Committed to universities

BNP Paribas Fortis is committed to the communities in which we operate and ‘youth and education’ form a fundamental aspect of BNP Paribas Fortis’s Corporate Social Responsibility and commitment to society.

Since the start of the 2010-2011 academic year, BNP Paribas Fortis has strengthened its partnership with Belgian universities and now sponsors a total of five Chairs throughout the country. This commitment to universities and education is proof that BNP Paribas Fortis is anchored in the Belgian society.

• Louvain School of Management
  BNP Paribas Fortis finances a Chair in the Louvain School of Management, part of the UCL (Université catholique de Louvain). The Chair studies the in and outs of financial markets and the most efficient way to judge liquidity risks.
  
  
• Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School
  BNP Paribas Fortis sponsors a Chair that focuses on the impact of internet banking on the organisation and the future of the bank at the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. The bank will finance this Chair until 2015.
  
  
• Solvay Business School
  BNP Paribas Fortis has committed to a five-year financing of a Chair at the Solvay Business School which is part of the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). The Chair aims to deepen and share knowledge of the banking sector as a swiftly evolving environment, through the organisation of at least two half-yearly conferences with globally acknowledged speakers.
  
  
• University of Antwerp
  The University of Antwerp (Departement Transport en Ruimtelijke Economie) and BNP Paribas Fortis have a five year partnership to create the Chair ‘Transport, Logistics and Ports’. Thanks to the initiative both the university and the bank can respond quickly and efficiently to new developments in port and logistics.
  
  
• K.U.Leuven
  BNP Paribas Fortis has a three-year partnership with K.U.Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). The bank sponsors a Chair that is dedicated to HR management and aims to understand what motivates staff in a changing world.
  
  

Additionally, BNP Paribas Fortis supports an innovative project by the HEC-ULG (Ecole de Gestion de l’Université de Liège). The initiative brings together students from various study fields – engineers, economists, sociologists, architects... – to allow them to execute projects for companies, which do not have the time or the means to do themselves.

BNP Paribas Fortis’s commitment goes further than just the sponsoring of University Chairs. The bank also supports Belgian universities, resulting in initiatives with the ULB, the VUB, the University of Antwerp (UA) and de Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix (FUNDP) in Namur to develop coaching activities by senior students for pupils from less privileged backgrounds, as well as the CRE’ACTION programme to foster business creation.