On 9 and 10 April, the European alliance Transform4Europe (T4EU) brought together academic staff and teachers to promote and reward professional excellence and pedagogical innovation at the ‘Enhancing Professional Excellence: Synergy of Academic and Non-Academic Staff (PROF-SYNERGY)’ Conference.

Maitê Moraes Gil, Rita Tavares de Sousa, Diana Soares e Jane Rodrigues Duarte had the opportunity to represent Universidade Católica Portuguesa at this pioneering event, which for the first time brought together and rewarded academic and non-academic staff.

On 9 and 10 April, the European alliance Transform4Europe (T4EU) brought together academic staff and teachers to promote and reward professional excellence and pedagogical innovation at the ‘Enhancing Professional Excellence: Synergy of Academic and Non-Academic Staff (PROF-SYNERGY)’ Conference.

Presenting the work carried out by the Católica Learning Innovation Lab | CLIL, Maitê Moraes Gil, Rita Tavares de Sousa and Diana Soares had the opportunity “both to deliver training workshops and to take part in workshops organised by colleagues from other” universities in the alliance.

It was an interesting experience that confirmed Maitê's initial realisation ‘that the Alliance brought together very diverse institutions and, therefore, the activities should represent good learning moments’, comments the researcher from the Universidade Católica.

In addition to taking part in training programmes, the CLIL representatives also presented the Católica laboratory to the partners. ‘It was a great experience to meet colleagues from other institutions and find out what they are doing in terms of innovative teaching practices,’ said Rita Tavares de Sousa.

On the other hand, Jane Rodrigues Duarte took part in the conference as a professor and received the T4EU Awards for her pedagogical innovation project: ‘Journalist meets Translator in the EFL/Translation classroom’.

For the professor and researcher from the Faculty of Human Sciences at Católica, ‘the most captivating moment was collaborating with students from different courses/classrooms on a group project, realising how different perspectives can create innovative solutions’.

All the participants were familiar with T4EU, but for Maitê and Jane this was the first time they took part in an activity organised by the alliance. When asked if they would recommend the experience to their colleagues, the answer was unanimous: definitely yes.

‘T4EU plays an important role in building bridges between different HEIs and ensuring the exchange of knowledge in favour of an innovative higher education sector,’ says Rita Tavares de Sousa.

‘Before participating in this activity, my perception of T4EU was that it was primarily an alliance focused on academic collaboration, but I didn't fully realise the many opportunities it offered for personal growth, cultural exchange and innovation,’ shares Jane.

After this transformative experience, ‘I see Transform4Europe as a dynamic and inspiring alliance that truly values collaboration, innovation and cultural exchange, and I believe it has a real impact on shaping a more connected and forward-looking Europe,’ concludes the lecturer and researcher.

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