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News & Press: ELIA NEWS & EVENTS

ELIA EDI Community Meeting 2026: Call for Contributions

Tuesday 14 October 2025  


We are excited to announce that ELIA's EDI Community Hub 2026 will be hosted by Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona, from 11 - 13 March. The ELIA EDI Community invites all ELIA members to come to Barcelona for their second annual gathering centring around one of the most persistent challenges in arts education today: accountability.

Accountability as Cultural Practice

The ELIA EDI Community Meeting 2026 asks students, educators, administrators, and policymakers to examine how structural inequalities manifest in our daily realities. Special attention will be given to contexts where formal EDI policies are still in development, and where the need for tangible tools and peer support is most urgent. Discover how accountability can be enacted through practical strategies, collective reflection, and institutional courage as we shift into a responsive mode for positive change.

Call for Contributions

We welcome proposals that address the theme of accountability and power in arts education from a range of perspectives and formats. Contributions may be academic, practical, creative, or experimental in nature, and should reflect the diversity of our community.
 
Staff and students affiliated with ELIA member institutions are invited to apply, with student participation especially encouraged. We particularly welcome proposals from individuals who bring specific expertise to the theme as well as those with a strong interest, personal experience, or active engagement in the topic.
 
We welcome a wide range of contribution formats that encourage exchange and collaboration, including workshops, case studies, roundtable discussions, artistic interventions, research presentations, and proposals for accountability initiatives or peer-learning groups.
 
Contributors may wish to explore, but are not limited to, the following areas:
  • Power in practice: How power is negotiated in the classroom, in curriculum, in assessment, and in institutional culture. Student contributions welcome.
  • Accountability as action: Moving from intention to implementation—how can institutions develop accountable and transparent EDI frameworks?
  • Anti-racism and institutional courage: Building structures that sustain anti-racist practice.
  • Student voice and co-agency: How are students meaningfully included in shaping inclusive policies and practices?
  • EDI without a policy: Sharing good practice from institutions that are starting from scratch—peer learning, informal structures, local and intersectional approaches.
  • From hiring to belonging: How to support the well-being and retention of diverse staff in contexts of institutional precarity.
  • Leadership and structural change: How leadership can shift from symbolic commitment to shared, accountable transformation.
 
 
Deadline: 27 October 2025
 
For any questions, feel free to reach out to ELIA Community Manager, Amalia Smyrnioti at amalia.smyrnioti@elia-artschools.org.

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