BKB Academy

The BKB Academy allows young talent to take advantage of our expertise and network. The BKB Academy was set up in 2000.
 
Every year, BKB selects a group of around 25 participants. Those selected are open-minded and socially aware, critical and creative.

BKB organises an academy session every month. This can take the form of an intensive training in journalistic writing, for example, or an inspiring debate about the current state of affairs in the country. Experts from different industries who have made a name for themselves in and outside of the Netherlands are invited to speak at these sessions, which usually take place at the BKB office on Westerstraat.

The theme that links all the sessions is running a campaign and everything that that entails. Which campaign resources do you have at your disposal? How do you successfully convey a message? How do you make a good strategic concept work in practice?

BKB academy participants also have the opportunity to develop practical skills. BKB regularly invites participants to help carry out campaigns and research.

The high point of the BKB Academy is the annual trip to a country in which elections are taking place at that moment. The 10/11 group journeyed to Bosnia – Herzegovina during the presedential and parliamentary elections and toured the Netherlands leading up to the provincial elections. The year before spent time in Berlin (general elections). But the BKB Academy has also been to the United States (prmimaries), Israel (general elections), Poland (referendum on accession to the EU), Slovenia (parliamentary elections), France (presidential elections and the European Constitution referendum) and the Netherlands (municipal elections).

Since 2008, the BKB Academy has had a Bosnian sister. The YUA-BKB Academy is modelled on the BKB Academy. It is an initiative of the Young Urban Achievers Foundation and BKB.