The organizers of this year's international scientific forum of the European Pedagogical Laboratory for Applied Research with a student-centered approach, under the European Technological University project, were the Technical University – Sofia, the Technological University Dublin, Ireland, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
On behalf of the management of the Technical University – Sofia, the event was opened by Prof. Dr. Eng. Lidia Galbova, Deputy Rector for International Activities and Integration, who welcomed participants and guests and noted that: "The initiative is important for the establishment of international cooperation and joint scientific research and applied work between teacher-researchers, doctoral students, and students from universities that are members of the Alliance, who work on standardizing the quality of education and the educational services we provide. Today's forum raises several important contemporary topics – such as entrepreneurship and enterprising in higher education. It is pleasing to see the participation and presence of students at the conference, who need new knowledge and skills for the modern labor market, and these topics are covered in the various panels and presentations – such as artificial intelligence and sustainability in contemporary educational and technological innovation processes. These topics are not just modern; they are important because they are connected to our daily lives, and they are important not only for business but also for society as a whole." In conclusion, Prof. Galbova wished participants and guests fruitful work, creative ideas, and many new topics for future cooperation and joint projects.
The second day of the forum was opened by Prof. Dr. Eng. Desislava Ivanova, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, with a presentation on the topic "Pedagogy for Education 5.0 – Challenges, Trends and Opportunities," in which the increasingly key role of pedagogical interaction in improving the quality of education in the dynamic 21st century was highlighted. Prof. Ivanova is also the initiator for the establishment of the specialty "Pedagogy of Teaching Mathematics, Physics, and Informatics" at TU – Sofia, which is unique in the country due to the combination of these three directions in a pedagogical profile.
Over the two and a half days of the event, nearly 40 presenters participated, and the event was attended by over 200 guests – in person in the conference hall of the Library and Information Center of TU, and online via Zoom. Particular interest was generated by the two lunchtime discussion panels: the first on the topic "The Transformative Impact of Technology on Society," moderated by Dr. Lucia Morales, TU – Dublin, with keynote speakers: Dr. Ion-Hans Kozer, Dr. Murat Gulmez, and John O'Connor; and the second on the topic "Education & Health," moderated by Ion-Hans Kozer (UNITAR), with speakers Dr. Gerard Coheran, Olegs Tuxs, and Alexandra Severino, which addressed the most current issues on the agenda of European society, such as technologies influencing education and human health.
Due to the high interest in participating in the forum, which was initially planned for two days (December 14-15), some of the presentations were delivered on Saturday (December 16), during which the organizers also held a dynamic interactive discussion, announced in the program as Research Event Conclusion, where future goals and planned events such as workshops, seminars, summer schools, and conferences for the calendar year 2024 were identified.
The event was moderated by Senior Researcher Todor Todorov, DCEOP, who rightfully received recognition and sincere praise from organizers and participants for his highly professional comments, the concise yet comprehensive presentation of the presenters, and the unobtrusive, smooth transition from one topic to another in the individual presentations. He himself shared his impressions of the event from the front row: "It was an extreme pleasure, and at the same time an extreme responsibility, to be the moderator of the two days of the conference and to manage to present to the demanding international audience in a balanced way the extensive palette of topics, equally valuable both for the theoretical justification of the discussed issues and for the sharing by the presenters of numerous specific practical observations, results, and achievements from carried-out project activities, development of curricula, comparative analysis of educational systems, etc.
Especially joyful and encouraging is the fact that the activities of ELARA are gaining increasing popularity and recognition on an international scale every year, as evidenced not only by the growing number of participants and presenters but also by their geographical reach – in this year's edition, we had representatives from Europe, as well as from Asia, South and North America.
Undoubtedly, the Second ELARA Conference was a much-desired and anticipated forum that significantly broadened my horizons regarding the subject matter and further motivated me to be interested in and implement in my teaching activities the novelties related to Pedagogy 5.0.
Four cultural and social events were also organized for the occasion, namely three exhibitions – on the occasion of the upcoming Christmas holidays, a painting exhibition "Christmas Glows" (December 14) by the artist Zina Zhelyazova, an exhibition of applied artworks made of wood and recycled materials by students from Professional High School "Hristo Botev" with the head of the School of Applied Arts at the school – Mr. Ivan Ludzhov – "Aesthetics from Recycling" (December 14) in the "Techni" gallery of TU-Sofia. The wonderful artistic atmosphere in the gallery was ensured by the student group "Paranoid", which performed rock hits, enthusiastically applauded by the guests of the event. The group is supported and led by Prof. Dr. Eng. Todor Todorov, MTF, who is himself a musician. Prof. Todorov introduced the musicians and told about the formation of the rock band, reminding the audience that at the Technical University, since his student years, there have always been groups, and he expressed his joy at being part of the work of the young musicians.
In the evening of the second working day of the forum, an exhibition of contemporary art – wood sculpture by the Association "Group 9", titled "ECHO Industrial 5.0", was opened and arranged in the foyer of the National Center for Mechatronics and Clean Technologies at TU – Sofia, followed by a cocktail party, which was also the Christmas celebration of the main organizer of the event – the Department for Foreign Language Education and Applied Linguistics.
The organizers consider the event successful in achieving the goals they set for conducting the scientific forum – to discuss current topics and issues related to modern education, with researchers and teachers, students and doctoral students from Bulgarian and European universities participating in the discussions, and this year participants and guests from universities in Asia, South and North America also joined. Also, part of the program was to include cultural and social events that would present national culture, through which another perspective would be presented, ideas of the contemporary era would be expressed in another language, such as the language of art, representatives of the academic community would meet in a more informal environment, where they could freely exchange ideas and plan future cooperation in academic work and scientific projects.
