Looking Back to Move Ahead with Circle U. and the Alliances
Welcome to Brussels on 24 October for the 7th Circle U. National Conference!
Time and place: Oct. 24, 2023, Brussels, Palais des Academies
To what extent are Alliances of European Universities actually transforming higher education and research?
Circle U. and UCLouvain are delighted to invite you to reflect on this question in the presence of key stakeholders from national, EU and institutional entities, as well as other university alliances and networks.
Starting with examples illustrating some of Circle U.’s main achievements over the last three years, the aim of this event is to engage in a dialogue with the actors who play a decisive role in the transformation of higher education and research in Europe.
Four years since the inception of the European Universities Initiative, how is this new form of transnational cooperation changing the way we do teaching, learning and research? What are the lessons learnt? How are the various stakeholders – students, academics, staff, the non-academic sector - being impacted? How can we move forward and fulfil the potential of the innovative practices being developed by the alliances? How can policy-makers help in this endeavour?
These are some of the questions guiding our collective reflection at this event marking the transition from Circle U.’s pilot phase into its consolidation phase.
The day’s discussions will be further enriched by the presence of two distinguished guest speakers with extensive expertise in the field of higher education: Professor Manja Klemenčič, an expert in sociology and politics of higher education, European higher education, and comparative higher education at Harvard University/University Ljubljana and Professor Liviu Matei, Head of the King's School of Education, Communication & Society, King’s College London.
The debate will be structured around two sessions:
- The first session - “Alliances fostering Changemakers” - will delve into the added value of alliances when it comes to service to society. More specifically, we will look at practices developed within the framework of the alliance that are student-centred and designed to make students active creators of their learning and career paths; we will also look at the way the interconnection between policy, communication, trans- and inter-disciplinarity is being used with the ultimate goal to boost social innovation and respond to global challenges.
- We will then transition to the session devoted to rethinking higher education, during which we will discuss how the collaboration within the framework of Circle U. is leading to wider considerations on rethinking higher education and the curriculum in order to respond to global challenges. Examples from academic collaboration in Global Health will illustrate this. This will lead to an exchange on the concept of Sustainability of Education, a topic that has featured prominently in the work carried out by the Circle U. community over the last three years and that sets the tone for the work we – students, academics, researchers, policymakers and institutions – have ahead of us.
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Brussels on 24 October.
CONFERENCE PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME
09:00:
Welcome coffee
10:00 – 10:30:
Welcome Session with Vincent Blondel, Rector of UCLouvain and President of Circle U. and Françoise Bertieaux, Minister for higher education and research of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, (Representative of the European Commission tbc)
10:30 - 12:00:
Session 1 – Alliances fostering Changemakers
Panellists: Representative from CIVIS Alliance (tba), Tanguy Guibert (ESU), Representative from Belgian institution (tba)
12:00 – 12:45:
Keynote with Manja Klemenčič, Harvard University/University Ljubljana
12:45 – 14:00:
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30:
Session 2 - Rethinking Higher Education to Respond to Global Challenges
Panellists: Representative from DG EAC (tba), Therese Zhang (EUA), Circle U. Alumnus (tba), Representative from Una Europa (tba)
15:30 – 16:15:
Keynote with Liviu Matei, Head of the King's School of Education, Communication & Society, King’s College London
16:15 – 16:45:
Final remarks & Closing session
23 October: the meetings on this day are for Circle U. staff only
As part of the Circle U. National Conference organised by UCLouvain, we are pleased to invite you to a day dedicated to Circle U. internal workshops.
From spring to marathon could be the motto of Circle U. For this first day of meetings, we propose to build on this motto and offer you a special programme on 23 October.
The proposed programme is divided into several parts. The morning will be devoted to scheduled meetings of some WPs and/or TFs. The afternoon will be marked by workshops and discussions on transversal issues of importance to our alliance. Finally, the evening will be an opportunity to get together and celebrate the end of the pilot phase and the start of the consolidation phase of our alliance.
Preliminary programme:
08:30 – 09:00:
Welcome coffee
09:00 – 11:30:
Meetings for WP & TF – the meetings have been scheduled.
Please refer which meetings you will attend in the registration form. In case you would like to organize a meeting, please contact us.
11:30 – 12:30:
Lunch
13:00 – 13:30:
Plenary Session
13:30 – 16:30:
Workshops – please read below the necessary information regarding the workshops:
Workshop 1 – My Circle U.
What is Circle U? A simple yet fundamental question. This session will look into what Circle U. means to the people involved in it. What does Circle U. mean to you and what is the common definition we can give to our alliance? How has Circle U. impacted your work? What were your original expectations and what expectations do you have for the next phase?
Workshop 2 - Embedding Circle U. in our universities
One of the most difficult challenges for Circle U. and alliances in general is to successfully integrate the alliance into each of our universities. In this session, you will be invited to reflect on the challenges and solutions ahead. How do we integrate Circle U. into our internal processes? What strategy should we adopt to integrate Circle U. into our communities?
Workshop 3 – Our Success Stories
During this session, you will be invited to reflect on Circle U. and its successes. This time of reflection will allow us to have a collective reflection about the three years we've spent together so that we can carry the lessons learnt forward to the next phase. This session will be based on the following questions: What do you see as the successes of Circle U.? What changes in your universities has Circle U. brought about? During the three years of the first phase, how would you sum up our project?
Workshop 4 – Inclusivity in Circle U.
During this session, you will be brainstorming on how to create our most inclusive alliance. What are the main challenges? What does inclusiveness mean in Circle U.? What are the solutions that staff members working at various levels and positions within the university can bring in order to build an inclusive alliance?
16:30 – 17:30:
Wrap up & Plenary Session
From 18:30:
Evening party
To register for the conference, please fill in the registration form here: https://forms.office.com/e/kHjWMsvMen
Register by : 15 September 2023
Please note that there is a limited number of places available therefore registration will close as soon as we have reached capacity. In case registration is closed, please contact us via infocircleu@uclouvain.be to be put on a waiting list.
All practical information will be sent to you once you have registered.
If you have any questions, please contact us at: infocircleu@uclouvain.be