Alumni

The Council Decision establishing the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) has tasked the College, in addition to organising and conducting ESDC training and education activities in the field of the CSDP and CFSP, to support an Alumni Association between former training participants.

Since the creation of the ESDC in 2005, more than 24.000 participants have taken part in the various ESDC courses, from basic to advanced or leadership training. Many of the Alumni – mostly the graduates of the leadership courses – are today in leading positions in the security and defence field at national and international level. The ESDC believes that all of the Alumni in one or another way act as ambassadors of the CSDP in their respective posts. The Alumni are also considered as ESDC ambassadors, promoting the College’s values, the work ESDC does and the CSDP related training delivered by the College with the valuable contribution of the ESDC network members from the EU Member States and beyond.

Among the various activities dedicated to the ESDC Alumni or involving graduates of the ESDC leadership courses – CSDP High Level Course, Senior Mission Leaders Course, Advanced Course for Political Advisers in CSDP Missions and Operations and the Course on International Law for Military Legal Advisers – the ESDC organises an annual event which brings Alumni together.

The ESDC Alumni Seminar, organised in partnership with the European Union Institute for Security Studies, offers an opportunity to network, meet former colleagues in the ESDC courses, share experience, learn from each another and update knowledge on CSDP policy development and the ESDC activities and projects.

As part of the ESDC network, the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) cooperates with the ESDC by making its expertise and knowledge- gathering capabilities available for ESDC training activities, including through EUISS publications, within the limits of its own capabilities. In particular, the EUISS provides lectures given by EUISS analysts and contributes to the further development of the ESDC e-Learning content. As established in Article 6 of the Council Decision, the EUISS also supports the ESDC Alumni Association, being the traditional partner of the ESDC in the organisation of event with and for ESDC Alumni.

“Association Alumni CESD” asbl is an non-profit association (association sans but lucratif) established under the Belgian law, but independent and not directly related to the European Security and Defence College. The Association was created in 2015 by several ESDC Alumni graduated from the CSDP High Level Course 2013-2014 [you can download the constitution document from here].

The 10th Anniversary of the European Security and Defence College in 2015 also marked the creation of the ESDC Alumni Association. The objective of the association is to create and maintain a network of CSDP-knowledgeable professionals who have attended training activities organised by the ESDC. The association aims at developing a network of ESDC ex-alumni, a group of professionals working in many different domains across Europe, sharing a common interest for EU security and defence.

The ESDC Alumni Association promotes the role of CSDP within the European integration process and its strength both in furthering the concept of European defence and in placing the EU at the forefront of global efforts to promote peace and stability. In close relationship with the European Security and Defence College, the Association brings together these different profiles by organising debates, conferences and activities which will contribute to promoting the development of the CSDP. It also contributes to the creation and deepening of links between European security and defence institutions.

On 10^th of November ESDC Director and the President of the ESDC Alumni Association met to discuss enhanced cooperation between ESDC and Association. The meeting followed signature of the cooperation framework on 6^th June 2021. Enhanced cooperation is based on the areas of collaboration and key principles. Both parties agreed to intensified cooperation and further support existing formats such as “ESDC Alumni Online Dialogue”

The current Board of Administrators of “Association Alumni CESD asbl” was elected on 9 November 2021 for a period of 1 year renewable as follows

President: Mr Fernando MORENO
Vice-President: Ms Isabelle MONTOYA
Treasurer: Mr Vincent SASSEL
Deputy Treasurer: Mr Christophe BOURDILLON
Secretary:Mr Eric RENAUT
Secretary: Mr Ovidiu SIMINA

The ESDC Alumni Association supports the annual ESDC Alumni Seminar organised by the ESDC together with the EUISS in February each year, back to back with the ESDC Executive Academic Board meeting dedicated to the curricula development process.

ESDC Alumni interested in joining the “Association Alumni CESD asbl” are kindly invited to contact directly its representatives by dropping a message to admin@alumni-esdc.eu with current contact details and mention of the course/edition(year) attended, the Association’s staff will be glad to inform them in further detail of the future perspectives of the ESDC Alumni Association.
Taking into account that the ESDC enforces the protection of personal data, the GDPR and the related regulations at the EU institution levels, the personal data of course participants stored at the ESDC cannot be shared with the “Association Alumni CESD asbl”, therefore the prospective members need to take necessary steps in order to voluntarily join it, they do not become members automatically at the graduation of the ESDC training activities.

You can download the Alumni association factsheet from here