In September 2025, the Academy for International Relations celebrated its 10th anniversary. For the past decade, the Academy team has been working to help colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) and other central government staff in international roles to develop professionally, so that they are prepared for the future, worldwide.
The Academy for International Relations is part of BZ and was established in September 2015, following the recommendations of the ‘Advisory Committee on Modernising the Diplomatic Service’. The aim was to pool and improve the range of training options with an international focus, thereby facilitating government-wide cooperation to ensure the Netherlands remained at the forefront of diplomacy worldwide.
In this article, aided by a selection of images, current and former members of staff reflect on how the Academy for International Relations has developed over the 10 years since its foundation. They look back on consolidating and improving training opportunities with an international focus, the shift from in-person to hybrid and online learning, the launch of a new learning portal, managing for learning, the introduction of onboarding days in The Hague and for the missions, and the creation of learning pathways and the Inclusion Plaza.
Image: © Academy
Team photo at the launch of the Academy for International Relations in 2015.
The beginning
‘In the beginning, it was all about pioneering and figuring out exactly what the academy should be,’ says Emma Linders, whose roles included coordinating the Academy’s current affairs lectures from 2015 to 2020. ‘The most important thing was to find out what BZ needed in both the short and long term.’
‘A lot has changed in those 10 years. The Academy started off with a programme budget and a few temporary staff and gradually evolved into a fully-fledged Academy with an extensive and appealing range of courses,’ says Cobi de Kort, Learning and Development & Procurement Adviser at the Academy since 2015.
Image: © Academy
During a Develhub conference at the Efteling theme park, the team worked intensively on building and professionalising the Academy. (Develhub is a network organisation for Learning and Development professionals.) Luckily they were able to find time for a quick ride on the 'Baron' rollercoaster, too.
Online learning accelerated rapidly
With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, working from home brought additional challenges. It wasn’t just about working online; the transition to e-learning and online learning suddenly gained momentum. What 2020 taught us is that online learning is a very inclusive way of learning. Never before had we experienced such high participation rates from the missions.
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Robin Hagendoorn (departmental assistant at the Human Resources Department (HDPO)) helping to distribute the last printed study guide in 2021. Since 2022, our online study guide can be found on this website.
The publication of the first study guide
‘What has always stayed with me is how we made the transition from a learning and development department to a fully-fledged strategic Academy,’ says Odette Moreira, senior communications advisor at the Academy from 2017 to 2023. ‘The publication of the first study guide and the moment when the term ‘learning organisation’ really took on meaning, felt like real milestones.’
Learning pathways
In 2021, the Academy team began developing learning pathways for certain job groups at BZ. A learning pathway is like a guide to all logical and relevant learning activities that are appropriate for a particular job group. The learning pathway for your job group clearly shows all the Academy’s learning activities that may be relevant to your role.
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Babet Mooij and Jan Willem Naphegyi-Schouw
Deepening diplomatic knowledge
The Academy also began working more closely with educational institutions and universities. This included international partnerships, like the one with the European Commission’s European Diplomatic Academy, intended to make greater use of each other's international and diplomatic knowledge.
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Group photo of the European Diplomatic Programme participants, including the heads of academies from the 27 countries of the European Union. This photo was taken in June 2025 in Poland.
More learning activities on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)
We have started offering more learning activities on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) to raise awareness among all staff worldwide and teach them how they can make an active contribution to an inclusive, safe and supportive working environment at BZ. The Inclusion Plaza was further enhanced in 2023 to address and prevent racism and discrimination. We have added narratives focused on BZ from internal and external experts, and team training sessions on inclusive recruitment and selection, as well as webinars on racism and discrimination.
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Managers and coordinators in a conversation during the D&I learning activity ‘Inclusive leadership – connecting differences’.
Onboarding
In 2023, we launched onboarding days in The Hague. Online onboarding sessions for the missions worldwide followed in 2024. These sessions are important to help new colleagues navigate the organisation and to make them feel welcome.
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Reina Buijs (former Director of the Human Resources Department) addresses new colleagues on the first onboarding day at BZ on 26 June 2023.
Dirk Jan Koch (former Dean of the Academy from 2018 to 2023) reflects: ‘It’s hard to imagine now that 10 or even 5 years ago, we didn’t have an onboarding course for new employees. We had no learning pathways for different jobs, and colleagues often just enrolled in random courses here and there. By bringing in knowledge from outside, the Academy has ensured that our diplomats can develop their personal and diplomatic skills and professional knowledge, preparing them for the future, worldwide.’
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In June 2024, the first online onboarding session for new colleagues at the missions was held.
A new learning portal
In 2024, the Academy for International Relations launched its new learning portal. The portal not only makes it easier for staff at BZ and other central government staff in international roles to search for and enrol in learning activities. It also brings us a step closer to our goals and ambitions for learning and development at BZ.
As a result of the close collaboration between IJK, World of Work, Create Learning, the HR advisers (HDPO/HRA), the Information and Digital Innovation Department (IDI), SSC-ICT and colleagues from the Academy team, the new learning portal has now in use for over a year and a half.
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Group photo with colleagues from the Academy for International Relations, IDI, HDPO/HRA, Create Learning, SSC-ICT, World of Work and IJK.
Learning & Development (L&D) partner meeting
Every year in April, the team organises a Learning & Development (L&D) partner meeting. Colleagues from the Academy meet with L&D partners to discuss the latest developments and trends we are experiencing at BZ in international work and to discuss experiences in learning behaviour and learning environments at BZ. In this way, we work together to improve our learning offerings.
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An unified team
From the start, the team has been a close and sociable team. We organise St. Nicholas celebrations with personalised poems, Easter brunches where everyone brings something to eat, and we have lunch together every Tuesday at our ‘kitchen table’ in the Rijnstraat 8 building in The Hague.
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St. Nicholas celebration with the team.
Mirella van de Noort-Tijhaar, head of the Academy for International Relations: ‘I’m proud of everyone who has contributed to the development of the Academy and the results we’ve achieved over the years. The retrenchment means that we will have to do our work with fewer people and a smaller budget. That requires different choices and a different way of working. Even in these turbulent times, there are opportunities for the taking for BZ and for central government staff abroad. Our global knowledge and expertise are indispensable tools for representing Dutch interests. That’s why we invest in staff members’ knowledge and skills, so that they can achieve results in a rapidly changing international context – and help Dutch people along the way. As a team, we remain committed to having the right people with the right knowledge in the right roles at the right time, thereby contributing to a future-proof Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Prepared for the future, worldwide.
To find out more about the Academy and learning & development at BZ, you can find more information on this website or check out the full range of learning activities on the Academy’s learning portal.
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From left to right, top row: Jan Willem Naphegyi-Schouw, Roos Petersen, Natasja Nikolić, Mark Jacobs, Mirella van de Noort-Tijhaar, Loes Vonk and Anjalie Ramkisor. From left to right, bottom row: Janet Klaassen, Irene Kessels, Babet Mooij, Rianne Zulfiqar-Wezendonk, Gina Meertens, Marijn Maats, David Oey, Tamara Sturing, Alma Ibrahimovic and Sabai Maas. Not pictured: Cobi de Kort-Parlevliet, Henny Schippers and Frederik Birnie.