Playfulness for the Future of Higher Education! ENLIGHT Teaching & Learning Conference 2025 in Uppsala

Last month, staff and students from University College Groningen joined educators and learners from across Europe at the ENLIGHT Teaching & Learning Conference 2025 in Uppsala, hosted by Uppsala University.
The theme – Playfulness for the Future of Higher Education – perfectly matched UCG’s spirit of creativity and collaboration. Our team demonstrated how playful, hands-on methods can make learning more inclusive, engaging, and meaningful.

Highlights from our contributions included:
- Oksana Kavatsyuk and Celia Gutiérrez Otero’s interactive workshop “Feedback from a Monster” invited participants to investigate playful ways of developing intercultural communication and feedback skills.
- Oksana Kavatsyuk also presented the CoCreate Project, showing how student perspectives and playful MOOCs can enrich skill development in STEM education.
- Roland Chiu, Steven Bergink, and our students Alexander Smith and Tom Enserink showcased how board and card games can transform science learning, from exploring population genetics through “The Survival of the Fittest” board game to boosting engagement with creative biology card games.
- Marianna Markantoni and Marcus Field showed how playfulness can be taken to the entrepreneurial classroom with LEGO Serious Play, helping students build metaphors, stories, and future-ready skills brick by brick.

Throughout the conference, UCG’s staff and students demonstrated that play is not just fun — it’s a powerful way to foster curiosity, creativity, and collaboration in higher education.