From July 9 to 12, 2024, Goethe University Frankfurt hosted the conference for the “Working Group Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Science and Society” from U15 Canada and German U15. All heads of the 30 universities met last year in Ottawa and signed a cooperation agreement for a long-term strategic collaboration. They decided to work together on pressing questions of our time, with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) being one of them. This documents the commitment to social responsibility, aiming to develop, explore, and test new strategies, structures, and processes for our society.
Prof. Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt, acts as chair of the EDI working group, which seeks to exchange ideas and develop a “Joint Position Paper on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Canadian and German U15 Research Collaboration”, which is to be approved at the next joint meeting. The planning group, consisting of members from Queen’s University, University of Saskatchewan, University of Hamburg, and Goethe University Frankfurt, and coordinated by the Equal Opportunities Office at Goethe University, organizes the working process.
Work on the exchange and joint position paper started in January 2024. About 60 representatives from the U15 Canada and German U15 universities joined to discuss challenges, policies, and high-impact practices regarding EDI, as well as future opportunities for collaboration. The working group has met in three online meetings (tackling a wide range of time zones) before over 40 colleagues followed the invitation to Frankfurt in July.
In the first online work session, held in February, university members working on EDI shared state-of-the-art and high-impact-practices at their universities, and outlined both core challenges, and ambitions. The second work session in March broadened the perspective by including the voices of scholars and scientists from the participating universities, who offered not only their invaluable expertise but also insights into their personal experiences and specific needs regarding EDI. In the third work session in April, university members working on EDI identified common needs across our universities as well as shared topics and mutual interests. The results of all three digital work sessions were compiled into a draft for the Joint Position Paper on EDI.
At the conference in July, the draft was discussed in detail and a consensus reached on its structure, approach, and topics. In addition and maybe most importantly, future collaborative projects were identified. Based on this, the draft will now be revised by the planning group and afterwards submitted to the heads of the Canadian and German U15 associations for discussion and approval.
Beyond being highly inspiring, the exchange has also constituted a great opportunity for colleagues in Canada and Germany to benefit from each other’s knowledge and experiences. The discussions and the Joint Position Paper reflect the complexity of the issues at hand and the importance of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in academia and in a broader societal context.
As Goethe University President Schleiff pointed out during the conference in Frankfurt: “We are thankful for the opportunity to embrace the exchange with our Canadian and German colleagues as part of the long-term strategic collaboration between U15 Canada and German U15. We need to strengthen our bonds to protect our democratic values and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are key components of those shared values.”
Office for Equal Opportunities,
Daniela Heitzmann and Katharina Meyer
