M-2009, OPENING CEREMONY, Sunday, June 7, 2009; 1600—1800 hrs, Maastricht, The Netherlands by Professor Asha Kanwar // There is much to stimulate our interest over the next few days. First, M-2009 combines the bi-annual global International Council for Open and Distance Education Conference and the annual European Association of Distance Teaching Universities Conference. But contributing to the excitement as well is the venue of the event. We are coming together here in Maastricht, this quintessential European city that is known for its confluence of history, culture and internationalism. And it is especially exciting to be here when Maastricht has been nominated to compete for the title of the European Capital of Culture in 2018. Even though we are going to focus on open and distance education and the use of virtual means of communication for achieving learning– the real world in which the deliberations take place impacts significantly on the discussions themselves.