Today the education sector is going through what most commentators see as an unprecedented period of change. The assumption is that in the wake of COVID-19, many standard modes of teaching and learning have changed forever. However, while the flux of recent times appears to have been enormous, many aspects of what we do remains the same. Our need to publish, bring in research funding, and get positive student assessments have not gone away. The knowledge we need to impart, and the mindsets we seek to loosen or develop, remain as engrained as ever. Similarly, long established research areas are still to be explored. Whether it be the environment, learning psychology, social networks, creative practice or design thinking, what we research remains relevant and pressing.

In addition, despite the ‘strangeness’ of the change around us, some disciplines find themselves in unexpectedly familiar domains. The digital arts, media and communication studies are operating on platforms many see as natural. The proponents of distance learning are employing techniques they had been honing for years. Acolytes of educational technologies are perfecting platforms they have been developing for decades. The effect of the pandemic on our teaching and research then, is far from uniform or wholly negative.

Set in this context, this conference reminds us that the pandemic is only one aspect of what it is to be an educator and researcher today. Asking us to take a step back from the flux we have been in recently, it invites us to refocus on our teaching and research topics. Importantly, it welcomes presentations that highlight pedagogy and research that has continued unaffected by remote teaching, as well as examples were radical realignments have been necessary. Whether it be in the fields of the arts, design, social or environmental sciences, this conference seeks to better grasp the tenor of teaching and research in today’s changing academy.