Watch the recording: Nela Riehl’s NEMO Political Internship at BELvue Museum

Join Nela Riehl, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), as she spent a day behind the scenes at the BELvue Museum in Brussels as part of NEMO’s Political Internship in Museums.

On 16 September 2025, the NEMO internship offered Nela Riehl a unique opportunity to experience the daily work of a museum - from welcoming visitors and caring for collections to shaping educational programmes, such as the Reporters of Democracy workshop. The day and internship highlighted how museums serve as spaces for dialogue, learning and democracy.

After completing the internship, Nela Riehl reflected on one key insight she will carry into her political work: museum teams are often small yet manage a notable range of tasks and responsibilities. “You need the funding for museums to keep them alive,” she emphasised, underlining the importance of adequate resources to sustain their work.

Watch the video recording of Nela Riehl’s journey through the museum and hear her reflections on the role museums play in strengthening democratic values and cultural participation.


Strengthening the dialogue between museums and policymakers

Since 2018, NEMO’s Political Internship in Museums has brought EU policymakers closer to the museum sector, fostering understanding and collaboration. Nela Riehl is the fifth politician to take part, joining a growing group of leaders who have discovered first-hand how museums contribute to education, innovation and social cohesion.

Museums as spaces for democracy

Ahead of the internship in a press release, NEMO Julia Pagel underlined the value of hosting the internship at BELvue:

“The BELvue Museum embodies Europe’s shared values in action. By exploring themes such as democracy, solidarity, pluralism and migration, it connects Belgium’s story to the wider European identity. Through NEMO’s Political Internship, we give policymakers a hands-on experience of museums’ daily work and show how museums are vital spaces for dialogue, reflection and resilience.”

An Lavens, Director of the BELvue Museum, added:

“At BELvue we don’t see ourselves as just a museum, but as a living forum for democracy and reflection. For politicians, experiencing this first-hand provides valuable insights into how culture can support inclusion, participation, education and democracy. We were delighted to share our work with Nela Riehl and hope the experience will enrich her perspective at the European Parliament.”

Also interesting

Call for participation: Spring of Critical Thinking 2026

From 19 March to 5 April 2026, Universcience will host the fifth edition of the “Spring of Critical Thinking”, an event dedicated…

On a bright purple background an illustration of a brain is placed in the middle.

NEMO Members’ Meetup: Critical Thinking for…

How can museums nurture critical thinking - for their audiences, their teams, and the wider public - and why is this skill essential in today’s cultural landscape? These questions shaped the latest NEMO Members’ Meetup, held…

 

NEMO at the Lithuanian Museums Association Forum: Museums and the Power of Change

On 27 November 2025, the Lithuanian Museums Association convened its annual forum ‘Museums: The Power of Change’ in Kaunas,…