SEDA Spring Conference 2026

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Collaborative futures – sustainable, equitable and compassionate educational change

21 May 2026 - 22 May 2026
Location: Liverpool John Moores University


Collaborative futures – sustainable, equitable and compassionate educational change
21st & 22nd May 2026 | Hosted by Liverpool John Moores University

The international higher education sector continues to navigate profound shifts in policy, practice and purpose. Collaboration within and across institutions, disciplines and communities is increasingly recognised as central to building sustainable futures. With growing emphasis from government and sector bodies on collaboration as a driver of financial sustainability and innovation, universities are being challenged to reimagine how they lead, partner and adapt.

The conference is being hosted by Liverpool John Moores University and will take place over 21st & 22nd May:
Thursday 21st May: Full day and evening reception
Friday 22nd May: Half day

THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS NOW CLOSED

Collaborative futures – sustainable, equitable and compassionate educational change
21st & 22nd May 2026 | Hosted by Liverpool John Moores University

Call for Proposals

SEDA is delighted to invite colleagues from across the sector – academics, educational developers, professional services staff, students, leaders and policy-makers – to explore how collaborative leadership and partnership working can be harnessed to create resilient, compassionate and future-focused institutions. The conference will provide a space to explore how a focus on collaboration, equity and compassion might underpin new models of education, enabling institutions to thrive in challenging times.

We are particularly interested in contributions that address the following themes:

  • Collaborative transformation: collaborative and sustainable models for curriculum design, staff-student partnership working, research, scholarship and pedagogic innovation or that re-imagine the ways in which collaborative transformation can be achieved.
  • Compassionate collaborations: examples of empathy, wellbeing and resilience as essential dimensions of leading educational change.
  • Equitable futures: collaborative strategies to eliminate inequities, promote inclusive practice and enhance student belonging as well as staff well-being.
  • Collaborative leadership: cross-institutional, cross-sector (e.g. tertiary) and global collaborations that expand educational reach and impact for a sustainable future.
  • Staff development in the context of academic collaboration: exploring strategies for professional growth and capacity building among colleagues at partner institutions, fostering shared learning and sustainable partnerships.


Submission Guidelines

  • Submission here https://forms.office.com/e/XNPA1Mmexk
  • Deadline for Abstracts: 12noon 26th January 2026
  • Notification of Acceptance: week commencing 9th February 2026
  • Conference Dates: 21st and 22nd May 2026
  • Please ensure that you specify the preferred presentation format (interactive workshop, practice paper, research paper, or lightning talk) in your submission. 
  • Submissions must be in English. 

Presentation Formats

  • Research Papers (20 minutes): These presentations should contribute new insights and findings in educational research, providing evidence-based approaches connected with the conference theme.
  • Practice Papers (15 minutes): These presentations should focus on practical experiences, successful initiatives, or innovative practices that have proven effective in addressing educational challenges.
  • Lightning Talks (10 minutes): These concise presentations offer an opportunity to share thoughts, ideas, or projects in a brief and engaging manner, encouraging dynamic discussions and networking.
  • Interactive Workshops (45 or 60 minutes): Active involvement of delegates in exploring a related theme through group discussions, case studies, or practical exercises.


We look forward to receiving your proposals and to engaging in discussions on how we might collaborate to realise a more sustainable, equitable and compassionate future for higher education.

Day 1 Keynote: Compassion in higher education: Unrealistic ambition or achievable goal for active hope and sustainable scholarship? Dr Kathryn Waddington, University of Westminster

Session Summary: We are witnessing a  ‘compassion turn’ in higher education, but is this an academic fashion and flavour of the month fad? Or does it forecast the future for people who really care about learning and care about the planet? The keynote will draw upon principles of active hope to show how compassion and coaching lead the way sustainable futures in higher education.


Session Outline:  The keynote will weave a narrative of scholarship, creativity, care and compassion, based around SEDA’s value of practising in ways that are scholarly, professional and ethical. It will outline a framework of active hope based on practice, intention, values, and action as a blueprint for the compassionate university of the future. Practical coaching tools and techniques from narrative, and climate-conscious coaching are included to reinforce the transformative potential of coaching in higher education.

Biography: Dr Kathryn Waddington is an Emerita Fellow in Psychology at the University of Westminster and Chartered Coaching Psychologist with wide-ranging higher education experience as a researcher and leader. She has published widely in the field of organisational compassion, and creation of compassionate cultures and practices in higher education. Her other area of research and scholarship is gossip, which is now emerging as an important constituent component of organisational communication and knowledge. Kathryn values practice-first approaches to research and relational scholarship, and cares deeply about promoting and developing coaching as a learning and development approach and mindset.

Venue
The conference will be held in Liverpool, hosted by Liverpool John Moores University.

Conference Tickets
Tickets are available on the SEDA Humanitix Page.

SEDA members: Whole conference (inc eve reception)£230.00
SEDA members: Day one only (Thursday)£145.00
SEDA members: Day two only (Friday half day)£90.00
Non SEDA members: Whole conference (inc eve reception)£260.00
Non SEDA members: Day one only (Thursday)£170.00
Non SEDA members: Day two only (Friday half day)£110.00
Evening reception on Day one (Thursday)£25.00
Students: Whole conference (inc eve reception)£210.00
Students: Day one only (Thursday)£125.00
Students: Day two only (Friday half day)£70.00

Please note accommodation is not included and a list of hotels can be found below.

Hotels
The venue is very close to Liverpool Lime Street Train Station and there are several hotels nearby including:
Holiday Inn Liverpool City Centre
Delta Hotels by Marriott Liverpool City Centre
Radisson Red Liverpool
Premier Inn Liverpool City Centre (Lime Street)
Liverpool Central Travelodge

Please note the programme below is subject to change

PROGRAMME DAY ONE – THURSDAY 21st MAY
08:45-
09:30		Registration and tea and coffee
09:30 – 09.45Welcome, Prof Phil Vickerman, Pro Vice Chancellor for Student Experience, Liverpool John Moores University, followed by
09.45 – 10.45Keynote: Compassion in higher education: Unrealistic ambition or achievable goal for active hope and sustainable scholarship? Dr Kathryn Waddington, University of Westminster
10.45 – 11.10Tea and coffee
11.10Practice Papers (15 minutes each paper and 5 minutes questions)
 Practice Papers 1Practice Papers 2Practice Papers 3
11.10Feedback emPower Tools: An inclusive approach to developing feedback literacy
Naomi Winstone, University of Surrey		Co-creating institutional guidance for inclusive curriculum design, through compassionate collaboration with staff and students
Dr Anna Hunter FSEDA, The University of Law		If HE gives you lemons, make lemonade: When the English Higher Education landscape challenges us to do educational development differently Dr Shaun Mudd, Bath Spa University (BSU)
11.30Implementing The GenAI-Integrated Assessment Design Framework
Emma Ransome, Birmingham City University		Collaborative Outreach for Equitable and Sustainable Futures: Engaging Primary School Learners through Science, Sustainability and Creative Storytelling
Elvia Sciullo, Kingston University		An academic development community of practice using transformative pedagogies for Education for Sustainable Development
Vicki Dale, University of Glasgow
11.50Equity by Design: embedding Universal Design for Learning to support feedback-seeking practices
Dr Laura Costelloe Mary Immaculate College, Limerick		A Decade of Student Partnership: The History, Impact, and Future of UCL ChangeMakers – One of the Largest & Longest-Running Student Partnership Initiatives in the UK
Ashley Storer-Smith, UCL		“Compassionate Collaborations: Empathy, Wellbeing, and Resilience as Essential Dimensions of Leading Educational Change”
Buela Vemuri, Northumbria University
12.10From Workshop to Worldwide: Making mandatory assessment training equitable through digital asynchronous design Chloe Courtenay, Canterbury Christ Church UniversityEmbedding the student voice into academic development programmes at Manchester Metropolitan University: Engaging in, and advocating for, staff-student partnerships. Craig Morley, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityCollaborative Transformation through Scripting: Reimagining Dialogic Education for Inclusive, Sustainable Partnership
Jen Hayes, London Metropolitan University
12.30Lunch
13:30Workshops 3 x 45 minutes
13:30Workshop 1 (45 mins)Workshop 2 (45 mins)Workshop 3 (45 mins)
13.30 – 14.15Are you being (ob)served? Reframing the Peer Review Scheme at the University of Plymouth.
Dr Helen Bowstead, University of Plymouth		Partnered Learning, Real-World Impact: Co-creating transformative learning and action through community-based Higher Education partnerships
Wendy Johnston & Sally-Ann Starkey, Liverpool John Moores University		Building Sustainable and Equitable Collaborative Assessment Practices in Higher Education
Prof Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, Northumbria University
14.20 – 15.20Workshop 4 (60 mins)Workshop 5 (60 mins)Workshop 6 (60 mins)
14:20 – 15.20Collaborative Leadership for Whole-Institution Curriculum Redesign: Lessons from the University of Chester
Dr Claire Stocks & Dr. Katharine Welsh, University of Chester		Educational Leaders as Brokers of Change
Dr Cathy Minett-Smith, University of the West of England		Language Matters: Understanding and Addressing International Students’ Perceptions of Academic Language Challenges
Natallia Novikava, Northumbria University (London Campus)
15.20Tea & Coffee and room changes
15:40Lightning Talks (10 mins each)
15.40Fostering Pedagogic Research Engagement: A Journey from Local Initiatives to International Partnership
Vienne Lin, Chinese University of Hong Kong
15.50“Stacking Success: Micro Credentials for Collaborative Staff Development” Helen Boulton, Nottingham Trent University
16.00Beyond Institutional Boundaries: Collaborative Partnership Models for GenAI Critical Literacy
Sue Beckingham, Sheffield Hallam University
16.10Assembling Affirmative Ethics through Compassionate Assessment
Vikki Hill, Queen Margaret University
16.20The ‘PGCAP Conversations’ – Working together for a fairer future for all Victoria Taylor, University of Leeds
16.30 – 16.40Questions and Closing comments
16.40 – 16.55Day One Panel:  Conference summary and Takeaways
17.30            Drinks and canape reception
PROGRAMME DAY TWO – FRIDAY 22nd MAY
09.00Coffee and registration
09:30Workshop 1 (60 mins)Workshop 2 (60 mins)Workshop 3 (60 mins)
 Leading With Compassion in Digital Change: Supporting Staff Through AI‑Related Anxiety and Uncertainty Alison Purvis, Sheffield Hallam University‘We’re not hard to reach, we’re right here’…’Working with underrepresented students to build inclusive and effective student-staff partnerships. 
Libby Johnstone, University of Leeds		Class-Conscious Practice: Centring voice, visibility and care in higher education
Stacey Mottershaw, University of Leeds
10:35Research Papers 1 (20 mins and 5 mins questions)Research Papers 2 (20 mins and 5 mins questions)Practice Papers 1 (15 minutes each paper and 5 minutes questions)
10.35 – 11.00Partnering with International Postgraduate Students: Applying the Ketso Method to Develop Systematic Review Questions for Masters of Public Health Dissertations Natalie Quinn-Walker, Birmingham City University“I’m not a researcher… [yet]” Building Research Capacity in Technological Universities: Lessons from an Online Research Methods Module
Dr Matthew Cannon, Technological University of the Shannon		Bridging the Divide: Collaborating with Course Teams to Embed Future Skills through Active Curriculum Design
Aybige Yilmaz, Kingston University
11.00 – 11.25Listening to Learn: How Student-Led Conversations Reveal the Hidden Costs of Group Work for Marginalised Students
Dr Jim Turner, Liverpool John Moores University		AI in Academia’: An audit of educational developers’ use of, and attitude towards, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in Higher and Further Education
Dr Rehan Shah, Queen Mary University of London		Institutional transformation through the co-creation of a university education framework
Tazila Ramputh, Maynooth University
11.25 – 11.50tbcMore than Tech Support:  The Teaching Experiences of Technicians
Dr Helen Hooper, Northumbria University		Amplifying Education Innovation Through Distributed Leadership: The Innovation Scholar Scheme
Mâir Bull, Manchester Metropolitan University
11:50Tea and coffee
12:10Closing Workshop (60 mins) Blueprints for Better Learning: A collaborative approach to beyond blended curriculum design
Sheila MacNeill, Jisc		Closing workshop (60 mins) Student Development Pathway: A collaborative approach to supporting holistic student development through curriculum integration
Cameron Graham, Edinburgh Napier University
13.10 – 13.30Panel:  Conference summary and Takeaways Conference close

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