A greener and more sustainable UWC Maastricht

July 7, 2022

Dear alumni,

As we are approaching the summer, I want to share with you some of the initiatives that have kept us busy and excited this academic year.

If you would return to our campus today, you will be able to see for yourself that our campus looks greener and more beautiful than ever before. As part of our ambition to make the school more sustainable, various groups in the school have developed ambitious plans to this end, plans which we are now carrying out. We placed 1.500 solar panels on the roofs of our buildings. We built a beautiful vertical garden above the primary playground and are planning for another one next year. Behind the Nelson Mandela residence, a new green house and gardens have been created, allowing students from all age groups to get involved in growing crops and plants and learning about nature. In the meantime, our EcoTeam worked hard to renew our Eco School Green Flag – an audit which we have now successfully completed. This summer we will be removing a lot of the stone tiles in the inner courtyard of our school, replacing them with grass and woodchips for a more friendly environment. All of this fits nicely in our ambition to continue to be the most sustainable and eco-friendly UWC within the group of UWC schools and colleges.

We are at the end of an academic year that has been relatively normal, with only a few disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our students were able to carry out most of the usual exiting UWC-related projects and activities, and community service in the city of Maastricht returned to its usual business. I don’t have to explain to you as alumni how important these activities are, and what vital role they play in the overall experience of our students. The recent Harvard Impact Study, about which you will read more in this newsletter, also highlights the importance of service, projects, outdoor initiatives and other extra-curricular activities in the shaping of the UWC experience. It is therefore great to see what we are able to rebuild these programmes after the challenges caused by the pandemic.

We are expecting significant growth for UWC Maastricht in the coming term, with a Secondary school that may grow to around 675 students. This means we are also making plans to build extra classrooms on the third floor, and to find other ways to allow for a more efficient use of our small island. You can imagine that this creates some challenges for us, but it is also a sign that UWC Maastricht has managed to navigate through a number of difficult years in a positive way. For this we are extremely grateful.

In the coming year we will find ways to re-engage with many of you and we hope to welcome you back to our campus in the summer of 2023. Please stay tuned for news and updates, and please also share your stories with us.

With all good wishes,

Lodewijk van Oord
Head of College