Partnerships are arrangements where parties agree to cooperate in order to advance their mutual interests. They are of high value for any organisation, and for Comundos this is no exception. As an advocate for global intercultural and social progress and awareness, we look for partners who are like-minded and who support the enhancement of media literacy among people in the South. We believe that for us, this is the key to an effective and valuable partnership.

The relationship between us and the Belgian Thomas More University College is a great example of such a partnership. Thomas More, part of the KU Leuven association, is a highly qualitative and progressive university college that acknowledges the importance of intercultural awareness in today’s life. Above all, they also aim to create this awareness among their students. We were clearly delighted when we found out Thomas More had elected us in 2015 as an innovative organisation that they were willing to support. Designosource (Thomas More’s web agency) in particular has been of great help for us, as they developed our website.

Designosource is a Belgian web agency located in one of Thomas More’s campuses in the heart of Mechelen, Antwerp. It is a practice enterprise that gives the college’s Multimedia Design Department’s best students a unique opportunity to gain their first professional experience as multimedia designers. By working with Designosource, Comundos gave the students an interesting project to work on, handing them value through experience. In return, the website was created by young, talented and ambitious senior students. It goes without saying that we are highly satisfied with the work they have put in.

We also received great help from Thomas More's Office Management Department, as their students translated a great deal of our online content. In order to continue this collaboration, we recently also happily engaged ourselves in providing a brief internship for an Intercultural Relations Management student from Thomas More. As our organisation grows and given that there are a lot of students who are passionate about interning at a non-profit organisation, both domestic and abroad, this partnership’s possibilities are endless, especially in the long run.