The first event of the European project LINEup – Longitudinal data for INequalities in Education – was held on 20 September 2024 in Germany, at the Karlsruhe University of Education.

The event opened with Martin Neugebauer, Professor at Karlsruhe University of Education who welcomed all participants and shared for the very first time the LINEup promotional video.

The event was attended by over 60 participants, including leading education and research experts.

The event included two keynote speeches by Francesca Borgonovi – Honorary Professor at the University Colle London (UCL) and Head of Skills Analysis at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Skills Centre – who discussed “Inequalities in education and the value of longitudinal data”, and Cordula Artelt – Director of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) – who presented the use of longitudinal data in Germany.

During the event, Veronica Mobilio – Head of the Research Unit of Fondazione per la Scuola – and Scientific Coordinator of the LINEup Project, presented the objectives and expected results of the LINEup project, while Panagiotis Kampilis and Maria Fragkiadaki – Researchers at the University of Piraeus –presented the first project report on “Tracing Educational Inequalities in Primary and Secondary Schools – Insights from a Systematic Review of Longitudinal and Repeated Cross-sectional Studies”.

Moreover, the event hosted two-panel sessions:

• The first one “Why is longitudinal data important? What does it take to set it up? A SWOT analysis”, featured high-profile speakers such as Abigail Huston (Teach4All Europe), Cordula Artelt (LifBi), Roberto Ricci (INVALSI), and Luis Pereira dos Santos (IAVE);
• The second one “‘Comparative Research on Educational Inequalities – Challenges, Key Findings, and Lessons Learned” featuring Professors Andreas Hadjar (University of Freiburg), Moris Triventi (University of Milan) who participated online, Steffen Schindler (University of Bamberg) coordinators of three now concluded European projects on educational inequalities (PIONEERED, EduLIFE, and LifeTrack).

The Opening Event was also attended by representatives of the other projects – Sister Projects, funded within the same Horizon Europe Call of LINEup – and past projects approved and focused on the same LINEup topic.

Highlights, key concepts and inspiring thoughts that emerged during the event were graphically illustrated by the Visual Facilitator Marco Serra, using visual storytelling techniques to create illustrative tables that facilitated the enjoyment of the content of the various discussion sessions and supported the active participation of the audience.

The event provided an important opportunity for networking and international discussion on using longitudinal data to study educational inequalities, highlighting the urgency of addressing these issues through a strongly evidence-based approach.

Useful materials:

• Read the full Opening Event Report
• Download the Project Leaflet
• Download the Event Infographics
  Speeches
  SWOT Analysis

Watch the LINEup Opening Event video highlights