Connecting the Dots

ELIA Executive Director, Maria Hansen shines a light on ELIA’s new strategic priorities and explains how Connecting the Dots can have magical side-effects.

Last year, at the General Assembly, our members voted in our new strategic focus. This document contains 10 strategic priorities that will inform the work we do for, and with, our members until 2024.

Since January of this year, we have been working on creating a plan to load these priorities with content. There is already a lot there, where good work can be continued into the coming years. Research, Teaching and Learning and Careers are good examples of topics that the ELIA community has moved forward with energy, using European funded projects but also our own Working Groups and Platforms. Newer topics to explore further are; Digitalisation, Lifelong learning, the Green Shift, and a Voice for Democracy, where we have done some work in the past but are now ready to expand. And finally, Health and Wellbeing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity and the paradigm shift post Covid. These are urgent items that we know our members need us to work on right now.

We have the privilege of working with deeply committed ELIA members who lead in many of these areas, chairing Workings Groups or Platforms, coordinating European projects, hosting our signature events, and spearheading taskforces – all of them working for our members, on strategic priorities. But are these priorities silos?

Are ELIA’s strategic priorities silos?

The ELIA team decided to find out, which is why last week, we organised ELIA’s first ever ‘Connecting the Dots’ session. Invited to this session were all those who lead the groups I have mentioned above, as well as the Executive Group and the entire ELIA team. Finding a meeting date that suited more than 20 people, was our first challenge to complete. Which I’m delighted to say we did!

The session started with a round of introductions and slowly as each person spoke, a sense of magic grew in the Zoom room. It quickly became clear what an incredible group had come together. Many had never met each other previously, but all were working for ELIA in some capacity or other. And so, we went to work, making connections, identifying which topics need each other and where collaboration will create synergy. Two hours flew by and the end conclusion was that Connecting the Dots was a much-needed regular addition, which would assist us greatly in effectively serving our membership. The Miro we built together was a labyrinth that requires some finetuning (I will spare you the image!), but I am happy to share a screen shot of this richly filled ELIA moment, with a huge thanks to the many people who have contributed to all of these activities on behalf of our members.