Dedicated to a culture of inclusion

The importance of inclusion was the focus of a key talk and workshop delivered by Essex as part of a major event organised by our European partnership YUFE.

Leading representatives from the ten university partners of YUFE – Young Universities for the Future of Europe – came together this month for the alliance’s first Annual Strategic Forum in Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland.

The programme started with a series of lectures and workshops as part of the YUFE Academy. This was followed by talks, discussions and working sessions on the future of the alliance and partners’ experiences of being a European higher education institution in a global setting.

During the three-day event, Karen Bush, YUFE’s Strategic Lead for Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity based at the University of Essex, was asked to give a talk about LGBTQ+ inclusion and also led a workshop on ‘Creating a culture of inclusion’ in which some of the alliance’s key leaders explored a range of the ways in which they could bring the YUFE values to life and create an inclusive culture of belonging, where everyone can thrive.

“It was great to see our partners across Europe so open and committed to creating a culture of inclusion,” said Karen. “Having workshops like these, which are held regularly as part of the YUFE annual cycle of meetings, shows the importance YUFE places on putting our values into action, whilst recognising the scale of the task we face in doing so.”

Essex’s Acting Institutional Coordinator for YUFE, Dr Dorian Hayes, added: “Karen’s talk was wonderfully insightful and inspiring, and the large audience of staff and students (in person and online) seemed very engaged and moved by the event.”

• Karen Bush’s full talk is available on YouTube.