The first ViVa (short for Vision and Values) organisational culture development event for non-Hungarian-speaking colleagues was held on 23rd February 2024.
The ViVa initiative - considered unique in the Hungarian higher education field - has been based on inclusion from the very beginning: all Hungarian-speaking full-time colleagues at BBU could participate in previous ViVa events so far.
One of the key components to the current and future success of our university, along with a strong organisational culture, is ensuring equal opportunities. Given that internationalisation is a pivotal objective of the 2027 Development Strategy of BBU, leading to a growing presence of international colleagues, it was essential to organise the inaugural ViVa workshop in English.
A total of 22 people attended the event, including 7 international colleagues and almost all members of the International Directorate. The openness, cheerfulness and active participation in the workshop demonstrated that there is a definite demand from international colleagues to participate in integrated organisational culture development events and they welcomed the opportunity with great pleasure.
Eszter Sándor, language instructor at FFA (Faculty of Finance and Accountancy) and ViVa Ambassador, was an excellent facilitator of the event. After the formal introductions, the participants continued getting to know each other: they discussed BBU values and norms in several rounds. The workshop concluded with formulating ideas for themes for the next cross-departmental event in English.
