AG Diversity? Equality!
1_WHO ARE WE?
We are an open, organic, self-organized group of international students and staff members at the IfA that share concerns on diversity and equality at our house and beyond, and who believe that there are things that can be done to improve the present situation regarding the underrepresentation of PoC or female professors, the biases in our curricula for critically rewriting the history of architecture, the gender and power-biases in architecture we want to become aware of, etc. For this reason, we have come together to openly discuss these issues, and develop an agenda of specific actions that can help to guide our community toward a more diverse and inclusive future, in terms of gender, sex orientation, age, health condition, cultural background, nationality, occupation, and economic status.
2_WHAT WE DID ALREADY
Our first action has been to launch an anonymous survey. The survey was addressed to all people at our house (newcomers and seniors; international and German people; bachelor, master and doctoral students; technical, administrative, teaching, and researching staff...to everybody) and tried to capture your views and demands on diversity and equality at IfA. The goal of the survey was to better understand and evaluate the current situation, and to collect as much input for improvement as possible, to form a base on which to begin working...
3_WHEN DO WE MEET?
Our small but engaged group started to gather last semester, and now we meet every first Wednesday of the month at lunch time at 14:00 in a hybrid mode (online in zoom and in person at changing places at IfA). In a totally democratic and horizontal way, we exchange ideas, draft our group strategy, and decide together what are our next steps. We invite everyone who shares the wish for a more open and equitable learning & working environment to come to our next meeting – that's everything you need to do to join the group, no paperwork this time ;)
4_WHY TO JOIN?
Many of you just arrived, and you may wonder if it is too early to give your opinion. Some of you will leave soon, and perhaps you doubt whether it is still relevant. But in the next months and years, major decisions will be made that will shape the social ethics of our institute, and that will have a great impact on our personal and professional lives as architectural students, practitioners, educators, and researchers, inside and outside IfA. We believe it is crucial that as many people as possible contribute to these decisions, and joining our working group, or any other working group at the institute, is a way to do so. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting!