ELLS General Assembly and Forum 2024

ELLS (Euroleague of Life Sciences)

ELLS is a network of leading universities cooperating in the fields of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Related Sciences:

AGRO-France, BOKU-Austria, CZU-Czech Republic, EMU-Estonia, HUJI-Israel, LU-New Zealand, NMBU-Norway, SGGW-Poland, SLU-Sweden, UdL-Spain, UGent-Belgium, UHOH-Germany, Unitus, Italy, WUR-The Netherlands.

Target audience

The conference includes the annual meetings for the ELLS Board, Task Force and International Relations Officers, as well as meetings for Subject Area Groups and Support Groups. There will be a keynote on ‘Innovations in Higher Education’ and workshops for participants on this theme. 

Programme

See under Download.

Theme: Innovations in Higher Education

Innovation gives us opportunities to transform our education. You can think of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Student Challenges and Open text books. These new tools allow us to focus more on the different needs of the individual student and realize a more learner-centred pedagogy.

Given all these new and exciting opportunities, and the fact that we’re facing a growing number of students worldwide and changing needs of an ever changing labour market which asks for a better service towards Life Long Learning, changing in our education system is not just a choice, it’s inevitable. 

This change however does not come easy, it confronts us with enormous challenges. The question how to use the manifold tools and materials the best way, instigates heated pedagogical discussions at the core of our universities. In an organizational sense, new departments and functions are required, in order to fulfil the demand from teachers and students for support and inspiration. The pressure on faculty is high and time and budget to facilitate the changes are called for. At the same time we have to rethink our administration, our rules and regulations. 

Such changes in the system cannot be successfully accomplished by one organization single-handedly, it requires collaboration. We invite the ELLS partners to Wageningen to exchange best practices, discuss administrative challenges, and inspire the change.

Workshops - Thursday 21 November, 17.00-18.00

We organize 5 workshops on Innovations on Higher Education. Participants can choose their workshop at the registration desk.

Workshop 1: AI in Education, Aurora, B9240

Moderator: Jolanda Soeting

Since 2023 WUR has a Special Interest Group (SIG) AI in Education. Innovative teachers, instructional designers and assessment experts joined forces to help (other) teachers and students use generative AI responsibly. In this session, we will illustrate how we do this and what challenges we meet. We aim to share experiences and ideas in an audience-driven discussion on this exciting innovative opportunity.

Workshop 2: Student Challenges, Aurora, B9242

Moderators: Rio Pals and Marta Eggers

At WUR Student Challenges we organize academic student competitions for students worldwide. Through these extra-curricular competitions we aim to educate and empower students to make a positive impact on the world and contribute to a sustainable and fair future. In this session we will share our approach, and hope to learn from the audience. We will facilitate a debate and an exchange of experiences and lessons learned to jointly help bring this form of challenge-based learning to the next level.

Workshop 3: Summer schools, Aurora, B9248

Moderators: Alice Francois and Adriaan Westgeest

As many ELLS Summer Schools are being organised these days, it is time to exchange ideas and best practices in order to facilitate and improve the organisation of future ELLS Summer Schools. To do so, participants with and without experience are welcome to join.

Workshop 4: Educational Portfolio Management, Aurora, B9259

Moderator: Jetske ten Caat and Marc-Jan Zeeman

Wageningen University is committed to fostering agility at the institutional level by maintaining an educational portfolio that can respond swiftly to developments in science, our field, and society at large. Every three years, the university conducts a thorough portfolio analysis to monitor these changes. During the workshop, we will share our insights and invite you to contribute your experiences and ideas.

Workshop 5: Joint Programmes, Aurora, B9260

Moderator: Tjallie Botden

This interactive workshop aims to provide a platform for sharing experiences and best practices among participants from various institutions. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss challenges, share success stories, and explore innovative solutions. We believe that through this collaborative effort, we can strengthen our joint programmes, improve our network and better serve our students and stakeholders. We look forward to your active participation and valuable contributions.