in a country with the support and funding from a private or joint government-private sponsorship.

The assignment communicated a genuine learning need of Oxfam Novib, since the organization was looking for ways to increase its knowledge on PSS as it explored the opportunities to introduce a private or community sponsorship scheme in the Netherlands. In particular, Oxfam asked our students to make an inventory of PSS initiatives in other countries and to analyze European policies in this field.

In response, four groups of students developed and conducted studies into (a) the upcoming changes in the Common European Asylum System, (b) PSS in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, (c) PSS in Canada and the UK, and (d) the feasibility of introducing PSS in the Netherlands. For their research, our students conducted a comparative desk study and a series of interviews with Dutch stakeholders. The results of their efforts, presented to Oxfam in The Hague, were very well received.

Evelien van Roemburg, Acting EU Migration Campaign Manager, Oxfam Novib

“It has been my pleasure to work with Tilburg University's School of Governance and its students on the project 'private sponsorship schemes'. The students came across as eager and excited to work on this 'real-life' issue. During the two meetings I had with them, they were well-prepared, articulate and fully engaged. Their enthusiasm, and that of their lecturer, was contagious. The papers that the students have produced are indeed quite useful for the work we're doing at Oxfam Novib.  - Evelien van Roemburg, Acting EU Migration Campaign Manager, Oxfam Novib

Roundtable on the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative

Much to our surprise, a tweet about the presentation was soon picked up by Gerald Coulombe, First Secretary of Political and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Canada to the Netherlands, who showed great interest in the student reports in his preparation for the roundtable on the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (GRSI).

The GRSI, which was organized on June 19th, seeks to build on Canada’s proven model to promote the successful integration of refugees through the development of new community-based sponsorship programs around the world.

The event was attended by 50+ stakeholders in migration and integration, including GRSI representatives, government representatives from Canada, the UK and Ireland, UNHCR, national and municipal Netherlands government officials, Dutch Cabinet Ministers, Dutch Members of Parliament, Dutch civil society organizations.

As a result of their efforts in the Governance Clinic, two of our students were invited to the June 19th roundtable event and asked to share their results. We think this is a great honor which demonstrates the timeliness and real-world relevance of the Clinic.

Amy and Daniel, first-year students of Public Governance

"It was a fascinating and enriching experience to see policy-making and shaping in action, and we can proudly state that we were well-able to follow and engage in the conversations on the basis of the knowledge we gained in the governance clinic. We believe that the experience of such event may be very valuable for our future" -