Reflections on the WAHEN Global Communities Seminar Series

Between January and March 2026, the World Access to Higher Education Network (WAHEN) delivered a vibrant and thought‑provoking Global Communities Seminar Series, bringing together widening access and participation professionals from across the world. Across six seminars, the series showcased how institutions, networks, and practitioners are responding creatively to shared challenges in higher education access. Speakers from 22 different countries contributed perspectives grounded in their local contexts but resonant across borders, reflecting the truly international nature of access challenges and solutions.

The seminars explored multiple interlinked themes spanning the learner journey, institutional responsibility, and system‑level change. Together, they highlighted how widening participation efforts are evolving to address not only entry into higher education, but also progression, postgraduate access, employability, and long‑term outcomes.

Several presentations stood out as particular highlights: John Gardner delivered a compelling contribution on the importance of broadening participation in postgraduate education, urging institutions to treat postgraduate access as a core equity issue rather than an optional extension of undergraduate widening participation work. His session prompted important discussion about structural barriers and the risks of reproducing inequality at advanced levels of study.

Another seminar featured Go Higher West Yorkshire, who shared the development of their free SEND-focused training platform for higher education practitioners. Designed collaboratively and grounded in sector need, the platform demonstrates how regional partnerships can support more inclusive and informed practice across institutions, particularly in supporting students with special educational needs and disabilities.

The series also heard from Dublin City University, who presented their highly successful Access to the Workplace programme. Now financially self‑sustaining, the programme offers a powerful example of how employability‑focused access initiatives can deliver long‑term impact for students while remaining viable and scalable for institutions.

Collectively, the 2026 Global Communities Seminar Series reinforced the value of learning across borders, sharing practice openly, and the importance of centring voices that have historically been under‑represented in international higher education debates. The breadth of contributors and approaches reflected WAHEN’s commitment to creating space for dialogue that is inclusive, critical, and globally connected.

Watch the full seminar series on the WAHEN YouTube channel and continue the conversation on widening access and participation across global contexts.