Residential School Alumni Network – Interactive Webinar
Webinar, February 6, 12:00-13:15 CET
Remodelling professional services in universities in the digital age
he first webinar in 2025 will focus on how universities can enhance their communication in the digital age, making effective use of new technologies and working with Artificial Intelligence.
We will among others discuss the following issues:
- Interacting with internal stakeholders, systematically and structurally
- Interacting with the outside world and external stakeholders
- Building internal capacity and highly specialised expertise
- Staff upskilling to communicate in the digital Age
The programme and speakers will be available soon.
Barcelona Winter School
Hosted by UPF-BSM, Barcelona, March 23-28,2025
(Barcelona School of Management – University Pompeu Fabra)
Leading change in strategy and policy – Internationalisation
HUMANE’s Barcelona Winter School is an intensive, peer learning experience, themed around achieving lasting changes in strategy and policy in internationalisation.
The programme is delivered by senior university leaders and experts, with participants working on institutional case studies in multidisciplinary teams. It is designed to enhance your leadership and change management skills, broaden your international professional networks and your personal impact.
Study Visit Europe
Hosted by Paris-Saclay University (FR), April 9-11, 2025
The Paris-Saclay Initiative: Vision, Strategy and Achievements
The Paris-Saclay University (Université Paris-Saclay) was established in 2015 by the French government with the aim to develop a high level research-focused French university that could reach the top-ten position in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and be a top university in continental Europe.
To reach a critical size the University brings together four top technical Grandes Ecoles (CentraleSupélec, AgroParisTech, ENS Paris-Saclay and the Institut d’Optique Graduate School) with two universities (Versailles Saint Quentin and Evry) in a strengthened partnership with the CEA, the CNRS, INRAE, Inria, Inserm, ONERA, the 6 national research organisations under a research-intensive single academic campus located on the Saclay plateau (so-called the European Silicon Valley, 20 kms south of Paris).
In January 2020, Paris-Saclay University replaced the University of Paris-Sud (Paris XI) for 8 years of experimentation; each of the institutions remains autonomous but shares most existing and newly invested resources.
Annual Conference
Hosted in Helsinki jointly by Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and the University of Arts Helsinki (FI) June 4-6,2025
Performance Unleashed: Co-creating High Value for Stakeholders
The 2025 HUMANE Annual Conference will explore strategies and practices to enhance institutional performance through close engagement with internal and external stakeholders. In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, higher education institutions are facing many challenges to balance the needs of students, faculty, staff, their communities and funders. The conference will bring together thought leaders, practitioners, and innovators to share insights and actionable solutions aimed at fostering collaboration and driving excellence in higher education.
The three HUMANE member universities of Helsinki (Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and the University of the Arts Helsinki) will be our hosts. As a bursting place for innovation, the smart city of Helsinki is the ideal place to address our conference theme. Finland ranks seventh in the world for its innovation capabilities, thanks to its unique approach to entrepreneurship. It is also the world’s most sustainable destination. It is leading in technology developments, seen as critical to support current challenges: the environmental crisis, the development of well-being due to an aging population (and increasing problems of mental health), the erosion of democracy, increasing competition and the challenges to current economic foundations. Finnish universities play a key role in these developments.
HUMANE Seminar
Hosted by the University of Turin (IT)
Redefining Talent and HR strategies: “A must” to drive strategic changes in universities
Recruiting, retaining and replacing highly educated talents and specialist staff has become a major challenge in universities, in a context of financial constraints, geopolitical instability and shifting societal expectations.
Change management, digital skills and people leadership are some of the key skills to support strategic delivery, at a time when digitalisation and Artifical Intelligence are moving at a fast pace, requiring profound organisational and service transformations. To deal with daily challenges while embracing new opportunities for organisational growth, universities need specialised skills and expertise to deliver services efficiently: risk management, (cyber) security, artifical intelligence, stakeholder engagement and EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), to name only a few.
Professional service leaders are prioritising investments to build the right capabilities, expertise and skill development. The focus is on improved staff processes and experiences to enhance the employee value proposition, to attract and retain staff. Succession and development plans are key to take a sustainable long term view on talents.
Study Visit Southeast Asia
Hosted by The University of Nottingham Malaysia; The St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI) in Singapore, November 9-14, 2025
Driving Success: Strategic Innovation through transformative leadership in Southeast Asian Universities
The HUMANE 2025 Southeast Asia Study Visit is a unique opportunity for senior university leaders to understand what makes Southeast Asia such a strong powerhouse of innovation and economic success and what it means for institutions located in the region. Participants will engage in high level conversations with those who have driven large scale educational developments, seeing first-hand what this means in practice and what has driven such significant success.
The visit to the campuses of several universities will also be the opportunity to get a sense of the university life, innovative teaching approaches, student engagement and the startup ecosystem: The University of Nottingham Malaysia, the The St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI) in Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU).
Berlin Summer School
Hosted by the Freie Universität Berlin, September 14-19, 2025
Change Management and Transformation in Universities
HUMANE’s Berlin Summer School is an intensive, peer learning experience, themed around transformation – designing it, delivering and making sure it sticks.
The programme is delivered by senior university leaders and experts, with participants working on institutional case studies in multidisciplinary teams. It is designed to be a highly experiential professional development experience that broadens your international professional networks and your personal impact.