Call for Papers

The formats available for the ENLIGHT Teaching and Learning Conference 2026 at the University of Bern above all aim to inspire and connect participants. These formats encourage discussion, the showcasing of good practice, and allow participants to make meaningful connections for shared teaching and learning.

The conference program will strive to achieve a balance in participation between the 10 ENLIGHT universities.

Description of formats

We invite contributions from teaching staff, educational developers and students from the 10 ENLIGHT universities. Contributions can be submitted for workshops, campfire sessions and showcase sessions. Please select one of these formats for your contribution.

Workshop

The aim of a 90-minute workshop is to actively involve all participants. To achieve this, workshops are limited to a maximum of 25 participants. In line with our aims for the conference in Bern, we have selected 3 particularly collaborative types of workshops that presenters can choose from:

• Idea-generation
• Co-creation of teaching offers
• Critical friends

‘Idea-generation’ workshops are structured sessions where participants collaborate to produce a wide range of creative concepts or solutions. Guided activities, open discussion and creative and brainstorming techniques (e.g., design thinking) are used to encourage diverse thinking, challenge assumptions and spark new ideas related to contextualized teaching and learning.

The key question is: How can both you and the participants leave with fresh insights as well as actionable ideas that can be refined and developed further?

‘Co-creation of teaching offers’ workshops focus on collaboratively developing learning objectives and activities, and exchanging ideas with colleagues and students from other universities with the aim to inspire effective teaching and learning.

The key question is: What joint learning opportunities, i.e. products, courses or programs can we collaboratively develop?

‘Critical friends’ workshops provide a space to gather feedback, to discuss and refine educational projects or teaching offerings that are still in development or early implementation and may be adapted further. Gain fresh perspectives from colleagues and students on your own project in a constructively critical yet friendly way, or explore new initiatives and help shape their growth.

The key question is: What do we need to do in order to refine and improve our teaching offers or educational projects at this stage of development?

If you need inspiration, you may want to consult the following guidelines. 

Campfire session

The aim of the campfire session is a small (up to 20 participants) and informal, technology- and device-free setting. At the 2026 Teaching and Learning Conference in Bern, we use this format to formulate a range of challenges / problems surrounding the topic presented by the session leader. Afterwards, one or two challenges are chosen by the group to be discussed further. The focus of the session is not on solving, but on discussing the challenges.

The key question is: What can we learn from each other?

In a 90-minute campfire session, the session leader presents a topic, providing necessary background and context to participants (10 minutes). The participants then define potential challenges surrounding this topic. The whole group chooses one or two problems/challenges to focus on. These are then discussed for at least 30 minutes per problem/challenge.

The session will be moderated by the person submitting the abstract, i.e., the session leader; no additional moderation will be provided.

Showcase session

The aim of the showcase session is to inspire others and share good practice. Showcases focus on your learning scenarios that account for teaching and learning in context.

In each 60-minute showcase session, three showcases will be presented. Presentations will consist of 12 minutes of presentation, followed by 7 minutes for questions and discussion. Time will be strictly moderated.

The key question is: What inspirational aspects of teaching and learning would I like to share with the ENLIGHT community?