Chevening Conference: Collaborative Leadership at Bradford University

On Friday, 31 March 2017, Cheveners met at Bradford University to attend the Chevening Collaborative Leadership Conference. As spring has now well and truly arrived in the UK, one can hear the excitement of it in scholars’ morning discussions; Easter plans and weekend gateways brighten up the talks in between the dissertation topic brainstorms.

The conference began enthusiastically with Professor Brian Cantor, the Vice Chancellor of University of Bradford discussing memorable moments from the 60’s; the Beatles, Mohammed Ali, the atomic bomb, and Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. We also heard about the events that influenced the world during the launch of the University of Bradford, which is now one of the finest technology universities of UK. I was also delighted and impressed to hear that Bradford is ‘the 4th most sustainable campus in the world’. What a great atmosphere to learn about leadership and connect!

The keynote lecturer of the conference was Professor Keith Grint, the Public Leadership & Management Professor from Warwick Business School. Professor Grint gave a speech on how collaborative leadership is performed and perceived by society. He defined the different types of problems and the decision styles future leaders should be prepared to have when facing these problems. After listening to Professor Grint’s informative and inspiring speech, Cheveners split into different groups to share and listen to scholar sessions on four different topics: Cities & Communities, International Development, Governance & Policy and Health.

I attended the Cities & Communities session which was hosted by three scholars from different countries. First, a fellow Chevener from Paraguay gave a speech about reporting on incorrectly parked cars to the public authorities via game application in Paraguay. The second topic was the terrorism of Boko Haram in Cameroon, and finally the importance of cartography before and after the occurrence of typhoons in the Philippines.

During lunch break, Cheveners networked while brainstorming about the recent lectures. Posters that scholars designed on the current topics presented over the conference area.

In the afternoon, the academic panel session on Collaborative Leadership, hosted by Professor Shirley Congdon with the panelists Professor Caroline Hughes, Professor Crina Oltean-Dumbrava, Professor Zahir Irani and Doctor PB Anand took place in the Great Hall. Each panelist explained collaborative leadership in a context related to their field, however, the core point remained the same: only by a collaborative style of leadership will all countries realise that we can address and overcome the challenges of our current era such as terrorism, authoritarianism and global warming.

The second half of the afternoon was spent in another set of scholar sessions on topics including Human Rights, Business, Media & Communication and Environment. During the Media & Communications session, a fellow Chevener from Afghanistan gave a talk on moving from an era of surveillance to an era of information abundance. Another Chevener from Yemen addressed the importance of taking care of refugee children regardless of their nationality.

The day ended with Alumni Speaker Nhung Thi Thanh Pham sharing her recent NGO initiative about using technology to improve Vietnamese children’s lives. After an inspiring Q&A with our Alumni, Professor Gwendolen Bradshaw, Pro-Vice Chancellor of University of Bradford made the final closing marks and left us thinking: ‘Who do we influence?’. She finished by reminding Cheveners that reflection is a key point in every relation and collaborative leadership act.

Cheveners then moved to the drinks reception to finish their conversations started earlier in the day, exchanged contacts and made new connections for future international friendships.

Thank you to Bradford University for taking part in the Chevening Treasure Hunt 2021/2022. #CheveningTreasure