LEAD Academic Network brings a global leadership community together in Mauritius

The LEAD Academic Network played a central role in convening the International Symposium on Higher Education Leadership, Innovation and Capacity Development, held in Mauritius from 27 to 29 July 2026. Co-organised with the EU-China Higher Education Research Center at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and leading Mauritian and international partners, the symposium created a dynamic platform for sustained dialogue on the future of higher education.

Over three full days, more than 200 local and international participants from 36 countries, representing 63 universities and higher education institutions, took part in keynote addresses, round-table discussions, parallel presentations and video contributions. Their exchanges centred on six interconnected themes: higher education leadership, research and innovation, entrepreneurship education, capacity development, artificial intelligence, and micro-credentials.

Leadership through connection

In her opening keynote address, Professor Chang Zhu introduced the LEAD Academic Network and its work in promoting networked learning and international research on academic leadership development and university governance. She presented LEAD not simply as a professional network, but as a collaborative space in which institutions and individuals learn with and from one another across national, disciplinary and organisational boundaries.

This message resonated throughout the opening ceremony. Professor Emeritus Vinayagum Chinapah, the symposium’s international coordinator, called for connections capable of generating meaningful cooperation and sustainable impact. In a video contribution, Dr Stig Arne of UNESCO Paris captured the symposium’s shared ethos succinctly: “Leadership is not about working alone; it is about working together.”

The opening ceremony was also attended by the Honourable Dhananjay Ramful, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade; Dr the Honourable Kaviraj Sharma Sukon, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science and Research; the Honourable Nitish Beejan, Member of Parliament; and invited representatives of the diplomatic corps, including Her Excellency Dr Huang Shifang, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Mauritius.

By bringing together academic, governmental and diplomatic communities, the symposium demonstrated that the future of higher education leadership is closely connected to public policy, international mobility, institutional trust and science diplomacy. It also created opportunities to move beyond institutional silos and develop a shared understanding of the challenges confronting universities worldwide.

Leading confidently in the age of AI

A round table on educational leadership, moderated by Professor Zhu, placed generative AI at the centre of a broader leadership question: how can institutions benefit from powerful new technologies without weakening human judgement, responsibility and meaningful learning? Participants emphasised that AI should be understood as a tool rather than a substitute for knowledge. Although it can support the identification, organisation and application of information, it cannot replace the situated, relational and embodied dimensions of teaching and learning. Higher education leaders were therefore encouraged to strengthen critical thinking, clarify the responsibilities and consequences associated with AI use, provide continuous training in its ethical application, and support educators in adapting their professional practices and mindsets.

Several presentations advanced this discussion. Anthony Antoine examined the increasingly important relationship between generative AI and university governance, comparing how universities connected to the LEAD Academic Network are incorporating ethical principles and technical applications into their institutional models. Professor Chang Zhu presented evidence from a faculty-development project in Brussels, illustrating how structured experimentation, mentoring and peer learning can help early-career academics integrate ChatGPT meaningfully into their teaching while addressing misinformation, overdependence and academic integrity.

Together, these contributions demonstrated that responsible AI integration is not merely a technical undertaking. It is fundamentally a leadership and governance challenge requiring institutional vision, appropriate policies, sustained professional development and continued attention to the human purposes of higher education.

Leadership for institutions and for people

Contributions from LEAD partners and collaborators broadened the conversation beyond technology and highlighted the multiple dimensions of responsible academic leadership.

Professor Melita Kovačević examined how university leaders can navigate an age of polycrisis marked by geopolitical instability, technological acceleration and changing expectations of universities. She argued for leadership that is anticipatory, reflexive and values-driven, enabling institutions to respond to disruption without losing sight of their public and academic missions.

Professor Marieta du Plessis explored responsible digital academic leadership through the lenses of human flourishing and leadership vitality. Drawing on the international Digital Academic Leadership Webinar Series organised through ECHE and LEAD, she emphasised that successful digital transformation depends not only on technical skills, but also on leaders’ inner stability, ethical agency and relational capacity. These human dimensions become especially important in contexts where structural inequality continues to shape access to technology and educational opportunities.

Professor Karen François addressed the transformation of doctoral education from a predominantly individual supervisor–researcher relationship into a shared institutional responsibility. Her VUB case study illustrated how supervisory teams, doctoral schools, professional development and career preparation can be coordinated to support research excellence and the long-term development of doctoral researchers.

Together, these contributions presented leadership as a responsibility towards both institutions and people. Effective university leadership must support organisational adaptation while also protecting the relationships, professional identities and human conditions on which meaningful academic work depends.

From capacity building to mutual capacity development

Capacity development emerged as another unifying theme across the symposium. Professor Chinapah invited participants to move beyond traditional models based on one-way knowledge transfer and dependency towards an empowerment model grounded in reciprocity and mutual learning.

The proposed four-part framework, including namely Capacity Searching, Capacity Sharing, Capacity Strengthening and Capacity Sustaining, encouraged participants to consider how institutional and cultural change can make international partnerships more equitable, mutually beneficial and durable. It also raised fundamental questions about whose capacity is being developed, for what purposes and according to which measures of success.

This transition from capacity building to mutual capacity development closely reflects the international mission of the LEAD Academic Network. Networks create lasting value when they do more than circulate information, they enable members to identify complementary strengths, formulate shared questions, test ideas across different institutional contexts and sustain relationships beyond individual projects and events.

Building the capacity to lead together

The Mauritius symposium demonstrated what becomes possible when higher education institutions work across silos while remaining attentive to local realities. It connected voices from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Latin America and placed human responsibility at the centre of discussions on AI, innovation and institutional transformation.

For the LEAD Academic Network, the gathering was both a significant collective achievement and a compelling demonstration of the value of international academic cooperation. It showed that universities can respond more confidently to uncertainty when leaders are able to exchange knowledge, question established assumptions and develop solutions collaboratively.

At a time of accelerating technological, geopolitical and societal change, the work ahead requires more than individual leadership. It requires the trust, knowledge, relationships and shared capacity needed to lead higher education together.