Co-Created EDI Projects

Find out more about the projects happening within departments to promote Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, co-created between staff and students. This forms part of the ongoing work to deliver inclusive education to all students.

2024-25

Changemaker Book Club

Department: Warwick Business School

Date: 2024-25

Summary: Co-created by students and staff, the CMBC is a unique, inclusive space to grow your mindset, your skills and your community as a Change Maker!

A 'change maker' is someone who sees not just what is, but what could be. They begin with themselves - asking hard questions, staying curious, and choosing growth every day.

Books fit perfectly into this vision, as powerful tools for change. They shape how we see ourselves and the world, stretching our empathy, offering new perspectives, and reminding us what's possible.

This is the key vision and motivation which inspired the team from WBS to create the Changemaker Book Club.

The Change Maker Book Club has been designed with two tracks, both of which are led by students and hold regular meetings a few times per month:

The Sustainability Track enables students to dive into powerful reads that tackle themes of inclusion, wellbeing, sustainability, and inspire action for a more just and regenerative future;

The Innovation Track allows students to explore creativity, leadership, and entrepreneurial thinking through books that spark new ways of solving real-world problems.

To find out more about the Changemaker Book Club, and future events, you can see their webpages here.

StEPs Initiative

Department: School of Life Sciences

Date: 2024-25

Summary: This initiative offers students the opportunity to undertake small, student-led projects in SLS that they believe will benefit the student experience.

This initiative launched a 'dragon's den' style opportunity for students, who were able to pitch a project centred around Inclusive Education models, or aligned with the priorities of one or more of the Student Networks within SLS. Marketed as 'quick win' student experience projects, students were encouraged to apply for funding of between £250-400 to complete their student-led experience project.

In 2024-25, the department were able to fund two of the applications. The first was a dinner and documentary night themed around sustainability, and the second is an ongoing Macroculture project, helping to capture and celebrate the diversity in SLS.

The BEE Project

Department: School of Education, Learning & Communication Sciences (SELCs)

Date: 2024-25

Summary: The BEE (Belonging Through Educational Environments) project is a student-led co-creation project within the newly-formed SELCs. The project considers student experiences of belonging and its contribution to presence, participation and achievement.

The project team are attending to work already underway around ‘Belonging’ within HE institutes (including Warwick) and are situating their discussions in relation to the Students Needs Framework (Advance HE, 2023) and understandings of Belonging and Community already established. The BEE project team are exploring belonging at subject, pedagogic and social level across a range of social sciences students. The project aims to produce materials and resources that will support staff and students to activate belonging as an ongoing endeavour for staff and students (rather than a destination to be reached).

This project work is aimed at identifying how students experience a sense of belonging within their own educational environments. This might relate to feeling welcome within learning spaces but also a sense of belonging within their subject experience of resources and materials. They are examining how experiences of belonging can change from moment to moment and how re-conceptualising what it means to belong, can support inclusive educational environments.

This project will result in some key outputs - a student-led workshop for staff/students across the faculty, and a celebration event to share the website resource created by students. This website will include student examples, criteria for continuous evaluation of belonging and a project report to be submitted for review in an academic journal.

The intention is for this project to lead to a new understanding of ‘actioning’ belonging at individual student, staff, department and faculty level. Findings from this project could be used to form a criteria for evaluating belonging that can be used to improve teaching and learning in interdisciplinary HE settings.

2023-24

Picture a Physicist

Department: Physics

Date: Ongoing

Summary: 'Picture a Physicist' is a peer-to-peer resource, created for students to celebrate diversity and emphasise that physics is for everyone. This is an ongoing project within the Department of Physics and has led to several spin-off projects and campaigns.

As well as student blogs and features on the 'Picture a Physicist' webpages, the team have expanded this initiative into several additional spin offs. These include:

Providing new first-year students with branded cloth bags to launch the resource;
Branding for open days;
Recruitment advertising campaigns;
Continuing the project with a 'question of the week' feature (questions from students answered by the staff and student community) - e.g. What do you wish you'd known at the start of first year?.

These initiatives all seek to build an authentic resource of real-life experiences and reflections from the staff and student community, increasing the strong sense of belonging within the department.

To find out more, visit the Picture a Physicist webpages.

Developing Student Handbooks/Welcome Week+

Department: School of Life Sciences

Date: Ongoing

Summary: The SLS student handbook has been created for students, by students, as an output of the newly-formed student networks within the department. The idea originated from conversations around supporting the transition to Higher Education, particularly for widening participation and first-generation students, and students with disabilities.

When the newly-formed Student Networks within the SLS met for the first few times, conversations revolved around what the students envisioned for the networks, the impact they could have on the student population as a whole, and what could be co-created for students.

The idea of a handbook came from conversations around supporting the transition to HE, not just for the student, but also for their friends and family, who may be unfamiliar with university language and processes - perhaps especially where the student is from a widening participation background.

The aims of this resource were:

To be a resource students could refer to at any point, especially early on for a variety of information;
To be a resource that students could share or work through with the people supporting them – bearing in mind it might be the first experience of supporting a student through HE;
To be a resource that demystifies aspects of university life and reduces any anxieties around the transition.

An example page is shown below:

Example page of the student handbook, giving advice on practical skills such as cleaning and doing laundry

This handbook made up a component of the department's Welcome Week + initiative. This is a student-led initiative designed to enhance transition processes, especially for students with disabilities, widening participation students, and first-generation students. It aims to provide accessible, balanced information, without overwhelming new students.

Parts of the student handbook were digitalised and added to the Welcome Week + webpages, providing accessible information to all students, directing them to essential resources, and enabling them to connect with student networks prior to their arrival.

To find out more about these initiatives, please see the presentation given to the SEM EDI Festival 2025.

Sensory Friendly Table Tennis

Department: Warwick Sport Active Wellbeing Team

Date: Since September 2023 (ongoing)

Summary: Working with students and the Autism at Warwick society to develop a programme of activities for students and staff that are inclusive for all.

Georgina Pilling, Sports Engagement Officer at Warwick Sport, works to increase student and staff engagement in physical activity.

She explains: "We have over 50 hours of free sport per week and we are striving to grow this further. One of our key aims is to ensure our Active Wellbeing programme is inclusive for all."

In September 2023, the Active Wellbeing Team collaborated with Autism at Warwick society to help develop the Rock Up & Play sessions on offer at the Sports and Wellness Hub. These sessions are free and allow participants to enjoy a non-competitive environment for all abilities.

Members of the society were given a tour of the Sports and Wellness Hub, and this prompted discussions on how the team could best support their members. As a result, Sensory Friendly Table Tennis sessions were planned into the timetable.

"I worked closely with the president of the society to ensure we reduced any barriers to accessing this session," added Georgina. This included creating a video of the route you would need to take to find the room in which the session was taking place."

Outputs: Find out more about Warwick Sport Link opens in a new windowand the Rock Up & Play sessionsLink opens in a new window.

Next steps: Due to the successful collaboration, The Active Wellbeing team plans to continue to work with Autism at Warwick to improve the society's student experience.

The team also aims to work with other societies and the Inclusive Education to improve provision for all abilities.

Disabilities Project

Department: Economics

Date: 2023-24

Summary: The Department of Economics organised a series of activities to support the integration of students with disabilities and neurodiversity within the Department.

EconInclusivity: Embracing Diversity and Inclusivity

This event (Feb 2024) promoted discussions on inclusivity with expert speakers and prizes were awarded for student essays. You can view the event webpage here.

Wear My Shoes: Sensory Awareness

This workshop in April 2024 raised awareness of sensory and disability issues. It was designed to enlighten, inspire, and foster deeper understanding and empathy. An interactive workshop immersed participants in the diversity of sensory perception, offering a glimpse into the various ways individuals experience the world around them. You can view the event webpage here.