Initiated by Leeds Metropolitan University in 2004 a first conference of a Center for International Research in Consumer Location and their Environment (CIRCLE) had been organized in the UK. The conferences provide the opportunity for young scholars, practitioners and PhD students to have their work validated and benchmarked within the benevolent academia and professional community of colleagues from different countries (more: link program).

"In 2014 the conference will also include for the first time PhD-students of the Distance Learning Program of Circle International/Vitez getting later a double-diploma: a new facette of Circle International's success-story" Prof.B.Hallier said.
 

In working life of today team skills and ability to learn every day has become more important. In their book ?Team spirit for networking? at 2011 Prof. Dr. B.Hallier & Prof. Dr. M. Fedorov stated: ?Of utmost importance in the globalizing world are international, intercultural and interdisciplinary awareness connected with the inner drive of people to build leadership in teams and to push solutions for the society.? ? practicing these skills already during studies provides graduates wider competences for working life.

(Photo: IBL/Outi Lehtiniemi. Teachers and students developing IBL together)

At InnoBarentsLab (IBL) students work in teams, and co-operate with real life business in different projects. Project teams include several international students, and also the team leader is always a student ? role of the teachers is to be a mentor/expert/adviser. Due the different background of the participants good results can be reached by TeamSpirit and recognizing the strengths of every individual.
Home of IBL is at Rovaniemi University of Applied Sciences in Finland.
 

The terminus "Indochina" demonstrates the dramatic changes of this area during the last one hundred years. Starting as a colonial territory in the first phase - after World War II it became a deputy between the East-West frictions . Now in phasis 3 the countries are in a transition to find their own images as Myrama (Burma/Birma), Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - and also their new role in the global competition.

Vietnam for example has today 724 modern supermarkets, 132 commercial centers , more than 400 convenience stores - but also still one million small traditional stores. On the other hand also 28 percent of the Vietnamese consumers are already shopping online ! More about Vietnam at www.european-retail-academy.org/urban-revitalization
 

The ERA-member Alanus University of Art and Social Science/Germany started with a group of 10 students under the supervision of two professors an intercultural project in South Africa. (see also at the News of 07th January 2011)

Started in 1997 as an annual congress-show to bridge the years between the tri-annual EuroShop meanwhile EuroCIS in Duesseldorf/Germany is a hot-spot for the European retail technology.

For the event in February 2016 expected 10.000 visitors will see about 400 exhibitors on 10.500 squaremeters : record breaking again ! Main topics will be omnichannel strategies, mobile customer service and digital POS . "EuroCIS is the most successful IT-retail event in Europe as a stand-alone exhibition and will be of course also at the next EuroShop push all other EuroShop-segments " Prof.Dr.Hallier said.