Inclusion, Diversity,
Anti-Racism & Equity
IDARE is a community that fosters an inclusive environment at NHL Stenden where everyone is and feels treated equally, where respect is the norm and diversity is valued.
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement created an impact on popular culture. The movement sparked a conversation within NHL Stenden and the question that we asked ourselves: What are we doing to promote inclusion, diversity, anti-racism, and equity within NHL Stenden? The conversation led to creating an IDARE working group in Fall 2020 by the Director of Internationalisation, Dr Wayne Johnson.
IDARE working group is directly linked with two of the pillars of X-Honours – Multidisciplinary and Value-driven. Students and employees are involved from several academic disciplines and professional specialisations to approach the topic of inclusivity, diversity, anti-racism and equity by collaborating with various students, employees, faculties, departments, and professionals within the organisation and externally. IDARE project members value working together; they are constantly improving themselves, their team, their environment, and their tools; and they strive to live an appropriate set of values.
The word “IDARE” is an acronym created from inclusion, diversity, anti-racism, and equity. The IDARE working group consists of ten members, including five teachers and five students. The mission is to make our university of applied sciences a more safe, inclusive and diverse environment for our employees and students.
In one of their recent webinar, they started with a visualisation exercise for everybody to identify, within themselves, that maybe they hold some unconscious bias without being aware. The moderator also shared some examples of biases and explained the differences between biases and stereotypes.
They invited students and staff from NHL Stenden to talk about the biases they have themselves unconsciously exerted upon others which they later realised were inappropriate and maybe potentially hurtful. The participants also shared their biases directed towards themselves and how they personally deal with these situations. They also discussed ways in which everyone can reduce biases in education. Overall, they gained some great insight into how people can be made aware of their biases and reduce biases.
IDARE offers a listening ear to employees and students of NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences.
IDARE is committed to a more inclusive environment within the NHL Stenden, and they think it is essential to make what often remains invisible more visible. Everyone has an opportunity to request help and submit an anonymous report through IDARE. Any employees and students can share stories or register any incidents related to IDARE principles: inclusion, diversity, anti-racism, and equity.
IDARE organises online and on-campus events and activities for students and employees of all NHL Stenden campuses in the Netherlands.
IDARE working group organises numerous online events and activities through Microsoft Teams to make the events and activities accessible for all the students and employees of NHL Stenden throughout the Netherlands. They also organise on-campus events and activities, such as panel discussions, guest lectures, lunch talks, and create a presence at NHL Stenden events, e.g. Study Start Week, international month, international conferences, etcetera.
Webinars
IDARE invites employees, students, and stakeholders to participate in the panel discussion on various topics connected to inclusion, diversity, anti-racism, and equity during the webinars. Their webinars aim to increase the awareness of the IDARE principles for the faculties, employees, and students of NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences.
Online Café
IDARE invites everyone within NHL Stenden twice a month for a short online discussion about anything on their minds or to listen and connect with others. The conversation topics range from accessibility to gender to oppression to religion and beyond.
Students have the opportunities to volunteer with IDARE working group.
Most study programmes within NHL Stenden require completing a certain amount of volunteering hours. Students can choose to volunteer with IDARE events and activities or volunteer with the social media team.
Do you have a question, a suggestion, or would you like to contribute actively to a more inclusive NHL Stenden? You’re welcome to contact them via email: idare@nhlstenden.com.