Sunshine, Grassroots & Green shoots: Empathetic Academic Leadership from Department Heads to Students; Why Does it Matter?

Description

This workshop will explore how academic leaders, educators and students can foster a diverse, inclusive and humanistic learning environment. The central question is how we cultivate this sense of belonging and community?
To succeed, EDI on an institutional level must be about enacting culture change; organisational empathy and activism rather than box-ticking. This empathy begins at the top from leaders (the sunshine). Leadership which is compassionate, boundaried and authentic allows an atmosphere of collegiality, creativity and mutual respect. People who feel heard and valued for their unique characteristics, in their turn want to support and value others
The leadership must be matched by authentic buy-in from colleagues (the grassroots). Policy and practice must tap into the sense of justice that academics (who are drawn to research and education) must, almost by definition, have. This frames EDI away from following rules and towards an internally referenced sense of compassion and justice.
Finally, students (the green shoots) will be inspired by this culture of compassion to act as companions and counsellors. They will foster mental health and wellbeing, advocate for vulnerable student colleagues and build a robust interpersonal support system
This workshop is suitable for anyone who works with students and staff to provide an optimum environment for all to reach their full potential. As all facilitators are physiologists, contexts and examples will directly relate to experiences of physiology educators.

Period	15 Sept 2025
Event title	11th International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Workshop for Physiology Education : Towards a new global horizon in the teaching of Physiology
Event type	Conference
Location	Lowenstein, GermanyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International