On 21 June 2023, within the framework of the international event INVENTICA 2023, ”Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania organized NATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY – SMILE Project.
Different groups of stakeholders attended the event: representatives of the Romanian universities and universities from Republic of Moldova, researchers, representatives of recognized Romanian research institutes, national organizations and civil associations.
Each participant received a package of documents containing: the SMILE project flyer (in English language) and an working material (in Romanian language) presenting the Recommendation of politics and action plan and the Model of Audit of Diversity.
Professor Neculai Eugen Seghedin, Vice-Rector in charge of Didactic Activities and Quality Assurance, member of the SMILE project’s team, conducted the presentation of the project, and explained the importance of the project and the instruments developed within the project’s framework in diversity and inclusion issues. The presentation also promoted the Audit Model, the Self-Assesment Tool, the Policy Recommendations and the Action Plan.
The presentation was followed by a dialogue with some participants from the audience who expressed their interest for the project and for the instruments. The letters of interest were distributed and some participants were interested to fill in them, as Regional engagement.
The main discussion was related to forward thinking activities to enable diverse participation of students, teachers and administrative staff in the university governing bodies. Another point was made in choosing the forming of the KPI’s for achieving targets in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, a balance between qualitative and quantitative evaluations.
