Universities around the world are grappling with the challenge of establishing a learning and teaching culture that is built upon the notion of teaching excellence. The launch of the teaching excellence framework (TEF) in the UK; the drafting of position papers on teaching excellence on the part of the Universitas 21 (U21) Network; the growth in teaching excellence awards; the development of an ‘accreditation culture’ in universities: these are all evidence of the increasing importance accorded to teaching excellence – this, at a time when, in many universities, teaching and learning itself has to compete with a range of other priorities, most notably, research, for academics’ time and attention.

Attempts to develop and promote high quality teaching and learning inevitably involve stakeholders at all levels of the university, from faculty members who teach in the classroom, to academic heads who lead and manage the culture, and senior management who are responsible for establishing policy direction and strategy. This conference will draw on wisdom from each of these constituencies, who, together, Co-Construct Excellence in university learning and teaching.

We warmly invite you to participate in this conference, held at the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning of the University of Hong Kong. The main aim of the conference will be to explore, and achieve some measure of consensus on, how we define and measure teaching excellence, and how we set about building, recognising and reinforcing a culture of teaching excellence in our institutions.