Quarter 3: Spread-the-love-letters, Carnival and celebrating Earth week!

Lybrae Event

Written by our ESSENCE blogger Gerda

With coffee and snacks, ESSET students were invited to spend Friday morning listening to a presentation from Lybrae, a specialist in physical environment and a sponsor of ESSENCE. The recruiter for the company, Diane, first spoke about herself, how she found herself working at Lybrae and explained what the company does. Lybrae offers environmental services, meaning they advise on and provide environmental permits to civilians and companies. This service has been mandatory in the Netherlands after some tragedies took place and has now become a large field of work for potential environmentalists. Diane introduced her colleague Ruth, an environmental service advisor. Ruth spoke about her job of environmental permit dispatching in the field of agriculture and how her various studies led her to find this position. She discussed with the students the differences between an environmental permit dispatcher and an environmental supervisor, which work is more active, individual or fitting for personality. The presenters emphasized that Lybrae welcomes everyone, has traineeships and makes sure to accommodate the professional needs of every employee. Topped with generous goodie bags and a McDonald’s coupon roulette, the informative presentation was a great success, and if any Dutch-speaking students see themselves working for this kind of company, we greatly encourage you to reach out to Lybrae and try a hand at environmental services!

Valentines Day

Written by our ESSENCE blogger Gerda

The season of love wafted through campus, and this year students were encouraged to share their affections with the “Spread the LOVE” campaign. ESSENCE’s Cupid services allowed anyone to write a love note to their darlings, accompanied by chocolates or flowers or both! There’s never enough display of romance, and students made sure the student body and faculty felt the love. On the special day, our team of Cupids floated all over campus, interrupting classes to deliver heartfelt notes, sweets, and blossoms to all the lovers in ESSET (and beyond!). If you missed the opportunity to Spread the Love, Cupid services will be waiting for you next year ❤️

Avans International community carnival

Written by our ESSENCE blogger Gerda

If any new international students were still confused as to what carnival in the Netherlands entails, the international community of ESSET made sure to give the most educational night possible. Traditional Dutch music, accompanied by free drinks and snacks, really set the mood for the night’s festivities. Costume-donning students showed off their best moves during the impromptu dance battle. To up the stakes, a teacher in a Dragon Ball Z costume hosted carnival trivia and a costume competition where students could win drink tokens. Participating in this colourful and purposefully slightly ridiculous celebration is a staple of living in the Netherlands, so if we didn’t see you on the dance floor this year, we’re eager to party with you in 2024!

Avans Gent exchange & Hogeschool Gent

Written by our secretary Marie

Exchange time for the second-year ESSET students! For 2 days, students from both university worked together to find the answer to a circular-economy-based challenge. ESSENCE organized a nice get-together at Ned Kelly's Australian pub. We had a lot of fun to get to know everyone and making new friends!

Pooling Evening

Written by our ESSENCE blogger Gerda

Environmental science doesn’t just have to be about science, and ESSET is making sure of it by throwing in some sports into the mix! And really, what could be more exciting than an evening of billiards with your friends? Students crowded around pool tables one April night to show off their cue-wielding skills and experience and to teach eager first-timers all about the art of pushing around colourful balls. There’s truly nothing better than having a drink over a friendly game of pool, so don’t hesitate to stop by and join us for a round next time;)

Earth Week

Written by our ESSENCE member Sascha and our secretary Marie

Plogging

Let's go plogging together! Plogging is a combination of jogging and picking up litter.

Each month, RunnersCafe is organizing such city clean up in Breda. This time with the support of ESSENCE. The weather was great and together we collected running a bunch of trash. And what could be better than making the city cleaner and get some fun exercise?

It was a great beginning of the Earth Week and thanks to everyone who joined!

Groene Doe Markt with the municipality of Breda

On the morning of April 16th was the Green Do Market at Farm Wolfslaar and only 15 minutes by bike from Avans nearby of the Mastbos, ESSENCE had a stand with different sorts of bio-based materials, which people could take inspiration from. The bio-based materials were lend from the Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy. Children could touch and look at the materials.

The market started at 10 am and closed up at around 4 pm. Because the market was at a farm, kids could interact with the animals. They have horses, donkeys, pigs, and you could even pet the goats! Also other activities for children were organised, such as planting seeds and making a watering can. But also for adults were workshop, about fermentation and compost and how to make your own house more sustainable.

Aside from the stand, we also gave two presentations about nature inclusive activities and bio-based materials. The people that came to the presentation were inspired.

We hope we were able to educate the visitors of the market about the different types and applications of bio-based materials.

Scavenger Hunt

On the 20th of April, Essence collaborated with ESN, the Erasmus Student Network Breda, to host a picknick and a scavenger hunt. As part of the promotion, ESSENCE and ESN had a poster at AVANS and BUas where people could leave their thoughts about little things in life that everyone can do to be more sustainable.

The scavenger hunt was located in the beautiful Valkenberg Park in Breda. The picknick started at around 6 p.m. After we found a good spot, we put out the blankets and layed down snacks. Some people played a card game about sustainability, where more and more people started to join. Some were playing football and others were talking about books. It was a very cozy evening, despite the poor weather.

The scavenger hunt consisted of 10 challenges which we had to carry out in the park. All activities had to do with nature and sustainability. Some of the activities were: find 3 different types of birds, find something biodegradable and throw away 5 cigarette butts. All the activities needed to be proven by taking a picture. After the explanation we divided into 4 teams and the winner received eternal glory.