After previous conferences in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Zurich, the 5th ELIA Leadership Symposium will take place in Vancouver, Canada from 7-10 December 2011, hosted by Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

The event will address leadership, succession, strategic challenges and new perspectives. Learning in the 21st century has been transformed, in large part as a result of the explosion of digital cultures and the acceleration generated by attendant technologies. In many cases students have expectations of participation in ways that challenge traditional functions of the student-teacher relationship, as well as the central role played by universities as arbiters and mediators of knowledge.

What is at stake is a shift in function of learning, where the skills developed are not based on the delivery of knowledge, but on the fostering of collaboration, networking, play and stimulation.

From a pedagogical perspective, of all forms of post-secondary institutions, art and design universities are uniquely positioned to explore this new learning landscape, and uniquely endowed with the history to be at the vanguard of rethinking the future of learning. The question of participation is imbedded within the very psyche of the Art School. Throughout their history, Art Schools have always worked with mentor based systems. The studio approach emphasises the relationships among practice, prototyping and product.

The combination of critical and historical thinking, as a daily part of the creative pursuit of excellence, brings academic analyses into the forefront, not so much as a subject area but as an integrated and dynamic part of innovation and creativity.

For further information, visit: http://www.elia-artschools.org/Activities/leadership-symposium