From 15th to 18th December 2025, Università Iuav di Venezia organised and hosted the International Staff Week “European universities: opportunities and challenges” in Venice. hosted the International Staff Week “European Universities: opportunities and challenges”, bringing together international professionals to reflect on the evolving role of European University Alliances in internationalisation, educational innovation and institutional cooperation. The initiative placed particular emphasis on the vision, priorities and ongoing activities of the PIONEER Alliance, of which Iuav is a partner.
The Staff Week gathered around 20 participants from across the PIONEER network and selected partner institutions, including ENSA Paris Val de Seine (France) and Tongji University (China). Through workshops and exchanges, participants discussed opportunities and challenges related to transnational cooperation, staff mobility and the organisational transformation required by the European Universities initiative.
A key moment of the programme took place on Thursday, December 18th, with the PIONEER Festival, organised in parallel with the University Career Day. The Festival featured the session “Pioneering Future Skills”, with contributions from Virginie Etienne, local coordinator of the PIONEER Alliance at Université Gustave Eiffel, and Marcela Barčáková, PIONEER local coordinator at the University of Žilina. Their interventions focused on the skills and competences needed to address emerging societal, environmental and professional challenges within the European higher education landscape.
The programme continued with the keynote “Beyond borders: what culture really means in the workplace” by Elisabeth Weingraber-Pircher, leadership coach and expert in intercultural understanding, who explored the role of intercultural competences and organisational culture in international professional environments.
Overall, the International Staff Week proved to be a dynamic platform for dialogue among internationalisation professionals, encouraging the exchange of good practices, organisational models and strategic perspectives. By reinforcing collaboration and contributing to a shared vision, the initiative confirmed the central role of European University Alliances such as PIONEER in shaping the future of higher education in Europe and beyond.
Athor: the Iuav team
