This summer Natalie White, a high school English teacher in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, attended the Brussels Study Tour which is run as a collaboration between University of Pittsburgh and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UW-Madison’s Center for European Studies and Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence sponsored Ms. White’s participation in the study tour. The University of Wisconsin-Madison European Studies selects one Wisconsin educator to attend the week-long Brussels Study Tour each summer. The study tour provides educators with an opportunity to meet with their national peers from a variety of disciplines to learn about the European Union in situ. Participating educators use their experience in the program to create a lesson plan for their classroom.
Below are her reflections on the week:
Our program hit the ground running Monday morning with a visit to the European Parliament followed by a tour of the European Union Council. We learned about the EU values: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights and the delineation of responsibility — what is EU exclusive, shared (between the EU and individual countries), and what the EU supports (with each nation having its own policies). The intricacies of this dynamic are complex and each visit this week helped make these entities clearer. The European Union Council has a six month rotating presidency (currently Denmark). Among the EU Council, over 4,000 meetings are held per year, and a staff of over 900 translators serves this institution. They have developed incredible resources to help students learn about the EU including this sweet children’s book Yooki and the Union of the Forest. The EU motto “United in Diversity” is represented everywhere, including the flooring and the building’s decorative oak window panes.
Tuesday began with a few hours at the House of European History, an engaging museum covering so much history that I had to rush to make it through each exhibit. Afterward, our group was able to hear a panel from the Permanent Representation of Ireland, who is currently preparing for their presidency term. The aim of the presidency is to ensure the continuity of the EU Council’s work and the group in Brussels works closely with their Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin to coordinate both policy and operations leading up to this leadership change. We concluded the day at the European Commission (which is comparable to our executive branch). Several presenters shared in their areas of expertise, ranging from Directorate General (DG) Clima who is responsible for EU policy, legislation and action to tackle climate change, and a policy officer who shared broadly about the responsibilities of the European Commission: right of initiative, policy and budget implementation, guardian of treaties, and representing the EU internationally.
Wednesday we visited Fulbright Belgium and learned about opportunities for educators and college students alike. Fulbright was developed to foster mutual understanding between people in the US and other countries. There are over 160 countries part of this exchange, and specifically, Fulbright Belgium offers opportunities for research in EU competencies as well as US/EU relations.
Thursday was spent at NATO Headquarters which was very secure. We had to turn in all electronic devices upon arrival and did not get them back until we exited the premises that evening. Our visit began with lunch in the NATO cafeteria (among all the high ranking officials, military officers, etc.) followed by three incredibly engaging speakers. First, we heard from someone in public diplomacy a bit about the history of NATO, the history of allies as part of its enlargement, and a few details about its strategic concepts. Right now, of course, supporting Ukraine is among its highest priorities. NATO has been providing them comprehensive assistance in the form of non-lethal aid (uniforms, food, fuel, etc) since 2022. The EU and NATO share many of the same nations, but are two distinctive organizations with some nations who are part of only one of these two institutions (for example, the US is, of course, not part of the European Union). Our second presenter spoke about these multilateral organizations and the relations between the two. At a time when there is so much global tension, it was promising to hear about NATO’s peacekeeping efforts.
I strongly believe that everything can be solved with diplomacy. It is easy to watch the news, see the clickbait, and doom-scroll through endlessly evolving geopolitical conflicts. Despite this darkness, all three NATO speakers offered so much optimism and hope for the future. They spoke about the need for continued collaboration of non-EU allies and the communication and strong partnerships that lead to burden sharing between nations.
Our final day began at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the oldest, strongest think tank in Brussels. They stressed the economic interdependence of the US and EU (trade, tariffs, investments…) and got into some of the nitty gritty of their discoveries including AI research and how this can affect policy development. They shared tidbits like “90% of ‘the Clouds’ are American” and the implications of having this level of reliance that could lead to massive vulnerabilities. Other topics such as the need to reduce Critical Raw Materials dependency on China are also part of their research and throughout our conversations, all the pieces of the geopolitical, cultural, and economic factors discussed throughout the week tied together. Much like at NATO, the Think Tank staff exuded confidence and optimism as they discussed their research and the potential for positive change. Our last visit was to the European Union External Action Service (EEAS), a relatively new organization founded in 2011 in the Treaty of Lisbon. They conduct EU Foreign and Security policy, covering everything from peace-keeping efforts between nations to combatting climate change. Diplomats spoke about some of their current partnerships, challenges, and successes.
This was an intense week of learning. Each day was more impressive than the day before, and the conversation, collegiality, and candor of each teacher made the group a dynamic community. I enjoyed many chats with other teachers from across the US and learned so much from each participant. It has been a privilege and an absolute delight to learn from and among the teachers selected for this program.