Northumbria hosted our inaugural Equality,
Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) conference on Wednesday 5 June 2024 with the aim
to showcase the intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches that the
Northumbria community takes to ensuring the University is an inclusive place to
work and study. The day was opened by Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive
Andy Long and featured a variety of key-note speakers, workshops,
presentations, seminars, and networking opportunities. Attendees of the
conference were represented by colleagues in all faculties, various areas of
professional support, students and invited guests.
We would like to thank all those who contributed to
the day and supported us to facilitate such a wonderful event.
The intention of the conference was to facilitate a
day that had been crafted by the voices of our community and as such, a call
out for contributions was sent out in early 2024. Being open to sessions, the
call out asked for prospective contributors to identify where they might showcase research or an interdisciplinary
approach to EDI, highlight lived experience, or facilitate a workshop. The EDI
team were delighted to receive expressions of interest from over thirty
individuals and groups, and all were offered a space to exhibit their work,
whether this was through a presentation, workshop or to be part of the project
library and initiative showcase.
The full agenda was
published in advance of the day to enable colleagues and students to sign up to
any keynotes, identify any parallel sessions they wished to attend, and to note
any dietary and catering requirements.
The EDI team appreciate all the
feedback received and, in align with other events, will use the valuable
insight to improve the EDI offering at Northumbria. Some examples of the
feedback received included:
“I
particularly liked the fact that EDI was thought of as 'belonging' to everyone
in the organisation; it was good to see that this isn't something that sits
solely in HR but that we should all have ownership over, and that is just as
important for our students, research participants or subcontractors. The
conference reminded us that we are not 'doing' EDI to gain awards or tick
boxes; we are doing it because it is a core part of our institutional values.
It gave us the space to think about EDI and freedom of speech across organisational silos, and how we can enact it in our day
to day activities.”
“The
speakers were all brilliant. The session kept to time really
well, the presentations were all very clear and easy to understand, and
everyone was audible because they correctly used the microphones.”
“It was great to meet people from
other networks and make connections which we are able to then use to develop
more services and support systems for students with more cohesion across the
university.”
To enable sharing of knowledge and learning to those unable to attend,
the following recordings, slides and posters are provided below: (Northumbria
log in required)
Recordings:
Slides:
Posters from the Project Library and Initiative
Showcase:
