Daša Grajfoner

Dr. Daša Grajfoner is Full Professor of Psychology and an internationally recognised scholar with academic and professional experience in the United Kingdom, Austria, and Slovenia. Her work integrates research, teaching, and applied practice in differential, organisational, and coaching psychology, with a strong focus on innovative approaches to learning and well-being. She has led and published empirical studies demonstrating the positive effects of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) on stress reduction, emotional balance, and psychological health. As a registered coaching psychologist with the British Psychological Society, Dr. Grajfoner combines insights from coaching psychology, leadership development, and AAI to explore how non-human partners — animals and increasingly artificial intelligence — can support learning and personal growth. Her current interests highlights how AI can extend coaching principles of reflection, empowerment, and psychological safety into education, shaping future learning ecosystems that are at once evidence-based, holistic, and deeply human.

Talk Description 
The student of the future will be supported by a hybrid ecosystem of learning partners. With the presence of robotic therapy animals, students show how quickly they can relax, engage, and open up non-human partners provide emotional grounding. Artificial intelligence offers cognitive scaffolding, mirroring thinking processes and personalising content, while the presence of therapy or robotic animals creates the reflective space where growth becomes meaningful. The profile of tomorrow’s learner is therefore not defined only by knowledge and skills, but also by their capacity to thrive in environments shaped by trust, psychological safety, empowerment, and transparency. Students will navigate learning that is deeply human anchored in wellbeing through animal-assisted activities, yet powerfully enhanced by technology and coaching principles.