An IHECS student shares her enriching experience during the Simulation of the Council of the European Union

During this simulation of the Council of the European Union known as the "ConSIMium", each country was represented by six students, including three French speakers and three Dutch speakers for Belgium. This Belgian delegation included students from ULB, UCL, UGent, KUL, and VUB and Gabrielle Vanderbruggen. To help them in this exercise, they were supervised by Alvaro Oleart Perez De Seoane, a researcher at ULB and former student of the IHECS Academy.

At the heart of this event, Gabrielle Vanderbruggen had the privilege of playing the role of a journalist. Focused on the theme of digital transition, the simulation highlighted artificial intelligence and resilience in cybersecurity. Gabrielle thus had the opportunity to cover the news by interviewing various heads of state and ministers, to write several articles and to share live the many scoops on a private social network. Belgium, currently holding the presidency of the Council, was highlighted in particular during the negotiations.

This experience was particularly enriching for Gabrielle. As a Master 2 student in Public Relations with a “European Affairs” option, she was able to put her knowledge into practice and to familiarise herself with individuals working in or gravitating around European institutions. It should be noted that until last year, this simulation was reserved exclusively for university students, making her the first Haute École student to participate. In addition, Gabrielle had the honour of winning a prize for one of her articles.

With her participation, she hopes to pave the way for other IHECS students to take part in this simulation next year.

As she returns to her activities as an intern at the House of Representatives, Gabrielle would like to express her deep gratitude to all the people who helped her, directly or indirectly, to achieve this enriching and formative experience.

Gabrielle Vanderbruggen