"The ECIU Leadership Development Programme 2024-2025 provided me a valuable framework for understanding the landscape of higher education in Europe, building leadership skills, and fostering collaboration through the challenge-based project.

Each seminar contributed a different perspective—Twente’s emphasis on personal leadership, Lyon’s focus on values and cultural leadership, and Brussels’ systems and policy view.

The challenge-based project served as a useful integrative element, though its link to the broader themes of the seminars could be strengthened, particularly with more structured time for peer feedback and reflection.

Overall, the programme is well worth recommending to colleagues, especially those early in their leadership journey.

Last but not least, one of the most rewarding aspects of the programme was the genuine sense of empathy and friendship that developed among participants—many of whom had never met before—fostered by the open, supportive atmosphere that made collaboration and connection feel natural from the start. "

"The ECIU Leadership Development Programme provided an excellent opportunity to network with fellow academics and higher education experts from across Europe.

The programme greatly improved my understanding of higher education ecosystems, enhanced my leadership skills through targeted simulations and deepened my insights into university change management.

The practical experience of presenting strategic projects to senior management was particularly valuable.

The guidance of proficient mentors throughout the programme contributed greatly to my professional development.

I strongly recommend the ECIU Leadership Development Programme to academic managers interested in strengthening institutional collaboration and promoting sustainable innovation."

"Participating in the ECIU Leadership Development Program has been transformative.

Through tailored exercises and engaging discussions, I have grown significantly as a leader.

The program's unique focus on university structures has equipped me with a profound understanding of the academic landscape.

Learning in a multinational group has broadened my perspective and deepened my knowledge. This diverse environment has fostered a collaborative spirit, allowing us to learn from each other's experiences and viewpoints.

Beyond professional growth, we had a lot of fun and formed lasting bonds. The ECIU program has provided me with a network of like-minded individuals committed to excellence in higher education."

"What makes the Leadership Development Program so special for me is the way it combines personal leadership development, strategic thinking, and the Challenge element.

The seamless integration of these aspects led to several “aha” moments throughout the program. Even when the Challenge topic was far removed from my own field of work, it provided a valuable opportunity to connect with other team members on a different level and to apply the concepts from the other two parts of the program to a real-world example.
This allowed each participant to focus on their own priorities and take away something meaningful—regardless of their level of leadership experience.

The personal exchange with people from a wide range of institutions and professional backgrounds was incredibly enriching, and I’m confident that the connections formed during this program will last for a long time."

"The programme offered by ECIU offers various opportunities. Firstly, it allows us to discover how the different Alliance's institutions operate. This observation phase is very rich: it feeds the reflection for our own practices and allows us to think "out of the box". This is one of the positive points of this programme: by bringing together actors from different institutions and countries, it nourishes a network and gives us access to new experiences. I am sure that it will create some links.

Finally, the LDP offers the possibility for different actors from the research world to meet and exchange. Researchers exchanging with administrative staff is very important but not very frequent. Everyone is caught up in his or her own constraints and the links end up being weakened. However, we realize that the problems encountered by some are very similar to those experienced by others. It is very comforting to be able to talk about them among peers. And to find solutions together!"

"I must say that participating in the ECIU LDP program was a really good idea! Best part of the experience for me was definitely learning from other participants and from the programme staff. Exchange of thoughts and experiences through exercises was really useful and eye opening. Leadership challenges seem to be similar in so many ways in different countries and universities. Also visiting three different universities during the program was really valuable because of the increasing cooperation between ECIU universities. Over all I would highly recommend ECIU LDP to anyone who is interested in developing their leadership skills in higher education and also networking with amazing colleagues around the Europe!”"