How do we help diplomats to prepare for their jobs?

Over the past 25 years, the Clingendael Institute has been answering this question both through research as well as in a very pragmatic fashion. This year alone, we are organising training programmes for diplomats from the Netherlands, the EU, and some forty other countries, world-wide. The experience gained by organising these programmes has given us a unique perspective on the core questions of diplomatic training. What does a diplomat need to know? What do they need to do? What are their core competences? How can a junior best contribute to policy-making; a mid-career official, manage competing departmental interests, or a senior, act as a strategic decision-maker? What is the profile of a succesful negotiator, or an effective public communicator?

Clingendael has developed the answers to these questions, as well as the tools to help our participants answer them at the personal level.

Our answers

We have found the answers to the question of how to design, organise and deliver an effective diplomatic training programme. We do this by realistic curriculum design, based on a verified needs analysis. Training programmes consist of practice-oriented exercises that integrate training on knowledge and skills. All modules stimulate classroom interaction, that makes participants want to pose questione, to explore, and to want to learn more. We are giving people ownership over their learning process, and building on their own expertise. In these ways, we build diplomatic training programmes that help our participants meet the ultimate test: that of the real world.

Learn more

As part of our mission, we share these insights in diplomatic training with selected partners across the world. Such ´capacity building cooperation´ is tailor-made, as the content depends on the needs of our partners. It ranges from the fundamental - helping a country in transition to define its new diplomatic institute - to the practical - enhancing quality control, or developing the capacity to design and use interactive exercises. And it ranges from the institutional to the personal, as we also help train individual lecturers in didactic skills. In a newly published section on this site, we share our capacity building philosophy and methodology, and give an overview of our relations with twenty-five of our recent and current partners. You can go on to read more, or, if you are interested to learn more about our capacity building partnerships, contact us directly, by contacting Mr. Nils de Mooij or Mrs. Marianne Rogier (also for our partnerships in French). 

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