FUEN Education Working Group visits Belgium’s German-speaking Community

On 15 and 16 May 2025, a delegation from the FUEN Education Working Group visited the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The delegation was represented by Daniel Alfreider, FUEN Vice President and spokesperson of the Working Group as well as Deputy Governor of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol in Italy, by FUEN Secretary General Éva Pénzes, and by Myriam Hilout, coordinator of the Education Working Group.

The purpose of the occasion-related visit to the city of Eupen was to learn about the educational landscape in East Belgium, hold political discussions on European minority policy and strengthen dialogue with regional stakeholders.

The visit began with an exchange with the FUEN member organisation ProDG (“Pro German-speaking Community”), represented by Kathy Elsen, Member of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community, Liesa Scholzen, also a Member of Parliament, Co-Chair of ProDG and Vice-President of the Parliament, Freddy Cremer, ProDG parliamentary group leader and Member of Parliament, as well as Grégory Dalbert, research associate of the ProDG parliamentary group and political advisor to the Government of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The open discussion focused on the work of FUEN, particularly that of the Education Working Group, as well as on current developments within the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The FUEN delegation also visited the Robert Schuman Institute (RSI) in Eupen, a diverse secondary school with a focus on technical and vocational education. Headmistress Myriam Wolkener and her deputy Fabrice Schins presented the school’s structure and main areas of focus.

The school also hosts a centre for part-time education and the Academy for Adult Education, which offers language courses, socio-cultural programmes and the opportunity to obtain a secondary school diploma through second-chance education.

The offering is further complemented by the “Technikwerkstatt” (technical workshop), which includes the “Erlebniswerkstatt” (experiential workshop) and the so-called “Technikferien” (technical holiday workshops). During a tour of the school’s departments, including wood technology, electromechanics, computer science, culinary arts, beauty care and family assistance, the delegation gained insight into the school’s practical and hands-on approach.

Afterwards, a political exchange took place at the Parliament of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. Among the participants was Oliver Paasch, Minister-President of the Government of the German-speaking Community. The discussion focused on the Minority SafePack Initiative, issues related to geo-blocking, the political situation in East Belgium and South Tyrol as well as the “Teleskope” project, which aims to highlight and strengthen the economic potential of minority regions. Upcoming FUEN events, including this year’s FUEN Congress in South Tyrol and the 2025 annual meeting of the Education Working Group in Greece, were also discussed.

The programme concluded with a conversation on the education policy of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

At the end of the visit, both FUEN and ProDG agreed to continue the exchange and to further strengthen their cooperation in the field of education and on joint initiatives.

Title photo from left to right: Leon Falkenberg, Kathy Elsen, Myriam Hilout, Éva Pénzes, Oliver Paasch, Daniel Alfreider, Liesa Scholzen, Grégory Dalbert, Freddy Cremer