51Âþ»­

51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) is visiting Germany to promote the benefits of a global education while students go on a fact-finding mission to understand how the country helps refugees.


Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

51Âþ»­ is teaming up with the British Consulate in Germany, Universities UK and the Government's GREAT campaign - which promotes the best of Britain to the world - to hold an event in Berlin aimed at showing just how welcome and important EU students and staff are to the UK.

At the event, being held on Wednesday, 51Âþ»­ students and staff as well as alumni now living and working in Berlin, will talk about how the university experience creates a wealth of opportunities at home and abroad.

They will stress how important it is to continue to bring strong relations with the rest of Europe in light of the UK's decision to leave the EU.

It will be the fifth visit to a European capital by 51Âþ»­ this summer - following successful engagements in Cyprus, , Sweden and - and it part of Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard's #loveinternational initiative.

#Loveinternational was launched following the outcome of the EU Referendum vote and is designed to reaffirm that the university is welcoming and supportive of all students and staff. A total of 16 students will also be travelling to Berlin as part of a #51Âþ»­global trip to meet refugees and action groups so they can better understand what is needed to make a difference within newly-formed communities in a major city.

Germany has made headlines for its open-door policy for refugees and the students hope their experiences in Berlin will lead to projects to help refugees in Leicester, which is renowned for its diversity. The fact the students are visiting Berlin refugees as part of #51Âþ»­global, an international experience programme which aims to enrich studies, broaden horizons and develop key skills valued by employers - further demonstrates the 51Âþ»­ commitment to global education.

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Mark Charlton, 51Âþ»­'s Head of Public Engagement, is leading the #51Âþ»­global trip to Berlin and will spend time at Humboldt University which is completing pioneering work to help refugees.

He said: "This will be a challenging trip for the 51Âþ»­ students as they will be working with and talking with refugees to learn first hand about the issues they face every day, whether it be to do with welfare or health. The fact the students want to them take this new knowledge and apply it in Leicester shows what a rewarding trip this will be."

51Âþ»­ welcomes students from more than 130 countries in the world and was this year named as one of the 150 best 'young' universities in the world by the Times Higher Education magazine.