The academic year opening ceremony (September), the honorary doctorate award ceremony (February), the UCL Rendez-vous (in Brussels, Charleroi, Mons, etc.) – events open to the university community and the greater public, organised in partnership with the French Community of Belgium. They demonstrate the depth of UCL’s presence in the cities where it is based, in the Walloon and Brussels Regions, and in society as a whole. Simultaneously academic and festive, they reflect the values UCL and its partners defend: freedom, solidarity, respect and openness to difference.