First group of professionals complete Kingdom Affairs course
Lifelong learning image: Rick Wink
Forty participants celebrated completing the Kingdom Affairs course with their instructors, family and friends on Friday 24 April. What is this new course about, and why should people take it?
‘Scheveningen isn’t the most westerly point of our kingdom’, said Minister for Kingdom Relations Eric van de Burg at the final session of the Kingdom Relations course. Referring to the growing appreciation among his colleagues in The Hague that the Kingdom of the Netherlands reaches further than the European Netherlands, he got to the heart of why this course has been developed.
The Kingdom Relations postgrad course (in Dutch) a joint initiative of The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Leiden University – brings together professionals from the Netherlands and the Caribbean in a unique, practice-focused yet academic programme.
The first edition of the course, which ran from last October to April this year, was taken by a diverse group of professionals: from policy advisers and medical professionals to lawyers and entrepreneurs.
With increased interaction between the Caribbean and European parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, there is a growing need for education that connects academic insights with the reality of kingdom relations.
Through different perspectives such as history, governance and society, 40 participants spent the past months getting to grips with the complexity of the Kingdom and the interaction between the different countries and institutions. This included topics such as good governance, finance, security, climate and geopolitics.
How does the course benefit professionals? Three participants explain:
Lack of urgency
‘I already worked with Caribbean students, but didn’t have the background knowledge: policy, politics, colonisation – I was missing all of that. The course brought it all together.
‘My biggest take-away is the lack of urgency. That came up in nearly all the classes: as it’s about relatively small groups, problems often aren’t considered urgent, but that creates a lack of equality on the islands.
‘The lectures on historical slavery and intercultural relations were real eye-openers. I knew that it all played a role, but I didn’t know how deep it went. Lecturers such as Gert Oostindie made that history really clear. I now look differently at my work and understand the context much better.’
Kumi Tempels, senior policy officer at Nuffic and coordinator of the SEA student council
Understanding administrative relations
‘In my role as programme manager for the Caribbean, I wanted to have a better understanding of how the administrative relations work within the Kingdom.
‘Rather than just go on what I hear, I wanted to understand how things work. I travel a lot for my work, so I followed much of the course online, and that worked really well.
‘My main take-away is the legal knowledge covered. I learned that many things aren’t black and white, but that there is a lot more room for manoeuvre. Take EU funding, for example. That creates opportunities to make a real difference. I would recommend this course to professionals and civil servants who work with the Kingdom and want a strong basis.’
Bernise Stoffer, programme manager at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)
Not just for civil servants
‘I’ve lived in Curaçao, but realised I didn’t know much about the Kingdom. That’s why I wanted to find out more, also at a more academic level. My main take-away from the course is how important it is to be interested in and to understand others.
‘The emphasis often lies on differences, when we actually have a lot in common. At the start, I thought the course would be for civil servants, but that proved not to be the case at all – it’s useful for anyone wanting to learn more about this, regardless of their background.’
Lisa Posthuma, project manager at the Association of Municipalities in the Netherlands (VNG)
The event ended with a clear invitation to all the participants: don’t keep the knowledge you’ve gained to yourselves but share it in with others as an ambassador of the Kingdom. A new edition (in Dutch) starts in the autumn. Professionals wishing to deepen their knowledge and broaden their network can ask all their questions at the online information session on Tuesday 9 June.