Compassionate Week

Programme

Monday 17 November

11:30 - 13:00: Workshop 'Grief and Loss in Children's Literature' (ENG)

📍 VUB Main Campus, Etterbeek, Active Learning Studio (B.3.27)

• What: In this workshop, we will take a look at how children's and young adult literature represents grief and loss. The discussion of excerpts from a range of texts - from pictures books to poems - will be used to kickstart the conversation about how children's literature can be used as a tool to help us care for those around us who experience loss and grief.
• Practical: No priori experience is required to participate in the workshop. If you are interested in joining, please register here by the 5th of November.
• Teacher: Kayra Maes, a PhD student at the Centre for Literary and Intermedial Crossings (CLIC) at VUB, where she is working on a project on the representation of care in contemporary Black British children's literature.
   

12:30 - 13:30: Workshop 'We Care' @ VUB (ENG)

📍 VUB Main Campus Etterbeek, Study Guidance Centre, Building F

• What: In our group session, We care, you will discover interesting insights and handy tools to better support each other and create a positive, supportive environment. Let's make our community stronger together!
• Why participate?
  • Get insight: Find out more about mental health in students and discover how it affects your academic performance and well-being.
  • Skill up: Get tips on how to recognise signs of mental health problems in yourself and others, and learn how to have good conversations when you are worried.
  • Self-care: Learn why self-care is so important and how to monitor your own boundaries while caring for others.
• Practical: If you are interested in joining, please register via this link

17:00 – 18:30: Voices of Compassion (NL/ENG)

📍 Pilar Box, VUB Main Campus Etterbeek

• What: This evening is dedicated  to mourning and healing through texts, poems, stories, songs, in any language. Members of the VUB community and beyond will share their work or the work of others that promotes  compassion in the face of loss. Poet Evangeline Agape will close the event with a reading from her work. This evening of music and poetry hosted by the programmes in Linguistics and Literary Studies and the Centre for Literary and Intermedial Crossings promises to be an unforgettable experience, one you definitely don't want to miss!
• Registration: You can register via this link.
• Do you have a poem, text, or piece of music you would like to share? Whether it's your own work or someone else's? Please fill out this form or send an email to Tara.Brusselaers@vub.be.
• PS: Would you like to write something, but you're not sure where to start? There is a creative writing session on 12/11. Anyone can join, with or without experience. Please sign up by filling in this form.
   

19:00 – 21:00: Talk with Onbespreekbaar on Grief (NL)

📍 VUB Main Campus, Etterbeek – exact location to be confirmed

• What: An interactive talk (in Dutch) with Nicolas from the podcast Onbespreekbaar about grief, loss, and how we deal with it as a community. An open conversation that creates space for recognition, questions, and connection.
• Registration: You can register via this link.

Wednesday 19 November

12:00-14:00: Compassionate Cards and Remembrance Tree

📍Esplanade, VUB Main Campus Etterbeek & VUB Health Campus Jette 

• What? Write a card for someone you miss or want to support. You can also leave a ribbon in our “tree of comfort.” Cards and postage are free of charge.
   

13:00-14:00: Webinar 'Grief in Higher Education: Practical Guidance for Support and Sharing Experiences'  (ENG)

📍Online

• What: Research suggests that at least 10% of students will experience a significant loss during their time at university, and 24% of staff have been bereaved in the past year. So why is no one talking about grief? And why is support still so limited? This session will be introducing the HE Bereavement Framework, a new resource by The Student Grief Network based on in-depth research and hundreds of conversations with students and staff. The framework outlines the impact of grief within Higher Education – from health and wellbeing, to academic performance and employment challenges - and provides practical steps for improving support.
• Speaker: The session will be led by Anna May, founder of The Student Grief Network and Executive Head of Kaplan International Grief Programmes. Anna lost her brother as a child and her dad while studying at university, and now has over seven years experience delivering training, consultancy, workshops and events for bereaved university students and the staff that support them.
• Practical: The event is free and open to all. After registering, you’ll receive a link to join the webinar online. Please register here.
   

17:00-18:00: Moment of Comfort

📍Esplanade, VUB Main Campus Etterbeek

• What? Since 2019, the VUB has taken time each year to pause and reflect — to remember those we have lost, those who are seriously ill, and all who care for others. This takes place during a Moment of Comfort around the Monument of Comfort, marked by a serene and intimate ceremony. During this short gathering, we listen to a few brief reflections, interwoven with moving music and song.
   

18:00-19:30: Compassionate Café

📍Bar Buna, VUB Main Campus Etterbeek

• What? After the ceremony, you are warmly welcome at the Compassionate Café. This gathering offers a space to talk in an informal atmosphere, to share memories, and to engage in open conversations about loss, grief, and caregiving. No registration needed. 

This week is an initiative of Compassionate University.