ECE2026

July 09-13, 2026 | SOAS & University College London, UK

The 14th European Conference on Education (ECE2026) was held in partnership with Birkbeck, University of London, the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at The University of Osaka, and in affiliation with University College London (UCL).

It was wonderful to be able to welcome delegates back to London, and to an interdisciplinary event that has firmly established itself in the conference calendar of the International Academic Forum, one that has attracted some 600 attendees from more than 80 different countries to engage across the boundaries of nation, culture, and discipline.

This year brought together the 14th European Conference on Education (ECE2026), the 14th European Conference on Arts and Humanities (ECAH2026), and the 6th European Conference on Aging and Gerontology (EGen2026), with four packed and carefully curated days onsite, followed by one online. Days 1 and 2 were plenary days designed to bring together delegates across disciplines at the intersection of academic knowledge, everyday knowledge, and public policy, with featured speakers and panels. The plenaries also offered different spaces for engagement, discussion, and networking, including our poster session, our Forum session, but also our welcome reception, conference dinner, and pub quiz event! Days 3 and 4 were thematically streamed parallel sessions and form the heart of the academic conference, continuing online on day 5.

We would like to acknowledge the International Academic Board and the local conference and Review Committees for their work in ensuring the event continues to be a success; the keynotes, plenary speakers, and panellists; and our global and local partners: most notably for this event to University College London (UCL), Birkbeck University of London, and the University of Sussex.

Speakers

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Featured Presentations

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The Conference in Pictures

Conference Committees

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Global Programme Committee

Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR & Kingston University, United Kingdom
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR & The University of Osaka, Japan
Professor Jun Arima, IAFOR & University of Tokyo, Japan
Professor Virgil Hawkins, IAFOR Research Centre & The University of Osaka, Japan
Mr Lowell Sheppard, IAFOR & Never Too Late Academy, Japan

Dr Susana Barreto, University of Porto, Portugal
Professor Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Dr Evangelia Chrysikou, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, United Kingdom
Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States
Professor Brendan Howe, Ewha Womans University, South Korea & The Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA)
Dr James W. McNally, University of Michigan, United States & NACDA Program on Aging

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Dr Rena Alasgarova, Baku Oxford School, Azerbaijan
Professor Emerita Doris Brigitte Ash, University of California Santa Cruz, United States
Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR & Kingston University, United Kingdom
Dr Evangelia Chrysikou, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Mehmet Demir, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR & The University of Osaka, Japan
Dr Takoua Jendoubi, University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Rana Khalife, University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Jacqueline Lottin, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates
Dr David Mallows, University College London Institute of Education, United Kingdom
Dr Mauryn Chika Nweke, University College London, United Kingdom
Professor Andrea Révész, University College London Institute of Education, United Kingdom
Professor Christian Schachtner, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Dr Ian Scott, University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Marcelo Staricoff, University of Sussex, United Kingdom

Conference Review Committee

Dr Akeem Adekunle, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Dr Samra Afzal, National University of Modern Languages, Pakistan
Dr Pallavi Aggarwal, University of Missouri-Sanit Louis, United States
Dr Trinette Chang-colina, University of the East Manila, Philippines
Dr Hazel Diaz, Central Luzon State University, Philippines
Dr Angela Giattino, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Dr Wendy Hiew, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia
Dr Gregory Katsas, American College of Greece, Greece
Dr Aderinsola Kayode, Trinity University, Nigeria
Dr John Linga, Tamagawa Academy (K-12) & University, Japan
Dr Brooke Marton Mcgowin, Virginia Tech, United States
Dr Hiea Mizyed, Emirates College of Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates
Dr Obianuju Okeke-uzodike, Durban University of Technology, South Africa
Dr Nato Pachuashvili, International Black Sea University, Georgia
Dr Kornkanya Ratchaponsit, Phuket Rajabhat University, Thailand
Professor Alexandra Sofia Rodrigues, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal
Dr Robbie Lee Sabnani, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr Craig Sims, Curtin University, Australia
Professor Rainer Telesko, FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
Dr Ying Wu, University of Dundee, United Kingdom

IAFOR Research Centre (IRC) – “Innovation and Value Initiative”

The IAFOR Research Centre (IRC) is housed within The University of Osaka’s School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), and in June 2018 the IRC began an ambitious new “Innovation and Value Initiative”. Officially launched at the United Nations in a special UN-IAFOR Collaborative Session, the initiative seeks to bring together the best in interdisciplinary research around the concept of value, on how value can be recognised, and measured, and how this can help us address issues and solve problems, from the local to the global.