Every year we draw up a short overview of relevant data about our curriculum. Below are the figures for 2025, including brief background information.

From left to right upper row: Alma Ibrahimovic, Gina Meertens, Mirella van de Noort - Tijhaar, Tamara Sturing, Babet Mooij, Phine Hazelbag en Anjalie Ramkisor. From left to right row below: Roos Petersen, Frederik Birnie, Cobi de Kort-Parlevliet, Jan Willem Naphegyi-Schouw, Henny Schippers, Joan Dondorp, Irene Kessels, Mark Jacobs, Rianne Zulfiqar-Wezendonk, John van der Zande and Loes Vonk. Not in group photo: David Oey.

Participants

In 2025 we offered a total of 596 learning activities with 14,449 registrations.
 

Number of different learning activities

Enrolment

Courses offered by HDPO L&O

184

8,789

Skillstown generic e-learning courses

291

1,192

Consular courses HDCV

70

1,307

Ministry-specific activities (various departments)

51

3,161

596

14,449

The total number of registrations can be broken down into 8,257 registrations by staff at the Ministry in The Hague, 6,004 by mission staff and 188 by staff of other ministries.

In terms of unique individuals who took part in learning activities, 2,047 were staff members at ministry headquarters in The Hague, 1,804 were mission staff and 103 were from 21 different parts of central government.

Learning activities

In 2025 we offered a total of 596 learning activities, with a total enrolment of 14,449. The learning activities varied from the diplomatic service training programme (IBBZ) to leadership courses, and from regional studies and negotiating skills to foreign languages and intercultural communication.

The Academy developed 184 learning activities and other parts of BZ developed 121 activities, while the remaining 291 activities were generic e-learning courses provided by Skillstown. 

BZ curriculum

  • French (40%) was the most popular of the 19 languages offered centrally, followed by Spanish (21%) and Arabic (11%). In 2025, 12 vacant Language+ roles were filled. These were mainly roles in Latin America, Europe and Africa, which required the appointed staff member to be proficient in French and/or Spanish at C1/B2 level.
  • Other popular learning activities included the 247Plaza Sharepoint courses and activities focusing on diversity, inclusion and a safe working environment (DIVW). Two DIVW activities, with a total enrolment of 460, appear on the list of 10 most popular learning activities (measured by enrolment).
  • The lecture on ‘A geopolitical EU’ also made it into the top 10.

Top 10 learning activities in 2025

The top 10 learning activities on the basis of the number of people who enrolled in the activity.

  1. Touch base days for policy and implementation (BenUT)
  2. Security & espionage awareness training (SEAT)
  3. Information security – You’re the key to our protection 1
  4. 247Plaza – Basic training: Working in an existing subject site
  5. Speaking Up!
  6. 247Plaza – Advanced training: Create and manage a subject site
  7. 247Plaza – Basistraining – Werken in een bestaande site (Dutch version of no. 4)
  8. Data driven working at BZ
  9. Online lecture on ‘A geopolitical EU’
  10. Inspiratielabs inclusief leiderschap (‘Inspiration lab on inclusive leadership’)
     

[1]The information security course ‘You’re the key to our protection’ was not yet mandatory in 2025, but all staff were strongly urged to do it.

International affairs and diplomacy

Top 10 group courses on international affairs and diplomacy (online and in-person)

The top 10 learning activities on the basis of the number of people who enrolled in the activity.

  1. Security & espionage awareness training (SEAT)
  2. Tech diplomacy
  3. Latin America and the Caribbean between the US and China: New triangular relationships and security shoring | Regional policy course Latin America & Caribbean
  1. Impact of slavery and its afterlives
  2. EU extern beleid en instrumentarium (‘EU external policy and instruments’)
  3. Internationaal Onderhandelen (‘International negotiations’)
  4. Inzicht in Europa (‘Insight into Europe’)
  5. Working across cultures: expand your cultural agility
  6. Human rights, democracy & the international legal order
  7. De islam in historische, politieke en culturele context (‘Islam in its historical, political and cultural context’)

Top 10 e-learning activities on international affairs and diplomacy

  1. Climate change
  2. The basics of trade promotion
  3. International protocol at the missions
  4. Webinars on economic diplomacy
  5. PV Instructie (‘Drafting documents for the Dutch permanent representation to the EU’)
  6. Positioning the Netherlands by influencing foreign audiences: a public diplomacy
  7. BNC-fiches en CoCo (‘Assessments by the Working Group on New Commission proposals and the Coordinating Committee on Problems of European Integration and Association’)
  8. Schrijftraining EU-stukken en instructies (‘Drafting documents and papers for the EU’)
  9. Fundamentals of international cultural policy
  10. International heritage cooperation

Lecture series on current affairs

Top 10 online lectures

The top 10 lectures on the basis of the number of people who actually attended.

  1. A geopolitical EU?
  2. Putin’s war is more than military: discover his cultural and religious armament
  3. Wat is de rol van de ambtenaar? (‘What is the civil servant’s role?)
  4. Handelspolitiek: trade policy in the new geopolitical era
  5. Dealing with cultural dilemmas
  6. Ambtelijke professionaliteit in de democratische rechtsorde (‘Civil service professionalism in the democratic legal order’)
  7. Stories to Watch in 2025: What will shape this critical climate year?
  8. The Holy Alliance: the Vatican as a geopolitical player
  9. Ten years of the SDGs amid a fragmenting world order
  10. Tied in tenth place:
    1. Reflecting on COP30: from global ambition to concrete implementation?
    2. Security developments, and diplomatic challenges in the space domain

Contract award procedures

In 2025, we conducted three major European contract award procedures, which were at different stages of completion. The most important tender, Leadership, Management and Effective Coordination, is being conducted jointly with the Central Government Procurement Service (RIS). It is expected to be concluded in summer 2026.

HDPO L&O and the category management unit for Specialist Knowledge and Personal Development (VPO) of the Ministry of Finance jointly coordinated the European contract award procedures for central government-wide procurement for the broad recruitment and objective selection (BWOS) courses and for three lots of language training (intensive individual training; periodic individual training and group lessons).

Financial Information

The Academy’s budget for 2025 was €4,400,00. For participants from other ministries, a total of €329,550 was charged to the relevant ministries.

Total expenditure was €3,763,650, an underspend of 14%. This can be attributed to: (1) language training and (2) the anticipated retrenchment. Specifically with regard to language courses, learners are now steered towards starting sooner and learning at a slower pace, which produces a better learning effect and is more affordable. With regard to the second point, the announcement of the central government retrenchment led to restraint in introducing new learning activities.

Social media

In 2025 we posted on LinkedIn 55 times. Our LinkedIn page had 2,105 unique visitors, with our posts receiving 2,675 reactions (thumbs up, heart, applause) as well as generating 93 questions or comments and 44 reposts. At the end of 2025 our LinkedIn page had 7,490 followers and had been viewed 299,428 times – an increase of 28.3% (followers) and 98.5% (views) compared to the previous year.

Further information

If you have any questions about our annual report or would like additional information, please email: academie@minbuza.nl.  We would be happy to provide additional information or figures where possible.