Designing for Inclusion Programme
Designing for Inclusion
Student-Led Action Research projects.
The problem:
At Warwick, it is expected that everyone contributes to making it a safe, welcoming, and productive environment for students and staff. The University has a number of initiatives to help provide a warm and inclusive working and learning environment, recognising and respecting all individuals' differences.
However, our project team wants to support students and staff to do more.
We asked students to identify problems from their everyday experiences and work with us to find innovative solutions that make the campus a more equal, diverse, and inclusive place to live, study, and work.
Run by the Chemistry Department – in collaboration with IATL and WIE – the Designing for Inclusion Programme is working with five interdisciplinary student-staff teams from across all faculties who want to make change.
- The students on these teams are paid to attend the four-week programme and make change.
- Once the project teams complete the programme, they will be given funding and project management support to embed their solutions for EDI problems at Warwick over the summer.
The programme:
The successful project teams have joined the Designing for Inclusion programme. We are supporting five student-led teams through a structured programme to solve these problems. Over the four-week programme the teams will have the opportunity to bring together design thinking and project support tools, to create interdisciplinary, co-created solutions.
The sessions:
The in-person sessions will take place over four consecutive Wednesday afternoons between February 22nd and March 15th. They will run from 3-5pm on campus. Each student-led team will also have a mentor for support, alongside a Teams Channel, and online materials to help them
co-create a solution to their EDI problem.
Learning approach
Students and staff working on the programme will learn Design Thinking and Sprint skills, as well as explore their passion for making things better for others, and develop a growth mindset.
The project teams will also join a network of change makers and embed their solutions over the summer period and beyond.
The solution:
Once these student-staff teams have completed the programme and developed their prototype solution, we will support them to test and embed their solutions over the summer.
What we are offering teams over the summer:
- Funding and support to test their solution at Warwick.
- Funds to pay student team members to meet with staff and embed their solutions.
- Teams will be supported to build networks, manage change, and apply for new funding.
- Teams will have the chance to present at the Warwick Social Inclusion Conference in June.
- Teams will be invited to write a blog, record a podcast, and co-create a toolkit for future groups of students and staff to lead change at Warwick.
- Teams will be invited to present their work as examples of best practice at webinars for staff and students next academic year.
- Teams will be able to log their work on the programme as part of your Warwick Award.
Selected Projects
The projects selected by the student-led panel are detailed below. They will develop over the coming weeks as these teams move through the Designing for Inclusion programme, and start to define their problem and develop their interdisciplinary solution.
BAME Grad Schemes
Project team drawn from the Law and the Life Sciences.
Women in STEM
Project team drawn from Computer Science, WBS, Chemistry, and WMS.
Decolonising Education
Project team drawn from Psychology, GSD, SMLC, Philosophy, and English Literature.
WP Lifecycle in SMLC
Project team drawn from SMLC, Hispanic Studies with Film Studies, Politics and International Studies with French, and Modern Languages with Linguistics.
Thrive Together
Project team drawn from Sociology and English with Comparative Literary Studies.
Get Involved
You can still get involved in the testing and embedding work over the summer. If you are interested, email Tom.Ritchie@warwick.ac.uk
Collaboration and Funding
While the project is part of the Chemistry Department's 'We are Chemistry' programme and features in the Inclusive Education Action Plan, it is run in collaboration with IATL and Warwick Enterprise, who have helped to fund and develop the initiative.
The project team would like to thank the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL) for their project support and funding to run the Designing for Inclusion programme.
The project team would like to thank the Warwick Enterprise for their guidance, support, and funding to run the Designing for Inclusion programme.
The project team would like to thank students and staff from Warwick Chemistry for their ideas and enthusiasm when co-creating the Designing for Inclusion programme.