Following the success of DELA 2023, the first Digital Education Leadership Academy organised by EDEN DLE in Barcelona at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the second edition took place at the same venue from November 6th to 8th 2024. This edition was quite special – one of the 2023 alumni was so impressed with the experience that this year he decided to bring along eleven fellow members of the Irish N-TUTORR programme steering group!

During the three-day seminar, opened by EDEN President Wim Van Petegem these experienced academics and professionals explored different dimensions of digital education leadership, from vision-making and strategy to ensuring institutions are future-ready, grounded in the research conducted at Edul@b, UOC by Deborah Arnold and Albert Sangrà. Each day featured an inspiring talk by an invited speaker: Susannah Quinsee talked us through conceptions of digital transformation and leadership; Ale Armellini shared his experience of embedding transformation through a Digital Success Plan for Learning and Teaching aligned with the Education Strategy; and Anneleen Cosemans illustrated how a large university has brought about significant organisational change in the move to a networked, collaborative and agile way of working which epitomises shared leadership. Albert Sangrà and Josep M. Duart inspired us with their account of the brave decision back in 1994 to create UOC, the world’s first fully online university, and traced the strategic developments over the past 30 years.

Throughout the intense three days, our DELA delegates engaged in focused discussion and participated in workshops on topics such as strategic thinking, leadership development and change management, working on case studies before applying the learning to their context in the form of individual and collective action plans for implementation back home. Sandra Kučina Softić closed each day with a summary of the main insights and a fun photo moment to capture the group’s mood! And of course, there was time for relaxation and enjoyment with a social programme that included a visit to Casa Vicens, the first Gaudi building, and dinner.

Each participant received a DELA diploma and a digital badge in recognition of their learning. The 12 graduates from 2024 now join the 16 from 2023 to form a growing community of DELA alumni. Plans are in place for DELA to become a regular feature of EDEN DLE activities, so stay tuned for 2025!