The International Educational Leadership Conference

March 3-5, 2027, Hungary

Theme: "CALLED" - Forming, Equipping, and Empowering Christian Leaders and Educators to Carry the Mission

Location: Mercure/Ibis Budapest Castle Hill, Budapest, Hungary

     41-43 Krisztina krt, 1013 BUDAPEST. Hungary

What is IELC?

The International Educational Leadership Conference brings together Christian school leaders for strategic collaboration and inspiration from across Europe and beyond. ACSI Europe has hosted the IELC since 2015 for participants from more than 40 countries and we are blessed to be able to partner with you for the promotion of quality Christ-centered education around the world.

Conference Goals:

• Inspire a shared vision for Christian education globally
• Encourage fellowship among Christian school leaders
• Encourage collaboration among Christian schools
• Inspire biblical leadership through interactive sessions

Donations and Conference Costs

• Your donations can enable a school leader to attend IELC! We will match your gift to a specific need at your request. Give online HERE.
• Conference fees can be paid online and receipted from ACSI HERE. 

Conference Venue: Mercure Hotel (Castle Hill), Budapest, Hungary

• The Mercure Hotel venue includes hotel options as well as meals for participants. Meals (other than breakfast) are included in the Conference Fee. 
• Please book your own lodging based on your preferences. Rooms will be available at special rates. 
  • IBIS rooms with breakfast included - Single room: 95 E, Double: 109 E
  • Mercure rooms with breakfast included - Single room: 110 E, Double: 126 E
  • The links for booking will be included here soon.
• Room availability is guaranteed until 1 February, with a special rate available for participants. After this date, availability cannot be assured. You may also look for other local accommodations that might fit your needs.

Keynote Speakers:

Neil Malherbe
Neil Malherbe is the National Director of ACSI South Africa. Over his career, he has taught and held leadership roles in a number of schools across South Africa, bringing classroom and leadership experience to his work supporting Christian schools nationwide.

Christian Baldauf
Christian Baldauf leads the VEBS-Akademie, the training and professional development arm of the Verband Evangelischer Bekenntnisschulen (VEBS), the association of evangelical Christian schools in Germany. In this role, he equips educators and school leaders to grow in their calling and practice.

Jonas Turunen
Jonas Turunen is the Director of Espoon kristillinen koulu (Espoo Christian School) in Finland. He leads the school community in providing quality education grounded in a Christian worldview.

Laci Demeter
Laci Demeter serves as the Director of ACSI Europe, where he supports and connects Christian schools and educators across the continent, helping them pursue excellence in Christ-centered education.

Program Details:

• The event begins with 17:30 dinner on Wednesday and ends with 12:30 lunch on Friday. See the DRAFT schedule.
• This conference will highlight keynote speakers who are leaders in Christian educational philosophy and practice and engage our hearts and our minds with God's Word.
• Workshops will be available, presented by highly experienced and qualified educators working in Christian school settings.
• Various learning tracks will be offered to participants wanting to focus their attention on themes related to the opportunities for Christian education to address real and pressing challenges in our communities.
• If you do not speak English, you will need to provide your own translator for networking. There are various apps such as GoogleTranslate that can be used for simultaneous written translation in selected languages when translation is unavailable.

Workshops

The conference committee will select the workshops for the conference from the submitted proposals. The proposal form will be available in September.

Workshop Titles and Descriptions:

1. Workshop submissions are open. Please submit this form for review.
2. All workshops must fit within the conference theme and be related to the opportunities for Christian education to address real and pressing challenges in our culture and educational context. 
3. Please make your titles and descriptions "attention getting" and informative.
4. Many of the conference participants will be non-native English speakers but workshops must be presented in English. Translation for some languages may be available in the Super Seminar.

The ACSI Europe Christian School Improvement Platform (CSIP)

ACSI is committed to supporting excellence in both academics and spiritual formation for Christian schools. ACSI Europe has developed a multi-lingual tool to build school communities through identifying strengths and weaknesses in a setting of strategic professional support between member schools and partner organizations. Your use of this platform as a member school will further enable you to build meaningful partnerships through your connections at IELC that best support the needs of your school community. You can read more about CSIP here.

Conference Booths and Partnership Development:

• Organizations can be assigned space to host conversations with other participants during the conference breaks.
• We encourage you to think about ways that you want to collaborate with schools from other countries for mutual benefit and support based in a biblical vision of education. The best encouragement for partnership is highlighting what you can offer to others in these partnership opportunities.
• Reserve your table by February 15, 2027. An sponsorship fee will be collected for any organizations promoting paid services or products.

Projected Conference Costs: 

Note that conference prices do not include accommodation. We will provide a link to discounted prices at the conference hotel where you may reserve your preferred room type in your confirmation email. You may also select from other local accommodation options.

* This is a subsidized price for certain member schools, from Central and Eastern Europe.

All registrations include 2 dinners, 2 lunches, 4 coffee breaks, access to main sessions, workshops, translation options, conference materials, the digital conference resources and networking.

Payment and Cancellation Policy:

• Conference fees must be paid by February 15, 2027.
• Payment can be made by credit card or bank transfer after completing the registration process.
• Cancellations between January 15 and February 15 receive a 50% refund.
• No refunds or cancellations after February 15.

Updated on Nov 5