Una Europa Staff Week 2026 | Universities as transformative learning communities for all

Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet invites interested staff, lecturers, and students and doctoral researchers from Una Europa partner universities to take part in the Una Europa Staff Week 2026 from 2–5 June 2026. Join peers from around Europe for an engaging week of workshops, collaboration, and fun in Helsinki, Finland – the City of White Nights.

Universities are uniquely complex, multidisciplinary communities, where education, research, and employment intertwine. Embedded in this complexity are the versatile ways students, teachers, researchers, and professional staff collaborate and interact in both pedagogical settings and outside of them. These collaborations are part of the everyday work at universities.

This Staff Week will provide participants with the opportunity to reflect on and intentionally develop this collaboration by encouraging them to reimagine the role of the university in researching, teaching, and community building. Participants will gain new insights into how formal and non-formal learning opportunities can be utilised in different areas of work within the university community and tools for overcoming the challenges and limitations that can inhibit non-formal teaching and learning.

During the Una Europa Staff Week 2026, participants will have the opportunity to:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges in building and realising holistic learning communities within universities.
• Foster personal professional reflection and acquire tools for lifelong learning in the context of the Staff Week’s themes.
• Establish new professional contacts and networks that can support future work and professional development.
• Explore Helsinki, discover Finnish culture and our extraordinary white nights.

The Staff Week programme consists of daily workshops where participants will actively lead and participate in discussions and engage with one another. Through participatory and engaging peer-learning methods, participants will actively shape the contents and outcomes of the session and diversify their skill sets. This allows participants to use their own expertise to teach and learn from each other. We hope to inspire participants to disseminate the outcomes of the Staff Week through their daily practice at their home universities.

The Staff Week will also offer participants the chance to network and interact with one another in the beautiful city of Helsinki, while learning more about Finnish culture. Participants will have the chance to try a traditional Finnish sauna, experience Finnish nature, and take part in some traditional student activities.

We seek diverse representation from different professional roles to reflect the diversity of our large institutional communities. As a unique element of this Staff Week, fitting with the theme, students and doctoral researchers are also invited to participate.

The Staff Week will be particularly useful for non-teaching professional services staff who:

• Work in their university’s pedagogy units or are involved in pedagogical development, curriculum planning and design, strategic educational services, or student engagement.
• Work with students or early-career researchers, such as in research services, responsibility and wellbeing units, career and counselling services, etc.
• Wish to develop their pedagogical skills for application outside the frame of university teaching.

The Staff Week is also open to academic staff who have regular teaching duties. This includes staff who work:

• As university lecturers or teachers.
• At research-oriented positions but take part in teaching.

For students and doctoral researchers at all study levels, the Staff Week will be particularly interesting for those who are:

• Interested in exploring and developing practices around student–staff engagement and fostering more collaborative ways of working between teachers, staff, and students.
• Curious about the different roles students can take in their own learning experience.
• Interested in exploring how learning is seen within the university setting and in bringing a student’s perspective to the discussion.
• Interested in experimenting with taking on different roles and ways of working together with staff, such as teaching or facilitating, within the workshop methodology of the week.

The working language of the Staff Week is English, so level B2 or higher is required.

Una Europa is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We value open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. We welcome applications from individuals with diverse abilities, of any gender, linguistic and cultural background, or other minority groups.

The Una Europa Staff Week 2026 is free of charge for eligible participants.

Travel and subsistence costs are reimbursed either by using institutional Una.Futura budget or another source of funding, such as Erasmus+ STT funds or MOVETIA STT funding (for participants from Universität Zürich). For participating students and doctoral researchers, funding will be granted by Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet.

Contact your local Senior Local Lead for further details.

Apply to participate in the Una Europa Staff Week 2026 by 23 February 2026! Submit your application by completing the online application form.

Please be aware that the system will not save your progress automatically, only by confirming the online form you will be applying.

Participants will be informed of their selection by 23 March 2026. Successful applicants will receive a confirmation email with further details.