31/05/2026
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Back from Vienna and the International Conference "Facing Global Challenges in Education through Lifelong Learning", hosted by the University College of Teacher Education Vienna (PH Wien), in the Hedy Lamarr Hall (26–28 May 2026).
Together with the Head of the Directorate of Studies of the Greek Ministry of Education (ΥΠΑΙΘΑ), Andreas Nigiannis; the Regional Supervisor of Western Greece, Athanasia Balomenou; and the Quality Supervisor of the Directorate of Primary Education of Trikala, Vassilios Kotoulas, we travelled to Vienna and took part in the conference as members of the research team of the European project FOOTT PRINTTS — and as representatives of Educom+, a partner in the project. The project is coordinated by BR Arnsberg (Germany), which oversees and supports the professional development of 40,000 teachers.
🎯🎯 Two keynote talks set the tone for the entire event. Chrissi Nerantzi (University of Leeds) opened the conference with "Facts, Fairytales and Freedoms: Professional Learning for Educators", inviting us to see the pressures teachers face as opportunities rather than obstacles. On the second day, Cormac Noonan (Wolf Academy) presented "A Rooted Wellbeing Framework: Strengthening Teacher Well-Being in a Changing World" — an ever-timely reminder that teacher well-being and sound mental health are a foundation for everything we do, not a side issue.
Between the keynotes, many engaging workshops, parallel sessions and poster presentations took place — from artificial intelligence in teacher education to school development, professional identity, inclusion, resilience, and the mental health of both students and teachers.
What stayed with me most, though, was how seriously the conference treated networking as an integral part of empowering teachers, rather than a mere coffee break. From the get-together evening before the official opening to the wonderful closing with live music from the university's band, there was real space for professional dialogue among education professionals from different countries and systems — and that is exactly where good practice begins to "travel".
👉 One of the most creative moments for me was the workshop I led with Anna Kapsalis, trainer at BR Arnsberg (Germany). Together we took the Trainer Companion Card — the reflection tool that accompanies the project's Guidebook, which we co-authored — and explored how to turn it into a Trainee Companion Card: shifting it from a trainer's self-reflection instrument into a learning tool placed in the hands of the learners themselves. Built around the six factors that make professional development meaningful (professional identity, satisfaction, peer support, school development, organisation and hands-on design), the Card took on new life when we redesigned it from the learner's perspective.
👉 Both tools are freely available here:
📘 https://foottprintts.eu/foott-printts/
Special thanks to Diana Pastoriza for hosting the event in such a wonderful way and to our Austrian partners at PH Wien (University College of Teacher Education Vienna) for hosting us throughout the conference. Warm thanks, too, to all the FOOTT PRINTTS partners and to Dirk Kolar, head of BR Arnsberg and Anna Kapsalis, coordinators of the FOOTT PRINTTS project, as well as to everyone who made these days so rich! 🙏
