We are thrilled to invite you to the fifth in-depth session of the Sustainability Dialogue on UT System Transformation, which takes place on Wednesday June 14 16:30 to 18:30 at Designlab: IDEATE. Again, and as ever, we need your expertise and (lived) experience to carve out a meaningful path together.
OVERARCHING GOALS OF THE SUSTAINABILITY DIALOGUE
- to discuss how we as UT contribute to "the development of a fair, sustainable and digital society between now and 2030" (from Shaping 2030)
- to ensure we honour the imperative for change and action on climate and sustainability coming from invested UT community members (bottom-up, grass-roots)
UT system transformation
For the final instalment of our in-depth Sustainability Dialogues, we plan something a little bit different; something more in keeping with the crescendo we have been working towards.
In more of a workshop-based session, we will work together to create a vision of the future university we want to be. A university that we are proud of and happy to belong to, and that helps us leave a positive legacy. We will take a human-centred systems approach to shift our mindsets and narratives about change. How we transform matters; the organisation has to guide everyone through difficult changes. For this we will adopt an appreciative, possibility-based, and solution-oriented mindset. We will also imagine various pathways that we connect with emotionally. We need to put a ‘dot on the horizon’ to help us answer what we want to leave behind as our legacy.
To help us achieve this, we have a Green Hub associate start-up joining us to guide our facilitation: MindPact. MindPact uses behavioural psychology, design thinking, and sustainable leadership in their work practice. They have helped key governmental, non-profit and start-up organisations with their change processes, such as APG, Alliander, ImpactHub, TUDelft, and Green Hub itself.
Imagining the future university
This session aims to honour early talks Green Hub held with the Diversity Equity and Inclusion office and the Student Union in 2022 – the precursor to these Sustainability Dialogues – about facilitating UT students and staff to imagine a university that they feel a sense of belonging to, feeling safe and able to contribute to the systemic crises we face.
We share this summarised synthesis of what was expected from the Open Topic that can maybe help inspire you for the day:
‘A Just, Thrivable, & Intersectional University’: A University that operates from and towards principles of climate, social & racial justice. A University that acts as a change agent and steward for planetary health.
