EDEN Digital Education Leadership Academy (DELA)

Name: EDEN Digital Education Leadership Academy (DELA)
Start: 2026-11-04T08:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-06T17:00:00+01:00

November 4 @ 08:00 – November 6 @ 17:00

AboutProgrammeSpeakersRegistrationVenue Social Programme

Who should attend?

Senior leaders, academics, change agents, and aspiring leaders who drive digital transformation in learning, teaching and assessment
Institutional teams and leaders responsible for planning and implementing a digital education strategy
Staff in learning & teaching centres, academic development, educational design, and AI-enabled education

What does it include?

A small group of up to 30 participants for hands-on learning from expert facilitators, renowned guest speakers, and peers
3 intensive days of strategic thinking workshops to envision the future of digital learning and teaching
Active problem-solving on the digital challenges facing organisations – including AI in learning and teaching
Exploring real-life dilemmas, case examples, and future scenarios
A networking programme with onsite coffee breaks, three lunches and a dinner in central Barcelona
Full access to all presentations and training materials

Challenge yourself and future-proof your institution by becoming a graduate of the EDEN Digital Education Leadership Academy!

2026 Registration fees:
Early Bird members*	795,00 €
Early Bird non-members	1 295,00 €
Late members*	895,00 €
Late non members	1 495,00 €

(*) Only institutional members

To ensure the best possible experience (team group activities, case studies, etc.), participants are kindly advised not to make non-refundable or final travel arrangements until the organisers confirm that the minimum number of participants has been reached; this confirmation will be provided no later than 28 September 2026 or earlier once the required group is secured. If the minimum number is not reached, all registration fees will be fully reimbursed*.

What is the EDEN Digital Education Leadership Academy?

A place to learn from others
A place to experience different strategies for digital education leadership
A place to tackle challenges and create solutions together
A place for professional networking
A place to envision the future of digital education

Why participate?

To connect with other European colleagues
To find effective ways of realising the potential of digital transformation
To help develop new strategies which tackle the challenges of digitalization
To refine your leadership toolbox and find solutions together
To envision the future of digital education

What will you learn?

How other higher education institutions are responding to their challenges of digital transformation
How to undertake a horizon scan of future trends and the impact they may have on your organisation
What factors need to be considered when developing a successful digital transformation strategy
Effective strategies other educational leaders are using to harness the potential of digital education
How to challenge yourself and future-proof your institution by becoming a graduate of the EDEN Digital Education Leadership Academy.

What you’ll leave with

A digital education action plan you can adapt for your institution
Tools and frameworks to support strategy, implementation and evaluation
Peer feedback on your priorities and approach
A network of like-minded colleagues working on similar challenges

EDEN DELA Graduates 2023

EDEN DELA Graduates 2024

EDEN DELA Graduates 2025

Day 1

4 November 2026

“Vision-Making and Strategy”

8:30 – 11:00 Official Welcome by EDEN DLE President (Wim van Petegem)
Presentation of EDEN DELA Seminar & Getting to Know Each Other (Albert Sangrà, EDEN)
The Digital Education Leader’s Toolkit (Deborah Arnold, EDEN)

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:30 Keynote Opening Speech: Prof. Susannah Quinsee, Vice President (Digital and Student Experience), City S. George’s University of London, UK

12:30 – 13:30 Networking Lunch

13:30 – 15.00 Real Life Case Example: Vision Making and Strategy (Albert Sangrà, Josep M. Duart, UOC)

15.00 – 15:30 Open mic

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:00 Action Plans Workshop: Vision and strategy (Deborah Arnold, EDEN)

17:00 – 17:30 Feedback from the workshop and Wrap-Up

Day 2

5 November 2026

“Leading digital education under pressure”

08:30 – 08:45 Getting ready for Day 2

08:45 – 10:45 Real Life case example: Prof. Ale Armellini, Dean of Education and Digital Innovation, University of Portsmouth, UK

10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break

11:15 – 13:15 Problem-solving workshop: Ethical leadership for the responsible use of GenAI in HE (Deborah Arnold, EDEN)

13:15 – 14:15 Networking lunch

14:15 – 15:30 Open mic

15.30 – 15.45 Coffee break

15.45 – 16.45 Action Plans Workshop: Tackling digital transformation challenges (Deborah Arnold, EDEN)

16:45 – 17:00 Feedback from the workshop and Wrap-up WHO

18:00 Social Programme (To be announced) and DELA Dinner (optional)

Day 3

6 November 2026

“Ensuring Your Institution Is Future-Ready”

08:30 – 08:45 Getting ready for Day 3

08:45 – 10:15 Real Life Case Example: Dr. Ronan Bree, DKiT, Ireland

10:15 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 11:15 Open mic

11:15 – 12:15 Problem-solving workshop:Change Management

12:15 – 13:15 Action Plans Workshop: ensuring your institution is future ready

13:15 – 13:30 Group photo

13:30 – 14:30 Networking Lunch

14:30 – 16:00 Action Plans: Future Development (Deborah Arnold, EDEN)

16:00 – 16:45 Diploma Delivering Ceremony

16.45 – 17:15 Conclusions, Feedback and Follow-Up

EDEN DELA 2026 Speakers

Susannah Quinsee

Ale Armellini

Albert Sangrà

Vice President For Digital and Student Experience

Dean of Education and Digital Innovation

EDEN Vice President for Strategic Thinking and Networking; Director for the UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change

City University of London, UK

University of Portsmouth, UK

Dr. Ronan Bree

Deborah Arnold

EDEN DLE Management Board member

DKiT, Ireland

EDEN DLE

Belgium

More Information about the Speakers

Susannah Quinsee

Professor Susannah Quinsee is Vice-President (Digital and Student Experience) at City St George’s, University of London. As Vice-President, she is the strategic lead for digital transformation as well as leading institutional projects and strategy to support student experience. She is an EMCC accredited coach, a National Teaching Fellow, a SEDA Senior Fellow and AdvanceHE HEA Principal Fellow, and was an AdvanceHE Learning and Teaching Excellence Ambassador. She researches on university digital futures and playful practice and leadership and is a Lego Serious Play practitioner.

Alejandro (Ale) Armellini

Alejandro (Ale) Armellini (Dean of Education and Digital Innovation) leads digital learning, learning innovation and pedagogic transformation, including on-campus and online provision, across all Faculties at the University of Portsmouth. He wrote and embedded the Digital Success Plan for Learning and Teaching in 2021, which became the centrepiece of the University’s new Education Strategy, co-developed by Ale in 2023. Before joining Portsmouth, Ale was Dean of Learning and Teaching at the University of Northampton, where he was the strategic lead for the redesign of all programmes for active blended learning (ABL). His work shaped Northampton’s flagship Waterside campus, which opened in 2018 – without lecture theatres, among other radical features. He publishes widely and is a reference point in areas including large-scale institutional transformation, ABL, learning design and innovative teaching practices. Ale is a National Teaching Fellow, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in the UK. He holds visiting professorships at several universities and is active in external examining and consultancy globally.

Albert Sangrà

Albert Sangra, one of the founders of DELA, is EDENs Chair of Fellows’ Council and a member of the Management Board, Director for the UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change, Professor and researcher at the Open University of Catalonia, Department of Psychology and Education. Former Vice-president, European Foundation of Quality on E-Learning (EFQUEL), and member of the Executive Committee of EDEN (2003-2009). Recipient of the 2015 Award for Excellence in eLearning awarded by the World Education Congress. Albert Sangra is Current Director of the Industrial Doctorates Programme, Government of Catalonia, a consulting trainer in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia.

Dr. Ronan Bree

With a background in Biochemistry, Ronan Bree is now a Senior Lecturer at Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Senior Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology, and a recipient of the DkIT President’s Award for Established Research Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Since 2025, he has served as a Management Board member of EDEN Digital Learning Europe, actively supporting its initiatives, including the Digital Education Leadership Academy (DELA). Ronan advocates for digital technologies to enhance access, learning, teaching, and assessment, and has held leadership roles on major national projects such as the UNESCO-recognised ‘National Resource Hub’ and the €40 million N-TUTORR initiative.

Deborah Arnold

Deborah Arnold is a digital education expert with over 30 years’ experience in teaching, management, and consulting across Europe. She holds a PhD (cum laude) from UOC, awarded for her research on digital leadership in higher education. At NTT DATA, she leads the Erasmus Mundus Support Initiative and researches digitalisation for joint Master’s programmes. A former EDEN Vice-President and Senior Fellow, she is active in mentoring, leadership development, and international boards, and is a frequent speaker and published author.

2026 Registration fees:

Early Bird members*	795,00 €
Early Bird non-members	1 295,00 €
Late members*	895,00 €
Late non members	1 495,00 €

(*) Only institutional members

The venue for EDEN Digital Education Academy has been purposefully chosen to be Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. The UOC was created in 1995 as the world’s first university with a virtual campus, which allowed its students to study at any time from any location. The University continually uses cutting-edge e-learning research and innovation to refine the UOC methodology. This is possible thanks to UOC R&I and its 50 plus research groups, as well as the eLearning Innovation Center, which drives educational innovation at the UOC. With more than 100,000 graduates, it is now one of the biggest universities in Spain.

EDEN Digital Education Leadership Academy will be organized in a modern UOC campus located in an ex-industrial creative and cultural Poblenou area allowing an easy reach to the Barcelona central attractions and a walking distance to the beach.

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, The U building Carrer del Perú, 52, 08018 Barcelona. See the location on Google Maps, in Room U1.1

Plan Your Stay in Barcelona

As Barcelona is such a travel destination hotels are not interested in prebooking rooms for participants. There are many different hotels and other types of accomodation around the venue. Therefore, we advise prebooking yourself a most convenient type of accomodation as soon as you plan your trip to DELA.