On Wednesday, April 26, Mr Brune (Director of the course) and Prof. Proesmans (Dutch professor) took HELMo students of the International Cooperation course who are taking Dutch as a subject to Brussels as part of an exchange with Thomas More University of Applied Sciences students, of Intercultural Relations Management. The students had the opportunity to visit the services of the FPS Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the European Union and Enabel.

Permanent Representation of Belgium to the European Union

HELMo and Thomas More students arrived at the Permanent Representation of Belgium, which is also part of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at 10 a.m. with their respective professors. They attended an interactive session led by the spokesman for the Permanent Representation, Niels Timmermans, who is responsible for all external (press contacts, social media, public visits) and internal (staff newsletters, organization of events) channels of communication, promoting the Belgian position at the Council of the European Union. He also explained the decision-making process in the European Union, which involves institutions that together form the European "institutional triangle", and the European Council, which operates from outside this same triangle.



 

Lunch at the FPS Foreign Affairs

Around noon, the students went to the FPS Department of Foreign Affairs, where they had lunch provided by the FPS. During the break, the students and professors from both university colleges had the opportunity to interact with each other and explore the exquisite building.
 

Enabel

At 13:40, the students went to Enabel, where they attended a presentation led by Guido Couck, who is the head of communication. Enable is the development agency of Belgium’s federal government, with the mission to implement the policy priorities of Belgian governmental cooperation and promote sustainable international solidarity.

 
Another presentation about the Junior Programme was held by Katrien Gielis. This programme gives you the chance to professionally participate in a development project for a maximum of two years through the Junior Programme.
 



The visit was over at around 4 p.m. Since the students felt that their goals were achieved and that they learnt something new and useful, it can be said that the visit was successful.

Vidéo Credit : Lucille Irazika (stagiaire au service Relations Internationales de HELMo Campus Guillemins)