“A calm sea never made a good sailor.” 

The expression fits very well now, two long years after the WHO declared the pandemic in early 2020. The waters are still turbulent, but we can now see a little deeper into them. The world has not only changed but has also accelerated its course. And Bett Brasil has taken all of this into account to focus on returning to in-person events, while—drawing on recent lessons—keeping some of the content available on an online platform as well.

When the sea became very rough, some (a few) had already anticipated this and continued on their courses without major changes. Others adapted to the resulting changes and acceleration and minimized the damage. The majority, however, felt the effects of the rough seas. The positive outcome of all this is that in education, despite the pros and cons, no one jumped into the sea or abandoned ship.

In every society—and “every” is neither hyperbole nor a figure of speech—the pandemic has forced organizations to reinvent themselves, and schools and educational institutions are no exception.

As part of the educational context and ecosystem, Bett Brasil—even in the midst of the storm, with rough seas—decided that we needed to take action for the future, because we knew that eventually the storm would pass. And we expanded our involvement in this landscape, focusing not only on our in-person and online events but also on standing alongside the education sector 365 days a year, as a platform that offers connections, innovative content, learning opportunities, and plenty of dialogue.

We are experiencing a unique moment in education, when there are no longer so many well-trodden and proven paths to follow. Today, we need to create, design, and experiment with new solutions.

It’s no surprise that we already have more than 270 exhibiting companies confirmed for this return event in 2022. We’ve expanded the exhibition area at the Transamerica Expo Center in São Paulo. We’ve maintained the major partnerships from 2019 (the last year of the in-person event) and have also expanded our network and brought in new partners. It’s worth noting that Microsoft, a global partner of Bett, will once again be with us in Brazil.

Both in the product and service exhibition area and throughout the event’s overall concept and content—including the Congress, Managers’ Forum, Learning Workshop, seminars, and third-party lectures—we have placed emphasis on the central theme: “Co-creating the Education of the Future.” Because co-creating for and within education means establishing a practice of working together collaboratively—making mistakes, getting things right, and learning along the way. This makes sense when we consider that the education sector—including administrators, teachers, students, and their families—currently needs spaces for listening, exchanging ideas and practices, and testing new approaches and innovative proposals.

Now that the storm has passed, it is time to take advantage of this period of reflection and adjustment to thoroughly analyze the various scenarios, draw on the lessons learned, and resume planning for the integration of educational technologies and methodologies—as well as the inevitable innovations—for both the present and the future.

At sea, it’s even possible to cross oceans alone. In education, it’s not. We need all educational stakeholders and institutions to work together. More than ever, education is a science—whether to improve practice or to apply evidence-based data. Bringing these two aspects together is a core principle of Bett Brasil. And that is precisely why we strike a balance at our event between pedagogical practices and research on one hand, and applied science in the products, services, and solutions featured in our exhibitor area on the other.

Bett Brasil is one of the largest and most important events in Latin America that addresses education in all its contexts, incorporating technology and innovation as drivers of quality education that promotes greater equity and inclusion. It is not possible to innovate in education while maintaining a traditional management model, without giving due importance to adaptability, flexibility, unpredictability, and creativity.

It is worth noting that one of the focal points this year will be higher education. Therefore, when planning the agenda for the Managers’ Forum, our goal was to address the impact of various aspects of management within a new global context, which should incorporate communication, financial matters, innovation, people management, and change. 

In short, this is just a summary and an overview of what to expect at Bett Brasil, May 10–13, at the Transamerica Expo Center in São Paulo. We believe that the past few years have made us better “sailors”—educators. Everyone, without exception, is connected in person (or virtually) to give their best, contribute, exchange ideas, engage in dialogue, and share their experiences, innovations, and trends to improve Brazilian education.

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