The European League of Institutes of the Arts - ELIA is the primary independent network organisation for higher arts education. With over 300 members in 47 countries, it represents some 300,000 students in all art disciplines. ELIA advocates for the arts on the European level, creating new opportunities for its members and facilitating the exchange of best practices.

Objectives

• strengthening the position and influence of the arts and higher arts education at regional, national, European and international levels


• promoting the values of higher arts education within the European Society of Knowledge and Creativity


• promoting the function of the arts as a central aspect contributing to the strategy for cultural and economic development and regeneration


• upholding and promoting the diversity of cultures and to foster communication between European and non-European cultures viewed as partners in a global cultural society


• supporting the establishing and the maintaining of adequate social and political conditions for the free development of education in the arts and the specific needs of education in the arts and of art production

Events
Together with its member institutions, ELIA initiates conferences, symposia, publications and research projects, targeting all sectors of the higher arts education community - artists, teachers, leaders, managers and students - as well as the wider public.

• The ELIA Biennial Conference - a world-class event profiling current developments in higher arts education and facilitating dialogue.


• The Teachers’Academy - an international platform for ideas and practices for teachers in art schools in Europe and beyond.


• The Leadership Symposium - a meeting of selected leaders and key decision makers representing a diverse set of arts and design institutions throughout the world.

Projects
The most recent projects of ELIA include:

• SHARE (Step-Change for Higher Arts Research and Education) - an international networking project, with 39 contributing partners in 36 countries, and structural support from the EU, working together on enhancing the '3rd cycle' of arts research and education.


• The annual NEU/NOW Festival - an innovative international platform and showcase for talented graduating students and recent graduates (within one year of graduation) – of Higher Arts Education Institutions and Universities across Europe and beyond – to present themselves to a wide international audience.


• EQ-arts - a community of trained and highly experienced professionals in Higher Arts Education who have developed and tested a Quality Assurance methodology through conducting institutional and subject reviews across Europe.

The ELIA Digital Library, featuring abstracts, downloads of full publications, and supplementary material, is freely available to the public.