On Wednesday 20 September, students of the Madeleine Albright Promotion (Bruges campus) and young diplomats from the European Diplomatic Academy went on a study trip to “Flanders Fields”, the World War I battlefields in the Ypres region.
In the morning they attended a conference entitled "War, policymaking, and the discipline of history. Three lessons of the First World War" with Prof. Pierre PURSEIGLE. During the afternoon, students visited the Tyne Cot cemetery, the Hill 60 battlefield, the Caterpillarcrater and the Bayernwald trench reconstruction. They also attended the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, where three students from the College laid down a wreath in memory of the victims of the Great War.
The College of Europe organises this trip at the start of each academic year to give the opportunity to students to reflect on the bloody conflicts that took place in this region and better understand the importance of EU integration as a peace project.
Flickr album here.