The importance of 'in person'

ELIA Executive Director, Maria Hansen points to Bratislava and Tallinn as the meeting points and venues of two important upcoming ELIA events.

The ELIA office is buzzing with activity, as we prepare for several upcoming in person events. Speaking of meeting face-to-face, most of the ELIA Representative Board managed to come together this month in Amsterdam, to enjoy each others' company, reflect on ELIA activities, but also take necessary strategic steps forward. Others joined online, and we thank them again for their invaluable contributions.

We are so excited to be welcoming many members to the first physical PIE meeting in three years. Our hosts at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava have been ready for this for two years and will provide the backdrop for an intensive two-day exercise of looking back at the past years, at our histories, and looking forward to the future.

In the meantime, final preparations are ongoing for the Leadership Symposium in magnificent Tallinn where the Estonian Academy of Arts and Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre are ready to host our delegates from all over Europe and beyond. You can still register, and I recommend this highly. Given recent developments in Europe, it is so important to be together and to connect around the topic of uncertainty – and to talk about those things that we do feel certain of. Many colleagues will be there: join us!

In the meantime, the ELIA online space remains a busy place as well. The FAST45 Erasmus+ project brings us several online events about futures thinking for the art school in the coming weeks, and the CA2RE+ final multiplier event (online) will be announced for June 2022 very shortly. All of these events are really forward/ thinking and solutions-oriented, dealing with topics that are top of mind for the ELIA members, and for the future of higher education as we know it.

I am thrilled that there are so many ways that ELIA can support these conversations, and I look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events very soon!

In the photo above from left to right (incl. those on screen) ELIA representative board & ELIA team members: Marjanne Paardekooper, Jan Cools, Cecilia Roos, Ana Telles, Úna Henry, Maren Schmohl, Tapio Koskinen, Andris Teikmanis, Mara Raţiu, Christoph Weckerle, Rebecca Duclos, Jørn Mortensen, Maria Hansen, Andrea B. Braidt (ELIA president), Mart Kalm, Irene Garofalo, and Aparajita Dutta.