The annual event for Ghent expats by Community Gent called “Living And Working in Gent” took place the 5th of October at the amazing Ghelamco Arena in Ghent. This informative event brings together Ghent expats and organizations supporting expats to feel more at home in Ghent. Expats are defined as people from abroad living in Ghent in this context.

TheSquare.Gent was at the event as well, right on the eve of our 1 year anniversary. Heather and Nina were on hand to answer questions from the visitors, some of whom have only heard about us at the event, while others were thrilled to meet us in person for the first time. To mark our first birthday we organised a prize draw for visitors – they could win a massage at the Luxe Spa Massage in Wachtebeke, a guided visit to the Gruut brewery or a premium tequila Riazul by Agave Selection. The happy winners will be informed by e-mail shortly.

Partner organisations at the ready to help Ghent expats

The participating organisations and companies, all partners of Community Gent platform, are active in fields that are especially important for people who have just moved to Ghent.

Learning Dutch in Gent

• Taalcafé Mundial: Biweekly meetings for international (language) exchange
• University Language Centre
• BLCC, language courses for professionals
• Berlitz Language Center Ghent – providing also private Dutch lessons
• VDAB: NT2: Dutch as second language

Studying in Gent

• Vlerick Business School, international MBA and business skills courses
• International School of Ghent, English-language primary school

Finding a job in Ghent

• Co-Searching, a peer-to-peer meet-up to help you hone your job-hunting skills
• Talentree, a platform for jobs for Ghent expats
• VDAB, the public employment service, offering also trainings

Jobs in Ghent

• Teamleader, a Ghent scaleup offering CRM, project management and invoicing tool
• Volvo Trucks, a division of Volvo Group with the breakdown centre, always looking for speakers of foreign languages
• TomTom, the navigation company also has an office with international staff in Ghent

Starting your on business

• Partena Professional (administrative information)
• Entrepreneurs Anonymous (monthly networking events for entrepreneurs in English)
• Startersfabriek (one-stop-shop by the city of Ghent for entrepreneurs)

Insurance and banking

• Banking: BNP Paribas Fortis
• Insurance: Ethias Insurances
• Health insurance: Partena Ziekenfonds

Local services

• City of Ghent – Migratiedienst
• City of Ghent – Sportdienst
• City of Ghent – Culture
• Province of East Flanders

Community and expat services

• Community Gent: A meeting place for people and organizations with the goal to make Gent an even nicer place to live and work in
• Relocation Belgium
• TheSquare.Gent

Community Gent

The not-for-profit organization Community Gent was the organizer of the event. Community Gent is a collaboration platform between the City of Ghent and various organizations and individuals active in the following sectors; culture, sports, economy, science, education and healthcare.

The working groups of Community Gent are:

• Expats working group
• Wijze Vrouwen (wise women)
• Jong & Wijs (young and wise)
• MAN-talks (Management Assistant Network)
• G100 (city influencers getting together to make Gent a better place to live and work in)

The Expats Working Group is always looking for volunteers to join the team. The aim of the group is to bring together expats and organisations of Ghent, thereby helping foreigners to become active citizens of Ghent and raise awareness of expat presence with the local community. If you would like to receive invitations to future events or are interested in joining the Community Gent expat group, send us an e-mail.

Photo credits: Heather Sills, Martha Kitta

Author: Nina Jere