A DOBCEL delegation has represented Catholic education on the global stage this week at the Education Systems Summit in Turku, Finland, sharing innovative work underway across the Diocese of Ballarat with educators and researchers from around the world.
Executive Director Tom Sexton, Strategy Implementation Manager Julia Petrov, Board Director Anne Pekin, Ben Shields from St Patrick's Primary School Ballarat and Emily Clarke from St Alipius Parish School Ballarat attended the summit, where they presented DOBCEL's Collaborative Innovation Research Prototypes (CIRPs) to an international audience.
The team's workshop was warmly received and provided an opportunity to showcase the system-wide improvement work taking place across DOBCEL while building valuable connections with education colleagues from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Canada.
Beyond presenting at the summit, the delegation also gained insight into different approaches to teaching and learning through visits to local educational settings, including Turku Cathedral School, which is currently celebrating its remarkable 750th anniversary.
The international engagement enabled the team to exchange ideas with educators from diverse contexts, sharing DOBCEL's experiences while exploring new perspectives that may support future innovation across schools in the Diocese.
Following the summit, the delegation will travel to Tampere to participate in the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), where they will present a paper on DOBCEL Strategy 2035 and contribute to an international panel discussion.
The presentations reflect the growing recognition of DOBCEL's improvement and innovation work within the international education community and highlight the importance of global collaboration in shaping positive outcomes for students, staff and school communities.
Through opportunities such as these, DOBCEL continues to contribute to the global education conversation while ensuring international learning has meaningful local impact.