From the 8th to 15th of March, a delegation of teachers from the Colegio Mateus Ricci in Macau carried out an educational exchange in Belgium focused on Jesuit school-to-school collaboration. Supported by the network of the Jesuit European Committee for Primary and Secondary Education, known as JECSE, , one of the main networks of the Conference of Jesuit European Provincials. The visit made visible a lived Ignatian unity: different languages, different systems, yet a common commitment to educating men and women for and with others, formed with competence, compassion, conscience, and commitment. Two anchor visits shaped the journey, College Notre-Dame de la Paix in Erpent and College Matteo Ricci in Brussels, and the exchange concluded with the signing of memoranda of understanding with both schools, marking a concrete step from dialogue to long-term partnership.

 The delegation first major school encounter happened at the College Notre-Dame de la Paix in Erpent, where hospitality immediately set the tone for the entire journey. In a gesture both formal and heartfelt, the school hoisted the flag of the Macau Special Administrative Region alongside the flag of Belgium. For the visitors from Macau, the moment symbolised the capacity of education to honour identity while building relationship, especially when language is not shared by everyone in the same way. Beyond the ceremony, classroom observations and dialogue highlighted resonances between Macau and Belgium, particularly around educational choice and the role of public support in keeping schooling accessible across different types of institutions. The delegation was especially struck by practices that expressed adaptive development in tangible ways: learning that can move outdoors even in less-than-perfect weather. On the day of visit, Kindergarten children were having outdoor Maths class in the rain. The Primary and Secondary sections emphasised flexible learning spaces that encourage student agency, pathways and electives that respect interests and pace of students. What stood out was not simply methodology, but culture: students appeared to engage through intrinsic motivation rather than constant comparison, an atmosphere the visitors connected to Cura Personalis, the Jesuit education value to care for each learner as a whole person.

 If the Notre-Dame de la Paix in Erpent offered an opening experience of welcome, the College Matteo Ricci in Brussels provided the emotional and symbolic centre of the exchange. Hearing the anthem of the school from Macau played far from home created an immediate sense of kinship: two institutions carrying the name of Matteo Ricci encountering each other not as strangers, but as partners with a shared lineage and purpose. The formal exchange sessions deepened that connection. Both schools compared how they articulate holistic formation and student dignity, sustain Jesuit identity while responding to contemporary needs, educate for service, inclusion, and reconciliation in diverse societies. A key theme was language and culture as formation, not merely as logistics. In Brussels, shaped by French, Dutch, and international realities, leaders described how students are supported to navigate multilingual life with confidence.

A defining outcome of the Belgium exchange was its move from inspiration to institution-building. During the visit, memoranda of understanding were signed with both the College Notre-Dame de la Paix in Erpent and the College Matteo Ricci in Brussels, setting a framework for sustained collaboration. These agreements open realistic next steps such as teacher learning and formation exchanges, student encounter projects in person or hybrid, joint pedagogical sharing especially around language learning and student agency, shared reflection on Jesuit educational priorities and safeguarding cultures. In short: the visit did not end as a one-off tour, it became a structured relationship with shared commitments.

Recognising the richness of Jesuit education in Belgium, an additional stop at the College Saint-Michel in Brussels was arranged. The encounter contributed to the broader picture of Jesuit educational diversity in the region and offered further points of contact for possible future collaboration.

In addition to these school visits, a detailed presentation of the Cocéjé, the Coordination of Jesuit Colleges and Schools, was given by Ms. Anne L'Olivier, EOF-Belgium South Education Delegate, and Mr. Vincent Sohet, Coordinator of School Pastoral Care and Religious Education Courses. This presentation highlighted the support provided to all Cocéjé schools through six common recurring themes along with other core Jesuit educational values, such as awakening hope in the world and forming just global citizens, as emphasized by Father General Arturo Sosa, SJ.

This Belgium exchange illustrates the practical role of JECSE in connecting schools across borders and supporting a European Jesuit educational ecosystem, with a higher level of agency and strategic stance, linked to a wider global Jesuit collaboration. For the delegation from Macau, the core takeaway was not a model to copy, but a renewed sense of belonging to a worldwide mission that expresses itself through local languages and contexts. With memoranda of understanding now signed with two sister schools, the most important work begins after the flight home: turning encounters into enduring programmes that help students in Macau and Belgium learn with and for others, across languages, cultures, and distance.