As part of the 40th anniversary of the DIPLOCAT Scholarship Programme, an event will be held in Barcelona on 21 December

One of DIPLOCAT's strategic objectives is to promote education and training for Catalan citizens on an international stage. This is why, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the organisation's Scholarship Programme, the DIPLOCAT Alumni Network has been set up. The network aims to serve as a meeting point for professionals working in international relations who have benefited from a DIPLOCAT scholarship or training programme. It can also help those who hold positions of responsibility or work in an international organisation to help and offer their experience to people with a more junior profile.

To be eligible to join the DIPLOCAT Alumni Network you must have been a scholarship recipient, have participated in one of the five editions of the Executive Master's in Diplomacy and External Action (MDAE) or have completed an internship in the consortium. As of today, the network has a total of 152 registered participants. They are professionals with diverse backgrounds, but with a common profile and objective, which is to promote Catalonia internationally.

Since 1983, DIPLOCAT has had a scholarship programme for Master's studies abroad in international relations and, since 2017, it has also offered grants for Euro-Mediterranean studies at the Natolin Campus of the College of Europe in Poland. The study areas cover a wide range of subjects, including security, cultural policy and management, European economic studies, European law, public international law, international development, European interdisciplinary studies, international arbitration and transatlantic affairs, to name but a few. A total of 318 Catalan students have benefited from these grants.

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the DIPLOCAT scholarship programme, there will be a celebratory event in Barcelona on 21 December, which will be attended by the President of the Government of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, and the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs and the European Union, Meritxell Serret. Professor Nick Cull, Professor of Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California (USC) and member of the DIPLOCAT Advisory Board, will give a talk on the role of alumni in public diplomacy. Three alumni will also speak about their personal experience, one from each stage of the consortium: Patronat Català Pro Europa (1982), Patronat Catalunya Món (2007) and DIPLOCAT (2012).