March is traditionally the ELIA month for reuniting with our members in the UK. We have 38 members based throughout the United Kingdom and as such, the UK continues to be our biggest member country. All the more reason to be there often! I sometimes feel that we should own shares in Eurostar, as we try to take the direct train from Amsterdam as much as possible.  

 

But in March specifically, we always try to attend the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) Annual Conference. These conferences are always excellent (kudos to our colleagues in the CHEAD team and board). Last week at ELIA Member, Kingston School of Arts, we covered topics ranging from future skills to inclusivity and sustainability, exploring their relation to education in art and design.  

 

We also had a chance to meet many ELIA members attending the conference, and that made the trip even more worthwhile. We have seen great engagement from our UK colleagues at ELIA events, which bodes well for the upcoming Leadership Symposium in Manchester in October 2023. While Brexit cannot be ignored, the ELIA connection remains strong, working effectively for many institutions as a pathway to continuing collaboration and exchange with the rest of Europe. Thank you in advance Manchester for the hospitality. Here we come! 

 

Next week, we connect with another sister association, the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC), as their Council meets in Amsterdam with the newly constituted ELIA Representative Board for (I believe) their first joint meeting ever. This is historic - but rather than pause too long to consider this fact, we will work together on a future scenarios workshop linked to the FAST45 project, in which both associations are a partner. This time it’s ELIA extending the hospitality. Our AEC colleagues will be greeted with a warm welcome when they arrive in Amsterdam.  

 

And finally, good news from the ELIA team. You may recall that in the last newsletter I reported that we were in the process of filling several new ELIA vacancies. I am happy to say that all new team members have been successfully recruited. We are happily presenting several new colleagues in this newsletter. Work awaits them all and we are delighted to welcome them.