DR VICTORIA SHOWUNMI CONFERENCE CHAIR

We are delighted to welcome you to the BELMAS 2023 International Conference held in the wonderful City of Belfast.

The theme of the Conference is “Troubling Educational Leadership Through Authentic Engagement”. As a Learned Society, we know how our member’s research, workshops, networking and activities have a positive impact on educational leadership and management around the world and the Conference Committee felt that this year’s theme can and should contribute to the wider conversations about the challenges in the world within our field today.

As you know we are holding this year’s conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland and you’ll notice this year’s conference looks a little different to others. We have made bold changes to provide our members with a full cultural experience alongside our academic and research focus.

As part of this commitment, we are offering additional activities such as museum lectures, 5KM wellbeing morning runs and a workshop on the Integrated Education Bill which is both Northern Ireland specific and directly relates to this year’s Conference theme.

We want to thank the team at Visit Belfast who have supported us in the planning of the conference, from sourcing local suppliers and entertainment, to financially supporting us by providing support of £50 per delegate as part of the Visit Belfast Conference Support Scheme

Alongside our additional activity, we have four excellent Keynote Speakers and we owe our sincere thanks to Prof. Helen Gunter, Prof. Kay Fuller, Prof Khalid Arar and Prof Daniel Muijs for committing their time to BELMAS and to our members for what we hope is a thought-provoking, reflective and more importantly enjoyable conference.

Over the course of the next three days there will be over 100 papers presented, with additional workshops, sessions and other networking opportunities for you to engage with. On behalf of everyone at BELMAS we hope you thoroughly enjoy your time at the Hilton, and we look forward to welcoming you again at our next Annual Conference to be held in Glasgow on 5th – 7th July 2024.

Victoria Showunmi Conference Chair, BELMAS