The final conference of the PROFFORMANCE+ project taken place at 16 October, Budapest, with around 90 participants from 14 countries of Europe and beyond, was a closure of a 5 year collaboration among partners and experts of the PROFFORMANCE and PROFFORMANCE+ consortium and also celebrated the PROFFORMANCE community and the products developed in the frame of the projects. 

As the PROFFORMANCE Assessment tool, the PROFFORMANCE Short Courses and the PROFFORMANCE Teaching Excellence Database have already been presented at the online final event and award ceremony 4 June 2025, the gathering of PROFFORMANCE stakeholders in Budapest focused more on the practical usage of these tools. 

During the workshop, five different groups worked simultaneously on Padlet with the group facilitation of great professionals: national policymakers, institutional professionals (IPAs—International Profformance Ambassadors), experts and higher education teachers (the awardees), delegates from student organizations, and representatives of international cooperations.  
The event featured productive discussions and collaboration among participants, as well as testing and discussing the potential use of the PROFFORMANCE toolkit.

To set the scene and to get to the same ground, four lead experts presented on what the four priority areas in teaching and learning mean for EU/EHEA-national-institutional-individual level: Jan Beseda discussed Digitalization, Irine Darchia covered Internationalization, Silke Preymann focused on Inclusion & Diversity, and Barbara Gabriel addressed Sustainability.  
After the presentations, the group work began. Participants worked with a pre-selected set of assessment statements and started by sharing their individual contexts, challenges, and best practices. This discussion led to the definition of a mutually acceptable goal for quality development. They then specified their aim by creating SMART objectives for the short term, ensuring that these objectives were specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Once the planning process was completed, the groups had the opportunity to communicate their goals to other groups, ensuring alignment among the objectives defined at different levels.

From Assessment to Action Planning

Moving forward to the next phase of the Continuous Development Cycle, the Profformance Assessment Tool (PAT) and its new features were presented to the participants, and the PROFFORMANCE Institutional Ambassadors provided insights into their goals and practices, how the PAT can serve their institutional teaching and learning strategies the most.
Then, a common test of the PAT was implemented. Individuals made the SELF assessment, national and institutional representatives the PEER assessment and students the STUDENT assessment, to receive a complex picture of how they perceive the teachers’ competences.

Building the Future with PROFFORMANCE Tools

The final phase focused on action planning. Each group outlined concrete steps to achieve their SMART objectives and crafted messages to other stakeholder groups, identifying the support needed for successful implementation.
Participants also explored the PROFFORMANCE Short Courses and engaged in pair exercises to reflect on how the toolkit, CDC concept, and inter-level dialogue could be embedded in their own institutional contexts. Anca Greere concluded the event by summarizing the key lessons learned.

A Community That Keeps Growing

As the event drew to a close, participants shared heartfelt memories of the journey and the people who contributed to the project’s success. While the conference marked the end of a chapter, the PROFFORMANCE community continues to grow—open to new members and committed to advancing teaching excellence across borders.

Thank you to all who contributed to this inspiring journey!