An Exchange of Ideas From the Future of the New Pedagogy
From 15 to 19 September 2025, the Technical University of Sofia hosted the academic forum EL@RA SUMMER SCHOOL 2025 ‘Reshaping Global Educational Systems to Foster Inclusive, Adaptable and Resilient Transformative Technological Landscapes’ within the framework of the EUt+ initiative, organised in partnership with Technological University Dublin, Ireland; the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Çağ University, Turkey & United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
The thematic scope of the forum covered a wide range of topics relevant to the contemporary educational context, such as the effective integration and implementation of virtual reality and Artificial Intelligence in the training process, the transformation of contemporary educational paradigms, reconsidering the role and place of the educator and the learner in the process of pedagogical interaction, etc.
Both organisers and participants are unanimous in acknowledging the fact that probably the most valuable and essential part of the forum was related to the attitudes and ideas put forward by the PhD students and MA students who demonstrated keen engagement and commitment. The event featured a very strong student participation – a representative team from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (Baia Mare affiliate). For most of the young colleagues, this was their first involvement in such a prestigious international initiative, hence their excitement was quite understandable. However, they all agree that the forum constitutes an unparalleled act of exceptional professional and personal growth for each and every one of them – not only in terms of the theoretical and practical knowledge they have acquired, but first and foremost in terms of gaining the confidence to openly express their opinions and views to an international academic audience. There is no denying that the students’ voice represents a key building block in constructing the new methodologies and conceptualising the new pedagogies in the Alliance partner universities of technology.
Special guests and keynote speakers to the academic forum were: Mr. John O’Connor (Technological University Dublin), Dr. Jon-Hans Coetzer (UNITAR) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Gülmez (Çağ University, Turkey) who inspired the participants by involving them in a variety of formats – lectures, individual and team presentations, workshops etc. Our partners from Cyprus University of Technology also participated with their presentations on site from the venue at TU-Sofia.
All lecturers were delighted to point out that the Summer School achieved exceptionally successful results which will serve as a starting point for new initiatives within the framework of the ELaRA Research Group. In conclusion, they, as well as all participants, expressed their sincere satisfaction with the excellent organisation and hosting of the academic forum and extended their heartfelt gratitude towards the organisers for their kind and sincere hospitality.
Apart from the intensive training sessions, the Programme of the academic initiative also included a substantial number of social and cultural events, such as the official opening of the Innovative Pedagogical Laboratory for Applied Research and VR Technologies at TU-Sofia, the presentation of two book publications resulting from the collaborative activities of the Research Group, the opening of exhibitions thematically related to education, ecology, technology and the creation of functional art products, visits to historical landmarks in Sofia and Plovdiv, etc.
