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Campus Drachten festively opened: learning, research and innovation together

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News / Campus Drachten festively opened: learning, research and innovation together

With an inspiring program in the SKILL building, Campus Drachten was officially opened last Friday. Administrators, students, researchers and entrepreneurs came together to celebrate the start of this unique collaboration and to unveil the powerful new corporate identity of Campus Drachten.

And you could just feel it in the room: the urgency is great, the ambition clear and the will to put our shoulders to the wheel together unmistakable.

Connection between healthcare, high-tech and education

Campus Drachten brings healthcare, high-tech and education closer together. The initiators - NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, University of Groningen, Firda, ICD, Nij Smellinghe hospital and the municipality of Smallingerland - are jointly committed to groundbreaking cooperation.

Not every man for himself, but working together to find solutions to the social and technological issues of today and tomorrow.

Innovation in action

During the grand opening, visitors were given a tour of various innovative projects and an exhibition that included VR applications in healthcare and high-tech solutions from the manufacturing industry.

A Q&A with administrators and partners revealed the extent of the shared ambition. The official opening had a symbolic touch: administrators stacked cubes, after which students turned them into the new logo of Campus Drachten - a powerful image of working together and shaping the future.

Three locations, two themes

Campus Drachten consists of three locations:

  • SKILL building on the Philips site
  • Firda Drachten
  • Educational building at Nij Smellinghe hospital.

From these locations, students, researchers, healthcare professionals and businesses work together. The focus is on two pressing themes:

  • Autonomous Factory Systems
  • Care Innovation.

Themes that are not only relevant to the Northern Netherlands, but also have international significance.

Drachten as an innovative manufacturing city

Drachten has a rich high-tech history and is known as a place where manufacturing industry and healthcare come together. It is precisely here that the ideal conditions exist to connect education, research and business and bind talent to the region.

Campus Drachten builds on that strong foundation and gives it a future-oriented impetus.

“Campus Drachten shows what this region is capable of: with guts, craftsmanship and cooperation, we are building the makers of tomorrow.”

20250926 Opening Campus Newspaper article
Article Leeuwarder Courant Opening Campus Drachten

From idea to impact

In closing, guests were given a Campus Drachten merchandise set along - with bags, caps and shirts - as a symbol that this new campus is being carried not only figuratively, but literally.

Campus Drachten - From Idea to Impact.

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