After climbing two places in 2012, Vlerick Business School make a slight drop in this year’s European Business School ranking which is annually published by the Financial Times. The School goes from 14 to 15 in Europe, but still consolidates its position within the top 15 of 75 European business schools in total.

In September Vlerick Business School officially opened its brand new, state-of-the-art Brussels campus. Like our other campuses it’s a stimulating and inspiring place where students, academics, entrepreneurs and executives of all different backgrounds, levels of experience and ambitions come together to exchange knowledge, develop new insights and launch new ventures in a spirit of openness and mutual respect. We also invite companies to take part in this experience by organising their event, conference or meeting in this unique high-tech location in the heart of some of Europe’s most vibrant cities.

On 26 November the Brussels campus of Vlerick Business School will be hosting the 2013 FSR Forum on the topic of “EU Energy & Climate policy: where do we go from here?”. This Forum is organised by the European University Institute (EUI) and the Florence School of Regulation (FSR). This is the second initiative within the strategic partnership that our school has with the Florence School of Regulation.

Two years after his death, the Ghent-born architect Romain Berteloot (1946-2011) is to be honoured with a walking and cycling trail along forty-four of his most important projects. The route also passes by the Vlerick Business School campus in Ghent, which was designed by Berteloot in collaboration with the Brussels-based architect’s firm BURO II & ARCHI+I. The project was completed in 2003.

Willemen Groep – active internationally in the construction industry as contractor, supplier and project developer – has been named ‘Company of the Year 2013’. This award is an initiative of EY in collaboration with De Tijd and BNP Paribas Fortis. Willemen Groep was chosen over other nominees Caviar Group, Cegeka Group and Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, presented the award to the company, which employs more than 1,800 people and recorded a turnover of €600 million in 2012.

There’s light at the end of the tunnel for students working hard to meet the approaching thesis deadline. For the one who submits the winning thesis for this year’s Agoria Prize – a prize for technological research and innovation – the reward could be very large indeed.

On Sunday 9 June our new Brussels campus hosted the opening diner of the Annual EFMD Conference which brought close to 500 deans and business school administrators together. The conference which took place on Monday and Tuesday dealt with the evolution and impact of management education.

On Wednesday 10 April Vlerick and CrossKnowledge signed a partnership contract. CrossKnowledge, a market leader in online learning for management and leadership, will support Vlerick Business School in rolling out its blended learning strategy. Vlerick's complete training portfolio is central to this strategy.

Cardiff University’s Lean Enterprise Research Centre recently extended its accreditation of Vlerick Business School’s Operational Excellence training programme for two years. Having received the Lean Competency accreditation for the first time in 2007, this is the 4th time in a row that the Lean Competency committee grants us a full 2 year extension.

Last night, during the ceremony dinner of the annual Transform Awards in London, Vlerick Business School won Gold for the category ‘Best Rebrand From Western Europe’. The new Vlerick brand identity also won the Bronze Award for the category ‘Best corporate rebrand to reflect changed mission/values/positioning’. The Transform Awards is Europe’s only dedicated celebration of excellence in rebranding, repositioning and brand transformation.