For Dr. Silvia Gallagher, a Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, educational innovation is about more than just theory—it’s about connection. Since joining CHARM-EU at its launch, Silvia has been a driving force in quality assurance and creative pedagogy.
🌍 Dr. Silvia Gallagher – Trinity College Dublin
Role: Research Fellow in Trinity College Dublin, CHARM-EU Quality Officer and WP4 Implementation, Piloting and Evaluation of CHARM-EU Educational Portfolio Co-Lead.
Could you introduce yourself?
Hi! I am Dr. Silvia Gallagher a Research Fellow in Trinity College Dublin and I have been working on educational innovation and quality assurance in CHARM-EU since 2020.
How did you first get involved with CHARM‑EU?
I had been working in the online education space in Trinity College for a couple of years and I was interested in working with other European institutions and learning from their experiences. I was also interested in educational innovation and new ways of teaching and learning. I was really lucky to join CHARM-EU almost right when it started back in 2020 and have lived and worked through CHARM-EU as it has grown across the years.
What is your main role within CHARM-EU? Why is it meaningful to you?
I have lots of different roles in CHARM-EU, all mainly focused on education, but one aspect that I am really enthusiastic about is challenge based learning (CBL).
As challenge-based learning is one of CHARM-EU’s educational principles, I wanted to create something fun and active that everyone at any level or background could do to get a flavor of CBL. Myself, Jenny Kirkwood, Nina Shiel and Jake Byrne from Trinity College put our heads together and came up with the idea of a card game that could be used at educational events to show the power of CBL.
We piloted at European Researchers Night, and since then, it has been used across many of our Alliance activities across our institutions and outside of CHARM-EU.
Can you share a moment that represents what CHARM-EU means to you?
Seeing the first Masters in Global Challenges for Sustainability students sitting in our Trinity hybrid classroom was a great moment following all our work on the programme. The CHARM-ED call was another great moment for me seeing so many exciting educational projects being funded from partners across the Alliance.
I was also very happy to see the CBL game translated into many CHARM-EU partner languages, and getting emails from all over the world of teachers who want to use it or have used successfully it in their classrooms.
The card game is also part of our CHARM-EU service portfolio, where all those interested can get the guidelines and materials to adapt the game for their own educational purposes.
How has CHARM-EU influenced your development?
The best part of CHARM-EU are the people.
I have met people from so many different cultures, backgrounds and disciplines, and have worked with them on innovative educational projects and lots of fun ideas we come up with during our meetings. It has definitely helped my intercultural communication abilities, and being part of an alliance gives you so many opportunities. With the CHARM-EU game, I have seen it been used in many different contexts and it has helped me make connections with others in the Alliance.
Can you imagine how the CBL game can be developed in the future?
I would love to see the CBL game translated into all CHARM-EU languages, and we are working on another version which focuses on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion topics in particular.
What excites you about CHARM-EU’s future?
I am excited to see more collaborations between our partners that can create educational experiences and activities to help reconcile humanity with the planet!
If you had to describe CHARM‑EU in one word or short phrase, what would it be?
Solving challenges through collaboration!
The interactive CBL card game is part of the CHARM-EU Service Portfolio, the collection of CHARM-EU case studies and examples designed to inspire and support those who would like to adapt CHARM-EU solutions to their own context. Check out the CBL game resource here.