Alumni Corner: An Interview with Gabrielle Bernoville
By Lika Gegenava
Gabrielle Bernoville is a French citizen based in Brussels. She currently works at the European Commission where her portfolio covers cultural heritage, European identity, remembrance policy, European theater and the arts. She also works for Creative Europe, which is a funding scheme programme supporting and empowering creative sectors. Gabrielle holds a degree in political science from Sciences Po and the College of Europe with a focus on Eastern Partnership countries. Beyond that, her interests cover European democracy and citizenship.
Can you share your educational journey? Why did you choose to study political science and why European studies specifically?
I was always fascinated by the processes of building narratives, communities, and societies. Being based in France, it is common to take Europe and the European Union for granted. Luckily, I had an opportunity to live and work in Peru, South America. This experience completely shifted my perspective on Europe and helped me to put in perspective the European project. I then became fascinated by the post-Soviet space and how identities evolve in these regions.
When beginning my studies, I was aiming to be a lawyer. However, very quickly it became clear to me that European studies and institutions would be my career fields. I believe that the European Union has brought a lot of progress and positive change to European societies. Being a native of a country that has benefited from European construction, and later traveling to other European and South American countries helped me to further understand the value of this project.
In terms of choosing political science — you cannot operate in this increasingly globalized world if you do not grasp the underlying dynamics and games that are being played. Political science helps you get a very tangible, concrete overview of the state of the world. To me European studies is just a framework. It helps in prioritizing my interests and putting into perspective how I read the world. Studying political science is an amazing way to grasp reality and to also put into perspective your own. Whatever you want to achieve with this degree — activism, politics, policy, consulting — it is a baseline.
Could you tell us more about your role as a policy assistant in the Creative Europe programme at the European Commission? What are you currently working on? What challenges do you face on a weekly basis? What aspect of your current role are you most passionate about?
My commissioner portfolio covers education, youth, research, culture, sports, and medicine. I currently work in culture policy, which was actually my dream job after college. I am currently working on two things: cultural heritage and performing arts. I am trying to foster cooperation and collaboration amongst the member states on these two topics to ensure that professionals in these fields are equipped with the support they need to thrive and carry out their activities.
Additionally, we are working not only with the member states but also with partner countries, and this makes my life and the experience in the European Commission super interesting. The partnership program reaches a total of 40 countries such as Georgia, Tunisia, Morocco, Israel, Ukraine and so on. Our main goal is not to simply unite countries, but to unite communities, unite citizens, and unite people. In this process we are evolving a very rigid institutional framework with the Parliament and the Council. In this way, the European Commission is an incubator of political willingness, political will, political requests, and we are turning those wills and those aims into tangible action.
One aspect of my current role I am most passionate about is speechwriting. I love speechwriting and I used to be a speechwriter for the former commissioner. I think it makes my days more intellectually fulfilling and more creative. Beyond that, I derive a lot of fulfillment, pride and joy from coordinating between our organizations, meeting new people, traveling almost on a daily basis, engaging with interesting projects around the continent and the globe, and mainly getting to know the diversity of profiles. Of course, the European Commission is a workplace that gives you a lot of space and opportunities to take initiative and lead as a young professional, which is sometimes scary but also very rewarding and fulfilling.
What has been your career journey up to this point? Do any particular roles and experiences stand out to you?’
The experiences and opportunities I’ve had through my career journey have been very interconnected. For instance, I owe a lot to European Horizons. This side commitment opened a lot of doors and allowed me to gain exposure to many interesting professional experiences and opportunities. Some highlights of my past years include the opportunity to work in the French embassy in Slovakia as a culture officer. This was a huge responsibility and it was something that really shaped my professional journey. Most recently, being able to coordinate a portfolio at the European Commission and working on heritage and performing arts is something I’m very proud of. The journey has at times required some personal sacrifices and compromises but I still enjoy all of these things and am grateful for the career journey I’ve had.
Could you walk us through your role as the Director of Public and Institutional Relations at European Horizons, and share some of your most memorable experiences during your tenure? How did you first hear about EuH, and what motivated you to become a member initially?
My journey with European Horizons was a very gradual one. I started with establishing a chapter in my own city — in Toulouse. Then, I had the chance to join the executive board as a PR team member. Luckily enough, I had experience — as part of a traineeship — as a PR assistant in the French embassy to the UK in London. This enabled me to later take over the PR portfolio which was in charge of communications, social media, public representation and even partnerships to an extent. This experience was interesting, because European Horizons gives you a huge platform and agency to really shape the organization. Based on your background and your interests, you really have a chance to contribute to the development of this organization and I hope that this is true for the current board as well.
Actually, back then, we were facing COVID-19 and so being a board member really enhanced my coordination and time management skills. I was a director and a researcher at another think tank on international culture policy at the time, as well as a Master’s student at Sciences Po and the College of Europe. This overlap of things with COVID was a very interesting learning curve for me. I was forced to drop some personal and some artistic commitments but I learned a lot. The experience truly equipped me with skills such as presenting and running a long-term project.
I do remember being a first year Master’s student and having to leave every weekend to plan a conference, and coming back to my classes with a packed suitcase. This is not the common experience for every student so I hope that current members benefit from this as much as I did. I hope that you feel this agency and space to bring your stone to the wall and bring your contribution. What is beautiful about European Horizons is the fact that it actually offers young people spaces of personal development, spaces for learning, and most importantly a space to be visible and heard. Whatever you carry, whatever you want to say, if you have something to bring to a discussion, if you have something to bring to the top of the agenda, I think that European Horizons is the right place to do it. Really use it as a resource to shape your own journey and as a way to help you to step back from some very heavy studies at times — because I can imagine you are all enrolled in extremely demanding educational journeys. Be aware that it will pay off and, whatever you want to achieve, this is the right entry door for your adventure and journey.
In what ways do you believe your involvement in EuH influenced your career trajectory?
It is very important to ask ourselves these questions — how did these experiences influence our next steps. When I look into it, I am pretty certain that I would not have been able to join Creative Europe if I had not been enrolled in European Horizons. This entity has such a huge reach and visibility across Europe and institutions connected to the EU that I believe my commitment to European Horizons convinced the College of Europe jury to let me join this prestigious school. It goes without saying that I would not have been able to join the European Commission without graduating from the College of Europe. I see direct correlation.
What advice would you offer to current EuH members to make the most of their time within the organization?
To summarize in three words: patience, partnership, and passion.
Firstly, patience because we are committing for a year and it is a long process. Sometimes in September you start out very enthusiastic, and then by December you are asking yourself “why?” This is also another aspect of European Horizons. It is an amazing learning journey because it forces you and helps you to carry out long-term commitments. Allowing the process to shape and frame a personal and professional journey in the long-term gives some substance to our values, to our principles of life, to our aims and dreams. It gives concreteness to ambitions.
Second is partnership: this is the most important thing I learned in European Horizons. You can achieve everything if you know how to team up with the right people. It helps you to build your network on the individual scale. On the collective, organizational level it helps you a lot to think holistically and strategically, meaning if I want to achieve a certain goal who am I teaming up with? This structure is a very human-based approach for partnerships and for cooperation. I do believe that we are, of course, stronger together but the goal is to find the right actor at the right moment when you are working on a project. This is something that you will use in your personal journey as well as your professional one — in every field from policy and politics to the private sector.
Lastly, passion. This is, after all, a pro bono commitment. The real reason why we are still here and why we choose to continue the commitment is passion. At the end of the day, when it is Friday afternoon and you are still at the meetings, or it is a Saturday morning and you are already on a call, or it is a Sunday evening and you are still working on a conference, it truly helps you to flesh out and test your passion. It would be very hard for me to sustain my work and career with no passion. When you have a dream and a goal, it is important to actively contribute to that dream, and it is impossible to do so without passion.
So patience, partnership and passion — that’s really at the core of being a member of European Horizons. What I’m seeing when I look at European Horizons is a cohort with brilliant profiles and this is a diversity that we should all truly cherish. Whatever you want to achieve, this is the right path to begin.
To young professionals who aspire to follow a career path similar to yours, what advice would you provide based on your experiences?
I would say it is important to remember that there are no rules and no one method in life. Something that I discovered at the end of my studies, when I graduated, is the fact that sometimes we tend to think that there is one correct path. If I’m doing a traineeship, for instance, I assume I will be able to join that company but there are no such guarantees. It is important to accept the fact that each and every person’s life and journey is different. For instance, it’s completely okay to start something and realize this is the wrong space for you and drop it. Such experiences are still very valuable and helpful for your journey. They will still make you richer as a person, more efficient, and more capable. It is up to you to devise and frame your journey. It is up to you to find out what kinds of things matter to you.
I would advise to always start from the emotional dimension. Always ask yourself what really gives you strength, pleasure, satisfaction, patience, and pick goals based on the answers. My interest was culture as a catalyst for social change, especially on the geopolitical level to bring nations and communities together — culture for peace. This was the first step. Then, Europe and the EU provided me with a great answer to the collective challenges that we are facing in the 21st century. My final interest was the Eastern Partnership and its integration into the EU. These three fields are my triangle — so find your triangle, craft it for yourself, have fun, discover, travel. Truly, there is no one right way to approach life. Find the triangle (or square, or any other shape that best suits you) of topics that matter to you and do not let anyone challenge your vision.
Lika Gegenava is a junior at Barnard College of Columbia University, studying Political Science and Philosophy. Her research interests include democratization in Eastern Europe, regional and international security and cybersecurity.
