KP International Week 2026 – March 23-25

9.00-10.00: Arrival and registration (KP reception and Atrium W1)

10.00-10.45: Opening reception (Atrium W1)

11.00-11.45: Departmental greetings
(Teacher Education K3.20, Early Childhood and Social Education K3.12, Social Work K3.19, and Nursing Education W1.06)

12.00-13.00: Lunch

13.30-13.45: Welcoming guests and introducing to “Democracy and critical dialogue” by KP’s Vice-Chancellor Anne Vang Rasmussen (W2.04)

13.45-14.45:  The Missing Political Subject: Blind Spots in Democratic and Citizenship Education Keynote by Associated Professor Jonas Lieberkind, Aarhus University (W2.04)

The presentation explores how contemporary education systems, in their efforts to educate democratic citizens, develop a striking imbalance. While emphasizing the formation of the pedagogical subject – knowledgeable, analytical, and politically reserved students – schools and teachers tend to undervalue students’ formation as political subjects: citizens who act, contest, and articulate political interests and values. This imbalance reflects broader pedagogical and didactic challenges related to education’s democratic mandate and its role in democratic education. Grounded in the Danish case, the analysis addresses tensions that resonate across democratic education systems more broadly, pointing to shared challenges and blind spots in contemporary citizenship education. Drawing on data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), supplemented by qualitative studies, the presentation characterizes Danish students’ civic knowledge, political engagement, and the institutional conditions shaping their future democratic participation from an international comparative perspective.

15.00-15.30:  Adolescent literature and democracy education – chances and challenges Keynote by Prof. Dr. Olivier Mentz, Faculty of Education, PH Freiburg (W2.04)

Literary texts written by young people – what we do understand as “adolescent literature” – is quite unknown in literature research. The project presented here focusses on two questions: The first one is how the fact to write literary texts has an impact on the perception of the world surrounding adolescents and can be seen as a kind of societal statement by them. The second question focusses the challenge of using these texts in language courses at school and how the interaction with those texts in class might enhance tolerance and democratic values within the group of learners.

15.30-16.00: Practicing Democracy Practice – Students as Facilitators of Democratic Competence Building Keynote by Lecturer Daniel Panduro, Department of Teacher Education, KP (W2.04)

This presentation will showcase Copenhagen University College’s initiative, “The Big Democracy Day.” The initiative is a collaboration between teacher and early childhood education students, Lower secondary school pupils, and democracy researchers. It materialized as a democracy festival where student teachers facilitated practical, hands-on workshops for 600 Lower secondary school pupils, while their teachers received professional development aimed at equipping them to educate students for active participation in a society founded on freedom and democracy.

16.15-17.00: Networking workshop on Democracy (Atrium)

17.00-18.00: Informal networking (Humlen, KP’s student Café)

Fostering learning environments that strengthen democratic values by sharing ideas and best practices – Staff sessions

10.30-11.30: Campus Carlsberg tour (meeting point at Reception)

12.00-13.00: Carlsberg Area Tour (meeting point at Reception)

Staff sessions:

Theme 1: Strengthening Democracy in Society (K3.21)

14.00-14.50 Indigenous health and social work by Ben Geboe, McGill University Medical Centre

Indigenous student recruitment, retention and engagement. What is learned from the few who make it. Relying on my thesis about the reported experiences of Indigenous healthcare providers in Canada, 2021 McGill University School of Social Work, Montréal, Canada. Also working in the Indigenous Access McGill program at the School of Social Work to help people from diverse Indigenous communities participate in educational opportunity

15.10-16.00: The role of Active Participation of citizens in nation building: Perspectives from Ghana by Twumasi Anderson, University of Education Winneba

Active citizen participation is vital to effective nation building. Drawing on Ghana’s recent experiences with student vandalism,political vigilantism,and mass protests,this discussion argues that progress requires educators, students, and policymakers to cultivate strong civic values and attitudes together. By seizing these challenges as opportunities to reinforce democratic citizenship and good governance, students gain practical knowledge, skills, and values to work collaboratively and contribute meaningfully to Ghana’s national development

16.20-17.10: Desiring the great financial crash by Bernd Remmele, Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg

Influencers are a relevant phenomenon on social media, showing a broad spectrum of content quality and affective tie. Of salient interest for socio-economic education are ‘finfluencers’ who predict the soon-to-be collapse of our money system, so-called ‘crash-prophets’, who propagate – masculine – financial self-optimizing to preparing for the crash

Theme 2: Education for democracy (K3.18)

14.00-14.50: Deep listening for Democratic Dialogue in Education by Rochelle Helms, Amsterdam UAS

In a time of increasing societal complexity and polarization, professionals in education and child development need strong dialogical skills to navigate sensitive issues and diverse perspectives. This workshop introduces Deep Listening, a research-based methodology I developed with colleagues, grounded in Generative Listening, and designed to support constructive democratic dialogue. Participants will briefly explore the theoretical foundations of Deep Listening and then engage in practical exercises to experience the tools themselves. The focus lies on cultivating reflective presence, fostering mutual understanding, and engaging productively with complexity and difference.

15.10-16.00: Fostering Democratic Dialogue Through COIL Sophie Rudolph, Eastern Switzerland UAS

How can Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) create space for critical dialogue across different contexts? Using a Swiss-Ukrainian COIL project on social innovation as an example, this workshop explores implementing COIL as a tool for fostering democratic educational environments.

16.20-17.10: Integrating Peace Education into Educational Institutions: Building Democratic Cultures by Harvey Oueijan, Notre Dame University

This 50-minute interactive workshop explores how universities can embed peace education principles to strengthen democratic values and inclusive practices. Drawing on experiences from Lebanon and diverse global contexts, participants will engage in collaborative activities to design practical strategies for their own institutions. The session emphasizes dialogue, cultural sensitivity, and actionable takeaways for fostering democratic learning environments. (Confirmed)

Theme 3: Democracy challenges concerning AI and Technology: (K3.17)

14.00-14.50: The impact of artificial intelligence on knowledge transfer in higher education by Glava Catalin Cosmin, Babes-Bolyai University & Ethical Usage of AI; Research Ethics and Integrity by Giga Khositashvili, Ilia State University

This session presents 2 contributions: (1) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally redefining the paradigm of knowledge transfer in higher education, shifting from the traditional, standardized model to hyper-personalized learning experiences. Through adaptive algorithms and advanced language models, AI provides students with instant access to synthesized complex information and offers personalized tutoring, adapted to individual learning paces. This evolution transforms the role of the professor: they are no longer merely the primary source of factual information, but become a facilitator of critical thinking, a content curator, and a mentor in the ethical navigation of new technologies. Essentially, AI-mediated knowledge transfer no longer aims solely at the simple accumulation of data, but at developing students’ competence to interrogate, verify, and intelligently utilize algorithmically generated information
(2) This session explores the ethical and responsible use of AI in higher education, with a particular focus on its implications for research ethics and academic integrity. It discusses how transparent, fair, and accountable AI use can strengthen trust and support democratic knowledge practices.

15.10-16.00: The Archive in Service of Democracy by Trudy Henrydotter Eikrem, Volda University

At Volda University College and with support from the Norwegian National Archives. We have engaged students in exploring and contextualizing primary sources to experience the significance of the interplay between information-managing institutions in a democracy: archives, museums, libraries, and higher education. The aim is for students to understand the importance of information flow and transparency, as well as how the governance of information affects opportunities for knowledge construction and legal certainty. The presentation will focus on how to didacticize this teaching design and discuss the pedagogical and didactic foundation behind the project.

16.20-17.10: Critical Thinking vs Technologies of Manipulation within Global Challenges by Oksana Rudych and Liubov Khomenko, Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University

The lecture is devoted to the vital issues of informational hygiene, countering manipulation technologies in particular. The development of critical thinking of the students of higher education institutions is considered as a key factor of resistance to informational manipulations.

17.30-20.30: Networking Dinner (Room K0)

11.00-12.00: Tour of KP – PlayLab or Future Classroom

12.00-13.00: International Poster Session

13.00-14.00: Closing ceremony (Atrium W1)