The annual training programme

What is the annual training programme?

The Académie Notre Europe offers a free annual training course in European citizenship. Each class welcomes around a hundred young people (18-30 years old) from all backgrounds. The course includes nine monthly thematic sessions – including one in Brussels – including debates, workshops and simulation games, in the presence of decision-makers and experts in European construction. In order to allow young people residing outside Ile-de-France to participate in this course, a remote monitoring option in “conference cycle” format has been offered since 2021, according to adapted methods.

Key figures

9
monthly sessions
100
participants per academic year
+20
nationalities per academic year
+500
alumni

Who can join the annual programme?

The annual course is open to all young people aged 18 to 30, regardless of diploma or prior knowledge of the European Union. This annual programme, which is carried out in French, brings together young people from several countries, whether they are students, interns or young professionals (26 nationalities are represented in the 2024-2025 class). This diversity is enriching for the group, which is made up of around 100 young people per academic year.

Knowledge, skills, European citizenship

This annual course offered by the Académie is based on a triptych: the acquisition of knowledge, the development of skills and awareness of European citizenship. This triptych reflects the four dimensions of knowledge that are at the heart of our project: learning to do, learning to know, learning to be, and learning to live together. Between October and June, young people meet one Friday a month, in Paris, for a day of meetings, debates, collective projects, simulation games, etc. Each session is devoted to a theme in order to allow young people to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge about the European Union while raising their awareness of transversal themes structuring the European project. Through this, the members of the Académie have the opportunity to build together their understanding of European construction and to define the contours of their commitment.

European construction by decision-makers and experts

In order to better understand how Europe was built yesterday and how it is being built today, this course proposed by the Académie is marked by meetings with actors in European construction from the Jacques Delors Institute network and ready to exchange with members of the Académie. These exchanges allow young people to perfect their knowledge of the EU, its functioning and its policies; assert themselves as European citizens; and nourish their professional projects.

Field meetings

Discovering Europe as it is also means experiencing it on the ground. It is through an off-site session that the Académie invites us to better understand how Europe is experienced today. A true citizen Erasmus who has already taken young people from the Académie to Berlin, Brussels, Rome and Strasbourg. The trip is reserved for participants following face-to-face training.

Alumni Association

Over the academic year, the participants build strong bonds with their classmates. Young people who wish to extend their experience after the end of the academic year can join the Académie Notre Europe Alumni Association, created in 2019. The Association’s mission is to develop and maintain a network of former participants in the Academy’s annual course and to enable those who wish to continue their civic engagement in the service of the EU. The Association, chaired by Michael Galeano, carries out numerous activities each year, including afterworks, webinars, events, and trips to European institutions, among others.