31 March, 2023

Meet the AEC Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality (DIGE) Working Group

What are your working group goals for the project?

In our Working Group, we are creating a resource package designed to support the AEC institutions to deal with issues of diversity, inclusion and gender equality. In addition to this, we continue to develop models for onsite and online workshops for institutions that wish to have interactive, collegial sessions for their staff and students on these topics. Building on the work of the AEC-SMS Diversity, Identity, Inclusiveness Working Group and in collaboration with the Gender Equality and Non-discrimination Mainstreaming Task Force one of our key themes is how resistance to change is perceived, experienced and encountered in institutions.

What are some outputs you are currently working on?

At the moment we are working on the different sections of the resource package, including interviews with several teachers and administrators about initiatives and programmes aimed at promoting diversity, inclusion and gender equality. We are particularly interested in the challenges they have encountered and how they have tackled these challenges. We search for diverse and perhaps contrasting examples because in these matters there is no one-size-fits-all; we hope institutions will feel encouraged to develop actions fitting their local culture and needs. To explore how these issues are connected to the core artistic practices in the institutions is crucial and endlessly exciting to explore and discuss together!