ELNE Annual Conference 2025
Cooperative leadership and how to implement it in the school systems have been one the most discussed themes lately in Europe. The ELNE annual conference’s main focus was analysing the draft definition of cooperative leadership and discussing how it is applied in the school systems all around Europe.
The Educational Leadership Network Europe is “a community of education stakeholders in Europe and it aims to improve the learning outcomes for students”.
The network is currently composed of more than 60 member organisations from 25 countries at the European, national, regional, and local levels. ELNE is a 4 year project which aims to: showcase educational research, practices, and social programmes; connect with other stakeholders and break the silos; get inspired and empowered to shape the future of education.
The Educational Leadership Network Europe (ELNE) defined Collaborative Education and School Leadership as engaging fundamental stakeholders of the education system in shared reflection and decision-making roles. This form of leadership is grounded in common missions, shared values, and collective agency, and aims to achieve common goals that serve all members of the community.
This definition was the outcome of the second year of the project and the starting point of the conference, whose programme alternated panel discussions and working group table discussions.
The conference started with an introduction made by ELNE leaders: Jelmer Evers (European Trade Union Committee for Education director) – Daniel Wisniewski (European Federation of Education Employers Secretary General) – Petra van Haren (European School Head Association Director) – Petra Kogelnig (European Partner Association Secretary General) – Giuseppina Tucci (Organising Bureau of European School Students Unions Secretary General). The ELNE Lead Partners shared their views on the importance of stakeholders’ collaboration in education.
The introduction was followed by the first panel discussion on dimensions of collaborative leadership and EU policy perspective moderated by Agnes Roman (ETUCE) and held by Elżbieta Neroj (Polish Presidency) – Victor Negrescu (European Parliament) – Geraldine Libreau (European Commission) – Irene Psifidou (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training). The Polish Presidency expects the Council Conclusions to be practically applied, beginning at the classroom level. A key next step will be to create a collaborative platform for international stakeholders to promote shared learning and coordinated action. Meanwhile, the European Commission is focusing on strengthening leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).
The second panel discussion was on dimensions of collaborative leadership: input from research, moderated by Daniel Wisniewski (EFEE). The ELNE Research Committee, represented by Mika Risku (University of Jyvaskyla), Romuald Normand (University of Strasbourg), Miquel Ángel Essomba Gelabert (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Maria Zeniou (University of Central Lancashire Cyprus), and Alessandro Arienzo (Università Federico II Napoli), showcased the results of its work and discussed the draft definition of collaborative school and educational leadership.
During this panel discussion the definition of collaborative leadership was completed by remarking the importance of sharing experiences and goals between the stakeholders. Then the discussion moved on the different situations in Europe pointing out good examples such as Germany, Netherlands, and Estonia. At the end of the presentation, some possible improvements at national and school levels were suggested, such as updating qualification schemes for teachers and creating a more inclusive and participative decision-making process.
This opened the stage for the first working group table, which assessed the level of common understanding of collaborative education and school leadership among the participants. During the discussions, one of the most significant issue that came out was the difficulty of communicating between different generations.
The second working group table discussion that followed was focused on how education systems are shaped in collaborative ways, highlighting a certain lack of collaboration in decision-making among educational stakeholders.
The next panel discussion was moderated by Daniele Sabato (OBESSU), addressing how collaborative leadership is practiced in different national contexts with Jelmer Evers (ETUCE), Virginie Durin (EPA), Jack Durkan (ESHA; Irish School heads), Ruxandra Stroe (EFEE; FEDE), and Alessandro Di Miceli (OBESSU).
The discussion pointed out the need for greater involvement of students in decision-making. However some good examples came out during the discussion such as “Cantiere Scuola”, an Italian student-led project started in 2021 during the covid 19 pandemic, that brought together students and other educational actors to outline the changes students would like to see in their educational path.
The working group table included in the second panel discussion assessed participants’ perceptions on the challenges national education systems face that would benefit from collaborative leadership. The discussions also analysed the role of teachers in facing these new challenges.
The last panel discussion focused on Inspiring practices on dimensions of collaborative leadership – the roles and voices of different actors in decision making at the school level. The presentation was moderated by Arja Krauchenberg (EPA) and taken on by: Inga Pisa (LESTU) Lithuania – Àine Lynch (EPA) Ireland – Stig Johannessen (School Heads Norway) Norway-Peter van Iseghem (Catholic Education Flanders) Belgium – Albert Janssens (OBESSU) Denmark. In particular, Albert Janssens reminded us at the end of his speech that we cannot teach democracy but it is something we must live.
After the last panel discussion, there was a brainstorming on the policy recommendations that ELNE elaborated in the previous year, moderated by Petra van Haren (ESHA), followed by the Conclusions by the European Commission presented by Ulrike Storost, Deputy Head of Unit (DG EAC).
The conference was concluded by the remarks of the ELNE Leading Partners, Petra van Haren (ESHA) – Arja Krauchenberg (EPA) – Daniele Sabato (OBESSU) – Daniel Wisniewski (EFEE) – Jelmer Evers (ETUCE).
To conclude we can say that the ELNE conference succeeded in bringing together diverse stakeholders from the education world and implementing collaborative leadership principles. The conference came out to be a perfect situation to exchange ideas and find together good solutions to improve education systems in Europe.
Written by: Mirko Cioccoloni
