On 24 and 25 June 2026, 15 members of the team working towards curriculum transformation within EUPeace met at Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid – joined by two virtual participants – for their annual in-person meeting. The team engaged in two highly productive (not to mention thoroughly enjoyable) days of meetings and discussions on the full range of projects, initiatives and activities within the work package. As ever, all nine EUPeace partners were represented and brought valuable perspectives to bear.
Consolidating Transformation
Led by Dr Robert Craig, coordinator of the curriculum transformation team, the team focused on its strategic approach to the final year of the current EUPeace project.
Taking stock of the successes of the European Track’s pilot year, colleagues discussed how best to scale up this unique offer: how to make it accessible and inclusive for as many of our students as possible. Colleagues committed to expanding the Alliance’s delivery of virtual teaching and learning by exploring a combination of synchronous and asynchronous formats (including MOOCs, or “Massive Open Online Courses”); they discussed pragmatic approaches to scaling up the Track’s provision of in-person courses; and they exchanged ideas for effective central and local information and publicity campaigns. The product will be a European Track Expansion Plan, which is to be finalized in September.
Expanding Our Shared Programmes
Our five planned EUPeace joint programmes were also the subject of intensive discussion. The official Europe-wide launch for the European Degree Label promises to be a gamechanger for European higher education, and EUPeace aims to be an integral part of that change. Each of the project teams for the five joint programmes remains committed to delivering joint degrees; and the team discussed how the Alliance can best support the academics in preparing our Master’s programme for the label. Alongside these “flagship actions”, the team considered how best to expand EUPeace’s lifelong learning portfolio by tailoring ever more offers for specific target groups such as early-career academics. Also on the agenda was the question of how best to expand and extend the benefits of the Teaching Staff Academy to ever more teaching staff throughout EUPeace.
As ever, the time spent together outside the meeting allowed for some of the most valuable conversations and exchanges. A particular highlight was an evening visit of the Museo Reina Sofía, with Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece, Guernica, once again throwing our Alliance’s values – of peace, justice and inclusive societies – into the sharpest possible relief.
Contact
