An initiative of the City of Leuven and Leuven MindGate, the International House Leuven is an information, knowledge and service center for internationals and their families, and for organisations in the Leuven region employing international talent.
Our ambition is to provide support relative to relocation, social integration, living and working in the Leuven region. International House Leuven is the vibrant hub for local networking and community building. It strengthens and showcases Leuven’s diverse and international character.
Concretely, we offer the following:
- all relevant information in English available on one central portal website
- a single point of contact for questions relating to living in Leuven (visits or consultations without appointments on Tuesdays at the International House from 10:00-15:00, otherwise contact us for an appointment)
- regular newcomers' webinars & evenings, providing an opportunity for newly arrived people to get an introduction to their new home city and ask any questions that may pop up during those first weeks
- regular information sessions and workshops on a variety of topics such as renting, healthcare, culture shock,...
- the opportunity to join a range of social activities such as going to the theater, cooking workshops, guided walks,...
- a monthly newsletter announcing all our activities as well as language neutral regional events combined with other "good to knows"
- information sessions & webinars on (re)starting your career in Leuven and an intensive (partner) career program
- a Welcome Ambassador Program, teaming up Leuven residents (international or not) with new international individuals to offer guidance and support
- we strive to offer events that are free to the public (both internationals and locals) with help from our volunteers who invest their time, ideas, and knowledge into many of our workshops and events. Because of this, we ask participants to respect not only their registration to events, but also the starting hour.
The concept of the International House Leuven came into existence in the ten-point program set up by the Leuven MindGate People taskforce. This taskforce interviewed 1.264 international knowledge workers of 24 organizations from our region. The goal was to investigate what makes the Leuven region an attractive place to live, work and where there's room for improvement. The results, findings and the ten-point program were bundled in 'Towards An Outstanding Working And Living Environment For International Workers', a whitepaper published in October 2016. You can download the whitepaper by clicking the button here.