“Bridging Well-Being and (Teacher) Education: A Globalised Perspective to Science Diplomacy” – Transatlantic conference at Teachers College and UN Plaza in NYC
© Bruce Gilbert
© Bruce Gilbert
© Bruce Gilbert
A landmark transatlantic gathering
The three-day conference entitled “Bridging Well-being and (Teacher) Education: A Globalised Perspective to Science Diplomacy” builds upon the transatlantic partnership between EUniWell and Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) which was formalised through a 2023 Memorandum of Understanding. The academic conference brought together 200 participants from all over the world. It showcased a new inter- and transdisciplinary field as well as innovative formats: from co-creating a UN resolution to interactive, dialogic sections at TC.
In her opening remarks at the UN, EUniWell Chief Development Officer Professor Beatrix Busse underlined the ways in which the conference strengthened the EUniWell Alliance’s role as a transatlantic actor. She emphasised that combining the well-being agenda with research, education, and civic engagement – including teacher education – has been “a new form of science diplomacy from within.”
“In a world where power and strength are increasingly attributed to economic competition, where trust in science diminishes, we may become afraid and disoriented. But we choose to cooperate based on our values and our gathering here today demonstrates how higher education institutions can foster global cooperation through co-created knowledge and a shared commitment to well-being.”
Teachers College President Thomas Bailey stated:
“By convening this conference at the United Nations and Teachers College, we are engaging the world’s leading experts to confront one of the defining challenges of our time: how education can better promote human well-being in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. Together with EUniWell, we are strengthening a transatlantic partnership that connects research, policy, and practice to drive meaningful, global solutions.”
A collaboratively developed Concept Note provided the framing for the conference and allowed participants to move deliberately and interactively between public policy, academic, and practice-oriented spaces. Through keynotes, thematic panels, and working groups, the attendees explored how well-being can be embedded in educational ecosystems at the individual, institutional, and systemic level. The event underscored the growing role of universities as key diplomatic partners for securing rule-based and democratic models of the good life and in connecting research and education with actionable policy frameworks and practice across countries.
Guided by the EUniWell Thematic Arenas
The programme was structured around the five interconnected EUniWell Thematic Arenas: Health and Well-Being; Social Equality and Well-Being; Environmental Change and Well-Being; and Teacher Education and Well-Being. This structure provided a common foundation and language for participants to address teacher education across the globe while considering the SDGs, equity, sustainability and culture.
Developing a UN draft resolution
On February 24 at UN Plaza, conference participants employed a Research-to-Policy Model United Nations framework that included moderated caucuses and committee deliberations. These led to the preparation of a resolution, which was debated and adopted during a closing General Assembly session and will feed into the formal UN dialogue as part of a process supported by Teachers College Global Policy Fellows.
New spaces for research, practice and co-creation
The February 25–26 sessions at Teachers College were organized as an interactive, actionable, living laboratory of research, education practice, and co-creation. In the opening session, Teachers College Vice Provost Portia G. Williams noted that “How educators are prepared to navigate complexity, relational labour, and sustained uncertainty, and how institutions signal that these dimensions of teaching are central rather than virtual: This work cannot be done in isolation. The global nature of the teacher shortage underscores the importance of cross-institutional and transnational collaboration, like our transatlantic partnership with EUniWell, of which we are incredibly proud. While contexts differ, systems are experienced through people, and the structural pressures facing educators are strikingly consistent across borders.”
Keynote remarks were delivered by Dr. Rebecca Baelen, the Executive Director of the Center for Reaching & Teaching the Whole Child. Speaking on “Centering Well-Being in (Teacher) Education and Beyond”, she emphasised that “there isn't a unifying definition of teacher well-being or student well-being. What we tend to see is that there's more of a deficit-based view of well-being. The absence of burnout and stress can be an indicator of well-being, but there also needs to be a presence of flourishing for there to be well-being. So when we think about promoting well-being in our institutions and trying to help our teachers set up environments of support well-being, we need to be careful to not just be talking about mitigating teacher stress and burnout, and actually talking about the factors that are supporting their flourishing.”
Concurrent sessions featured design labs where interdisciplinary teams developed tools and frameworks for system-wide well-being, alongside workshops translating research emerging from the EUniWell Thematic Arenas into actionable strategies for teacher education.
In total, one hundred sessions showcased international comparisons and innovative formats, and explored topics such as the varying meanings of teacher well-being across contexts, the links between school policies and students’ sense of belonging, and how educational reforms and social change shape teacher experiences and well-being. Additional programme highlights included a curated research gallery with visual summaries and interactive elements, a transatlantic doctoral colloquium for early-career scholars, and “collaboration circles” where participants co-created ideas for future projects and exchanges.
The conference closed with a reception at the German House, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York co-hosted by the University of Cologne (EUniWell Coordinator) and its New York office with support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Centre for Research and Innovation New York.
A conference designed as a movement
Framed from the outset as “not just another conference”, the event tackled the growing pressures on education worldwide: teacher shortages, student mental health challenges, and rising burnout across the profession. Led by EUniWell and Teachers College, well-being was highlighted as central to resilient education systems, and strategies to embed well-being at the heart of teaching, learning, and education policy globally must be implemented.
The conference launched a long-term coalition for teacher well-being at the centre of global education and well-being policy, with joint initiatives, research collaborations, and policy follow-ups already envisaged to carry forward the work.
Further information
Read the conference report from Teachers College, Columbia University here: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2026/april/scholars-launch-global-movement-to-advance-well-being/
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