Léonard de Vinci High School

As one of the most emblematic figures at the heart of a period when the 'renascent' soul of modern Europe was taking shape, Leonard de Vinci has been chosen as an appropriate figurehead for the Haute Ecole in an 'emerging' Europe at the dawn of the 21 st century.

The Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci, like every Haute Ecole, seeks to meet the need for rationalisation araising from a decree of the 'Communauté française de Belgique' - the authority with responsability for educational policy in French-speaking Belgium' - of 5 August 1995. Beyond policy however, its creation expresses the determination of the six partners to, togheter, provide quality teaching whilst protecting both the individual character of each Institute and the Christian and Humanistic values they hold in common. These six Institutes are:

Since 1994, the six institutes have been working together to develop their common project, creating structures which reflect their desire to decentralize decision-making, whilst taking care to act in harmony with the essential 'spirit' of the Haute Ecole concept. At the same time, each Institute keeps its own name and mission, maintains its own campus and continues organising its own courses.

The creation of the Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci carries with it a real challenge : to have and to maintain a voice in higher education. As a key element in meeting this challenge, the Haute Ecole has been keen to establish a sizeable student body (6,000 students) thus creating a'pool' of varied courses and qualifications to satisfy the expectations of tomorrow's society.

Located in Brussels, the capital of Europe, and in the Walloon Brabant, Louvain-la-Neuve and Nivelles, it has already created a network of regional, European and international exchanges which it intends to go on developing in the future. It brings together the complete spectrum of the six subject-areas in which the Haute Ecole sector in Brussels offers courses: economics, paramedicine, teaching, social studies, technology and translation and interpreting.

Operating as an established group, the Haute Ecole wishes to see the expansion and reinforcement of links already forged by each of the six partners with the Université catholique de Louvain. It seeks to promote exchanges between students in the different sectors and among teachers to a maximum.

Finally, the Haute Ecole wishes to be an institution with a pedagogical vision that places the student at the heart of its concerns and is faithful to the pursuit of shared goals, i.e. teaching that aims towards the highest level, applied research, continious education and service to society. In endeavouring to accomplish these objectives, the Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci enjoys the benefits of a number of different, valuable resources :

a large number of highly motivated and conscientious students
the commitment and skills of its staff
synergies established with the professional world
the cooperation of graduates who guarantee its reputation and especially "animus societatis", a sense of co-operation and shared purpose which has been fostered since 1994.