What we do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe idea is elegantly simple. Rather than gathering everyone in one location, we visit SoTL practitioners at different institutions. Participants spend ninety minutes at a host institution, where they are welcomed by \u201cLocal Guides\u201d and their \u201cBuddies\u201d who lead them through the local SoTL landscape \u2014 what we playfully call the local SoTL highlights. Each destination is structured around genuine dialogue: plenary or breakout discussions bring together SoTL-active colleagues from the host institution and visitors from across the region, exploring what motivates us to engage with SoTL, how we practise it in our very different contexts, and what we take away from the exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We ran our first tour between 2020 and 2021, and are glad to start the sixth iteration in 2026. By the time of writing, about 25 institutions had taken part \u2014 spanning universities, universities of applied sciences, technical universities and higher education networks across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Since 2025, we also visited universities in Norway, UK, and France. More destinations in Europe will be coming this year. Topics have ranged from community building across disciplinary boundaries and self-directed learning in digital environments to institutional SoTL anchors and the integration of Decoding the Disciplines approaches. Every destination has been different, and that variety is what is significant of this SoTL community exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What We Have Learned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nRunning the SoTL Journey has reinforced something we had suspected but not yet seen so clearly: SoTL is far more diverse in practice than any single publication or conference strand can capture. Seeing it live, in context, in conversation with the people who are doing it \u2013 that changes something. Colleagues who were hesitant about whether their work \u201ccounts\u201d as SoTL have found themselves recognised and encouraged. Collaborations between institutions have grown out of conversations that began in a ninety-minute breakout room. Occasionally, students have joined us at various stops to reflect on what cross-status partnerships actually look like in practice. We have recently started research on the SoTL Journey format and principle and are interested in the questions: how do educators understand SoTL as a means for improving teaching quality? How do those interested in SoTL build a community? And what part does the SoTL Journey play in that process?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why it matters beyond our network<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat has surprised us most is how quickly the format has developed. The SoTL Journey began as a response to a local need \u2014 to connect SoTL practitioners across a fragmented higher education landscape \u2014 but the underlying problem is not unique to German-speaking institutions. Educators across Europe are conducting serious, thoughtful research on their teaching, often without realizing that colleagues elsewhere are asking similar questions. Formats that enable direct, low-threshold exchange between institutions can help move SoTL from an individual practice to a shared culture. We believe that this shift is where a true community of practice emerges. We are currently planning to expand the journey in 2026 to other countries, including Ghana, Sweden, and the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Invitation to Join Us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWe warmly invite colleagues from across Europe to connect with us, to bring our Journey to their institutions, or simply to follow what we are building together. SoTL grows strongest as a shared conversation, and there is always room for one more stop on the tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What if instead of travelling to a conference, the conference came to your institution? That question started something in our German-speaking SoTL Network \u2013 and the answer turned into the format SoTL Journey we keep returning to the sixth time in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251439678,"featured_media":2220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20150,20158],"tags":[20166],"class_list":["post-2211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","category-news","tag-contributions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfOppn-zF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1978,"url":"https:\/\/eurosotl.org\/?p=1978","url_meta":{"origin":2211,"position":0},"title":"Welcoming a New EuroSoTL Board Member: Prof. Dr. Maik Arnold","author":"EuroSoTL","date":"27 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We are very grateful to Dr. Anna Santucci, who has recently stepped down from the EuroSoTL Board following her exciting new position in the United States. 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