En Route! to EAIE Toulouse 2024

This year, the international higher education community will travel from around the world to meet in the ancient city known for its rich pink hues and its history of reaching for the stars. Experience the thrill of connecting and exchanging best practices with like-minded professionals at the 34th Annual EAIE Conference and Exhibition in the charming city of Toulouse, France.

Although boasting a long-standing history of education dating as far back as the 11th century, Toulouse has its sights on the future, with an impressive aeronautics and aerospace industry. With this in mind, Toulouse is the perfect setting for the next EAIE Conference and Exhibition, as we will come together to reflect on our sector’s past while looking towards the future and shaping it for generations to come.

A city with rich, historical roots in education 

Founded in 1229, the University of Toulouse is one of Europe's oldest universities. Today, it no longer stands as a single institution, but rather serves as a collective entity that unites the region's universities and specialised institutions of higher education, which have evolved and grown as the region’s needs and profile have changed. This centuries-old institution is a prime example of adaptability in education, something the EAIE community thrives on.

Along with this, the city has a long history linked to aviation, having served as home to some of the first experiments in that field. With the First World War, aeronautical activities were relocated to Toulouse because the city was considered far enough from the front lines. Today, Toulouse is the European centre of aeronautics and aerospace and the headquarters of Airbus Industries. As Toulouse has always been on the frontier of research and innovation, it offers the perfect setting to discuss future directions and new horizons for international higher education across Europe and beyond.

En Route!

A French and English phrase meaning ‘we are on our way', the 2024 conference theme 'En Route!' not only signifies our community's energetic movement towards a brighter future but also serves as a compelling call to action, inviting you to join us on this transformative journey. This work involves exploring the possibilities of increasingly powerful digital technologies, implementing sustainable practices in our institutions, developing innovative ways to support the interests of a wonderfully diverse community of students and staff, collaborating creatively with industry or community partners and so much more. Actively learning as we go, we are ‘en route’ to a better tomorrow through our individual efforts as professionals in the field and in the ways we identify opportunities and develop solutions as a community.

In a literal sense, our community will be en route to Toulouse from all over the world, with a staggering array of diverse backgrounds. Everyone in our community brings unique insights into what our field needs and the opportunity to bring the community together for such an event as the EAIE Conference and Exhibition against the stunning backdrop of Toulouse will be sure to inspire.

Save the date 

Early-bird registration opens on 29 May. We hope you will join us in Toulouse for the 2024 EAIE Conference and Exhibition from 17–20 September 2024. The conference will be held at MEETT, one of France’s largest convention centres. We want to thank our 2024 local partners for their generous support, and we look forward to meeting you in this historic and versatile city. 

As we have mentioned previously to our community, after postponing the Conference in 2021, we will be returning to Gothenburg, Sweden, for the 35th EAIE Conference and Exhibition in 2025. Special thanks to our Gothenburg partners, who have been working closely with us and are eager to welcome the EAIE community to their city.