High Studies of Defence
The main mission of the department High Studies of Defence (HSD) is to organise, or help in organising training courses in the field of security & defence for Belgian or foreign senior managers from Defence, public administrations and civil society. These training courses can have a national or European nature, and their objective is twofold: on the one hand, developing the spirit of defence and making aware to security challenges and current geopolitical issues; on the other hand, building over the years a wide high-level network between the various sectors involved in security & defence issues.
The department HSD currently organises two training courses each year in partnership with the Royal Institute for International Relations Egmont :
- the High Studies for Security and Defence (HSSD), a cycle of 10 two-day residential seminaries and 10 visits for a Belgian audience,
- the High Level Course (HLC), a four-module training course organised under the aegis of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) for a European audience. The first module traditionally takes place in Brussels.
The department also represents the Royal Higher Institute for Defence within the Executive Academic Board (EAB) of the ESDC. where it notably considers the appropriateness of new training courses, in collaboration with the ESDC, the Egmont Institute and other European partners.
Finally, the department manages, in collaboration with the association “Cercle Athena”, the directory of the HSSD-alumni, and backs the association with the organisation of events for the alumni.
