Travel blog: ICDE at EDEN DLE Annual Conference 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia
ICDE Senior Adviser for Membership and Communication, Ms. Sophia Javaid (left), and ICDE Secretary General, Ms. Torunn Gjelsvik (right)
The EDEN DLE Annual Conference 2022 marked the first major event for our new Senior Adviser – Sophia Javaid. Read about her first trip representing ICDE below.
The destination: Tallinn, Estonia
The team: Torunn Gjelsvik and Sophia Javaid
Joining key researchers in the open, distance education field and meeting many ICDE members at one of the key events in Europe - What a way to start my time as the newest member of the ICDE Secretariat team!
For those of you who are unaware, the EDEN DLE Annual Conference is an annual event bringing together students, researchers, teachers, and institutions in the open, flexible distance learning (OFDL) field. This year, the conference continued to explore issues created by the pandemic within the field from a European perspective - “Shaping the digital transformation of the education ecosystem in Europe”. The conference implemented a smooth hybrid setup, that saw inspiring speeches and latest research presented in person and via video calls.
ICDE had the pleasure of hosting an interactive workshop using our launch of our Global Advocacy Campaign on OFDL to discuss how to build national or regional campaigns. ICDE Secretary General, Torunn Gjelsvik, and ICDE Board Member and Vice-President of SADE and ICDE Board Member, Prof. Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson explained how ICDE is working to change the global narrative and engage the community across all regions.
New horizons in Tallinn for our newest ICDE Secretariat team member
The workshop introduced our Global Advocacy Campaign regional Task Forces, our campaign toolkit and key OFDL messages developed by the executive level representatives from our members. This campaign is underway, but we still need more volunteers to sign-up to join this important effort to successfully impact awareness and develop OFDL policy.
Meeting our long-standing ICDE member EDEN DLE’s President Josep M. Duart and their newly appointed Secretary General, Elena Trepulé in person was vaulable after two years of virtual calls. We thank them and the wider Secretariat team for putting together such a varied programme presenting a range of perspectives.
As someone new to the OFDL field, joining this array of experts was eye-opening and inspiring. The message was clear, we have come far in providing quality education to remote students, but we still have a long way to go. ICDE has a key role to play in facilitating the sharing of knowledge and best practice and working to get important voices heard on a global stage.
Hope to meet you at a future event – until then, take care and get in touch!
Signing-off for now,
Sophia Javaid
Senior Adviser for Membership and Communication
ICDE Secretariat
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