From Leiden to Una Europa: Joanne van der Leun takes on role as alliance chair
This month, Leiden University’s Joanne van der Leun steps into the role of Chair of Una Europa’s Board of Directors. She does so at an important moment of transition for Una Europa.
Under Interim Secretary General Sophia Karner, the alliance of 11 leading European research universities, including Leiden University, is preparing for its next round of European Commission funding through the European Universities initiative. Ahead of this pivotal year, Joanne reflects on leadership lessons gleaned as former Dean of Leiden Law School, the importance of shared priorities and a surprising similarity between her Dutch garden and the fruits of the alliance. This interview was first published on the Una Europa website.
How does it feel to take on this leadership role as incoming Chair of Una Europa’s Board of Directors?
'I feel very grateful to be part of Una Europa and the experimentation going on within the alliance. To be able to chair the Board is something I’m really looking forward to. It’s an energising opportunity.'
Una Europa is in a time of transition. How will the alliance navigate this?
'First of all, the Board is really happy that Sophia Karner has stepped in as an Interim Secretary General. She has the full support of the community. I trust that we will find our way through the current changes. A transition period is very normal after a couple of years. People change – people on the Board change, people at our partner universities change. A transition period comes with challenges, but I also see it as an opportunity. The European Universities alliances are all about change. It's very healthy that we go through this ourselves.'
As incoming Chair of the Una Europa Board of Directors, how do you plan to steer the alliance through this chapter?
'I think it’s very important to make more choices for the years to come: to focus on our shared priorities. What are the successes that we can build on? What do we want to do differently? Una Europa started out as a big candy store; everybody wanted to do everything at the same time. Now we're coming to the stage that we have to be more selective and say, okay, maybe we do less, but we do it better. Our next round of funding will be for two years, which is not that long. It’s very important for us to think about what it is that we really want to scale up in the long term.'
Is there a particular aspect of the alliance’s work in the coming period that resonates with you?
'Interdisciplinarity is very close to my heart. Students now and in the future need the ability to talk to people from other disciplines. It’s very important that we develop as many opportunities as possible for students and PhD students to develop these skills.
The Interdisciplinary Hubs [academic nodes that will power interdisciplinary research, education and outreach across the alliance] are another kind of transition: we are enabling the alliance’s academic Self-Steering Committees to grow into Interdisciplinary Hubs, where academics, professional services staff and students can all be engaged, working together. Interdisciplinarity is a core part of what we do.
I sometimes sense that people feel that this means that we don't value disciplines, but that's not the case. It's also about strong disciplines that connect well with other disciplines. We aim at to make the Hubs more open and engage more people from the partner universities’ communities – especially people who want to transcend the boundaries of their own specialism or their own discipline.'
How would you describe your personal leadership style?
'For me, academic leadership is all about inclusion and engaging the community. I strongly believe in shared leadership. Leadership at all levels of the alliance is crucial – students, staff and academics really have to work together. That's one of the experiences I value from my time as Dean at Leiden Law School. It's very important to sit together with academics, with professional services staff and with students every now and then and not all stay in your own pillar. Listening is very important.
Leadership must be rooted in values. The European values that Una Europa stands for are very important for me – an open, inclusive, diverse, and globally relevant alliance. It's vital to live these values ourselves.
Taking the time to reflect is also very important to me. What are we doing? How are we doing things? Are we still happy with the way things are going? In my free time, I'm a keen gardener. I grow my own veggies and my beautiful Dutch flowers. So I know that planting seeds at the right time in the right location is really important. But it also takes time. You have to trust the seeds to grow into beautiful plants.'