15ème édition du dîner de charité de Femmes Developpement

Les amitiés de longue date sont comme des fleurs: on doit les entretenir et soigner, comme toute chose qui compte dans la vie. Alors quand Luisella Moreschi organise la 15ème édition du dîner de charité en faveur des veuves de Rwanda, les amis sont là pour soutenir les magnifiques projets qu’elle mène au Rwanda avec Femmes Developpement A.S.B.L. 

Bravo pour cette initiative qui change la vie de beaucoup de familles, grâce aux micro-crédits que les veuves peuvent recevoir pour démarrer leurs petites affaires, qui contribuent non seulement au bien-être et une stabilité financière de leurs familles, mais aussi au développement local et régional!

Michel Boufassa Lova Ruth Cohen-Sizyandji Ruth Gallery- Luxembourg Casino 2000 Sonia Pinternagel Aicha Bogaert Nadejda Trotsenko Marthe Kayossi 

#Rwanda #femmesdeveloppement #charitydinner #change

 

LuxERA Emerging Researchers’ Conference 2021

Speaking in public is no longer a stressful moment for me, as I've been doing it on a regular basis for more than 15 years. However, on the 11th November I will participate for the first time in the LuxERA Emerging Researchers’ Conference 2021, which will be the first time I present my preliminary findings in the framework of my PhD research project. My presentation starts at 9 am (CET) and is entitled: Introducing Soft Skills in Vocational Education : A Step to Increase Employability in Traditional Manual Working Areas?

I'm very honored to have been accepted as Keynote speaker in this prestigious conference, because it will allow me to get valuable feedback from peers, emerging researchers like myself, as well as from experienced researchers in the field of education. 

You can find below the programme of the Conference, which this year will take place online, and you still have the opportunity to register by clicking on the following link: LuxERA Emerging Researchers’ Conference 2021 Tickets, Mi, 10.11.2021 um 13:00 Uhr | Eventbrite. The participation is free of charge. 

Programme of the 

LuxERA Ermerging Researchers' Conference 2021 

- 10 & 11/11/2021 -

#LuxERA #educationResearch #myPhDjourney

CLC networking chez Bernard Massard

 Belle 1ère manifestation en présentiel hier chez Bernard-Massard organisé par la clc - confédération luxembourgeoise du commerce, qui a marqué le dernier événement de son directeur, Nicolas Henckes, mais aussi les 100 ans de Bernard Massard, les 100 ans de LA LUX, ansi que les 30 ans de Mediation SA - Communication - Live - Digital - Field, 3 membres de longue date de la CLC.

En ma fonction de secrétaire général adjointe du parti CSV - Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei, j’ai bien entendu le mécontentement des producteurs de vin et spiritueux luxembourgeois quant à la proposition de loi relative à la consigne des bouteilles de vin. Une proposition de loi dans la rédaction de laquelle la Confédération des producteurs de vin luxembourgeois dont la présidence est assurée par Antoine Clasen, l’orateur et hôte de l’événement hier. Une consigne de bouteilles qui sera une vrai casse-tête pour les producteurs et qui ne sera pas écologique, vu les produits chimiques forts qui devront être utilisés pour laver les bouteilles, mais aussi l’énorme coût des machines pour un petit volume de bouteilles, vu la petite taille de notre pays. La proposition des lois doit être bien réfléchie en concertation avec les gens du terrain, dans le contexte spécifique de notre pays et absolument dans un contexte regional, étant donné que beaucoup de clients du Luxembourg passent les frontières avec les bouteilles achetées au Luxembourg.

Merci à Lova Ruth Cohen-Sizyandji de la Ruth Gallery- Luxembourg pour l’invitation; son entreprise propose des oeuvres d’art en location, donc avis aux amateurs et connaisseurs d’art ainsi qu’aux collectionneurs. 

#clc #clcnetworking

This little girl is me

 

This little girl grew up in a communist country, Romania, where the norm was to keep one’s mouth shut to avoid troubles with the regime & the authority. 

Whilst she was lucky to live in a loving family, the youngest of 4 siblings and with a mother who always encouraged her, this little girl wasn’t afraid to respectfully challenge the status quo & express her different opinions, either in her family against having to pose in this picture, or in school for having to regularly start a sports class at 7 am.

Whilst living in a country with limited personal resources, the communism taught this little girl to find creative solutions, the power of paying attention, of questioning the rules & suggesting changes to frameworks to become more inclusive. And the power of persistence. Like when, after her 1st year at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, she was offered the opportunity to represent the City of #Sibiu at a conference on languages in #Austria, and her family didn’t have the money to pay for her flight ticket. She didn’t give up! She visited different local companies and convinced them to sponsor her ticket. Probably it’s for this reason that, for 10 years already, she has been offering scholarships in her home city to the best students. 

This little girl has followed her dreams & created 4 companies in 3 different countries, published several books, games& pedagogical materials, available in #Luxembourg, her country of adoption.

This little girl has co-founded the most important women organizations in Luxembourg, to give a voice to women entrepreneurs & inspiring leaders who are role models in their communities: in 2004 - the FFCEL / Fédération des Femmes Cheffes d’Entreprises de Luxembourg, in 2007 - Femmes Leaders du Luxembourg, in 2009 - Inspiring Wo-Men. And in 2013 she became the only woman from Luxembourg to have been awarded by EIGE the title of “Woman Inspiring Europe”.

This little girl then had the courage to enter local politics. She even became the 1st Romanian candidate in Luxembourg-city’s elections & the 1st foreigner to join the leadership of a political party in Luxembourg, CSV, where she is currently deputy General Secretary. She is also the 1st & only foreigner in the Board of the biggest association promoting the national language of her new country, Actioun Lëtzebuergesch, eis Sprooch, which is celebrating next month their 50th anniversary.

She remained modest, humble & grateful for everything she has achieved and also for what she didn’t achieve, but taught her powerful lessons.

This little girl is me. 

From that year when I’ve asked companies to help me make happen my 1st trip abroad, I now lead since 2004 my own company, Languages.lu, and am supporting other people  in their quests to change their lives & pursue their dreams. 

Why am I sharing my story with you?

Because, according to Inspiring Girls International, more than 90% of girls feel they have higher personal & career aspirations after following inspirational women on social media. 

I encourage all inspiring women in my network to also share their stories. Let’s support girls to become the Inspiring Wo-Men of tomorrow!

#thislittlegirlisme 

#inspiringgirlsinternational  #inspiringwomen #womensupportingwomen

10 cubic meters of water in 20 days

My mother was kind enough to host 3 guests from Bucharest (1 adult and 2 teenagers) in Sibiu during the theater festival. She was shocked however to discover that during the 3 weeks they’ve spent in our apartment (separate from where my parents live), they consumed 10 cubic meters of water 😳😳

If you think that 1 cubic meter means 13 baths, 10 cubic meters during 20 days looks to me like a completely irresponsible and unsustainable lifestyle. 

Especially if you think that 3 billion people currently lack basic hand-washing facilities at home… Or that the world is projected to face a freshwater deficit of 40 percent by 2030…

“We can only be motivated to change a behaviour, once we are aware that it needs changing in the first place.” 

How to make aware people of the need to change such a behavior and bad habits without being rude? 

Any tips, anyone ? 🙏🙏

Discover the analysis of Kanchan Mukherjee, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at IIMB and INSEAD Alumni 

https://www.forbesindia.com/article/iim-bangalore/can-we-train-the-brain-to-conserve-water/68941/1

 #water #climatechange #sustainability #change #environment #education

 

More women in politics

 

More than 10 years ago, I started to look for inspiring women in Luxembourg and the Great Region. Some of them were then included in my two books on leadership, in the photographic exhibition and in the more than 100 conferences, workshops and seminars I’ve organized under the Inspiring Wo-Men social initiative.

Viviane NEITER was one of the incredibly dynamic, smart and inspiring women I’ve identified. I entitled the article on her “The best is yet to come” because I felt how resourceful she is. She just dedicated me the book she wrote for Deloitte on governance and resilience. 

With her nice note she reminded me how important it is to continue to look out for talents, in all fields of activity, especially in politics, where I’m trying to make a modest contribution. 

This is why I will give out a free copy of my books to 10 women who are interested in getting involved in politics, that is, in any political party, regardless of my political preference. I genuinely think that we need more women in politics, to bring their vision and point of view to the table and thus enable better decision making. 

PM me if you wish to receive a copy of my books on women leadership and we’ll arrange to have a coffee together at The Office City.

#morewomeninpolitics #leadership #inclusion #diversity #womenleaders #genderequality #inspiringwomen

My PhD journey - 1st PhD course abroad

One of the challenge of doing a PhD is that one has to acquire a certain number of knowlege and new skills, which are essential to properly conduct a research, e.g. analyze and interpret the data collected. 

To have all the chances on my side, I have registered to some courses abroad. So today I am traveling to Denmark and will eb attending an "Introduction to Qualitative Methods" PhD course at Aalborg University. I am very excited!

 

27/08/2021

Today marks the end of my first PhD course in presence and also the first one at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark. Most of the participants were either from Aalborg University in Copenhagen or Chinese PhD candidates from Aalborg. 

It’s been a great 3-day course: “Introduction to Qualitative Research”. It’s a paradox that PhD students at the University of Luxembourg are expected to conduct good research without having access to trainings on research methods. 

This is why I came all the way to Denmark and invested my personal funds to be able to do so. Because another paradox at the University of Luxembourg is that students can apply for travel funding from their doctoral school only until March… for courses that were not yet published nor allowed students to register for. 

In contrast, Aalborg University in Copenhagen opens an an account for each accepted PhD student with a maximum amount of about 6.000 eur for the entire duration of the PhD (which is the equivalent amount we have in Luxembourg). 

The only difference is that in Luxembourg you have to apply every year and justify your participation in courses that will be published and open fir registration only later during the year, each time without any guarantee that your request might be approved. 

I particularly enjoyed the afternoon sessions when two of us were able to present our research project and got questions from the the other 15 participants and 2 professors. 

I was lucky to present my research project yesterday afternoon and am grateful for the questions, comments and recommendations I’ve received. In Luxembourg I didn’t find (yet!!!) such a community where I could discuss with my peers on our individual research projects , the methods we’re using and challenges on the field. But there is still time since I’ve only started in February. 

I will leave some more comments below the different pictures I conclude with a funny comment from Prof. Lars Bo Henriksen: “In the first half of your research, you try to save the world; in the second half, you try to save yourself.” 🙂