Jean Monnet High School Tour “Second Edition”
In 2024, Prof Dr Boglárka Koller visited another four high schools to get the young generation to know Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the European Union and to let them know the basics of the structure, the institutions, and the goals of the Union they were already born in.
The first station of the tour this year was the Eötvös József Gimnázium, Budapest, where Jean Monnet Chair Boglárka Koller delivered an interactive presentation titled “EU in the changing world order. With a special focus on EU-US relations”. This event was unique because Prof Koller was invited to Eötvös József Gimnázium in the frame of the BIMUN conference (Budapest International Model United Nations). However, the MUN conferences are not widely known in Hungary; Eötvös is one of the few high schools that joined the initiative and allowed teenagers to exchange views at the international level. Prof Koller highlighted that a university is not the only place for scientific talks and great debates. That day, as Jean Monnet Chair, she had the privilege to lecture on the EU’s future role in the changing world order, focusing on EU-US relations, at one of the best high schools in Hungary. Her presentation was attended by high school students from 15 different countries worldwide, including Romania, Poland, Turkiye, Japan and Germany.
On 5 June, Boglárka Koller visited Nyíregyháza, the county seat of Eastern Hungary. Here, two high schools hosted her presentation about European identity and values, the Szent Imre Katolikus Gimnázium and Leonardo Média Akadémia. As the date of the EU votes was getting closer, the pupils could glimpse the European voting system and the challenges of 2024.
The last station of the 2024 year high school tour was the Alternatív Közgazdasági Gimnázium in Budapest. Similarly to other venues, Prof Koller did her mission to make European integration knowledge accessible not only to university students but also to secondary school students, the younger generation of EU citizens.
At the above-mentioned four high schools the message of Jean Monnet could reach more than 150 high school students in 2024. The university team received positive feedback from both students and teachers about the presentations and plans again.