Promenade I is situated right in the city center. In earlier plans, the area was already intended as the relocation site for Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Zuyd hogeschool, currently based at Nieuw Eyckholt), but this autumn it became clear that not the entire institution, only a few programs, will move to the city center.
After searching for suitable locations, UM has now also set its sights on the Promenade. However, both the municipality and the university remain cautious. The final decision for the location depends on a feasibility study and the overall costs.
Urban Sustainability Studies is a three-year bachelor within YUFE, an alliance between European universities. With this program, UM establishes its first educational branch in Heerlen. UM President Rianne Letschert previously told Observant that the theme of urban sustainability fits “perfectly” with the city, which “has undergone many transformations.” After the closure of the coal mines in the last century, Heerlen (and the surrounding region) faced severe economic and social challenges.
In a press release published today by the municipality of Heerlen, alderman for education and city center development, Jordy Clemens, calls the arrival of UM “an enrichment of education and research in our region.”
Although UM expects only about fifty to sixty students in the first few years of the YUFE bachelor’s program, the goal is to have around 1250 students and over a hundred employees in ten years. This growth will be driven by new bachelor’s and master’s programs, including in the field of digitalisation. Heerlen is also being considered as a location for the new interfaculty bachelor’s program Governance, Law and Society.
Through a so-called Regio Deal – a collaboration between the Dutch national government and regional partners to stimulate quality of life, housing, and work – three million euros have been made available. UM and the municipality of Heerlen will each supplement that amount with a further 1.5 million euros.
In terms of research, UM has been present in Heerlen since 2015 with BISS, the Business Intelligence and Smart Services institute located on the Brightlands campus, near the APG pension fund, where innovations in data processing and artificial intelligence are being developed.