INGENIUM Inclusion Month
From Diversity Week to Inclusion Month: INGENIUM Scales Up Its Commitment
Last year, INGENIUM Diversity Week opened a collective chapter for our Alliance. Across campuses, initiatives brought students and staff together — through intercultural encounters, academic discussions, creative activities and shared moments of dialogue. It was a signal: inclusion matters, and our community is ready to engage.
But inclusion is not a moment. It is a movement.
The experience of that first edition invited us to reflect on how to go further, how to deepen engagement, and how to create continuity beyond a single dedicated week.
As Delphine Roger, leader of the INGENIUM for Non-discriminatory and Socially Engaged Higher Education Task Group, noted:
‘We’ve learnt from our first edition, so we moved beyond a single week to have more flexibility and ensure student and staff engagement on targeted events, thus demonstrating our genuine, concrete commitment to these values’.
For all these reasons, March 2026 is officially INGENIUM Inclusion Month.
This evolution is not simply a change of format. It reflects a growing ambition: to embed inclusion more deeply into our academic life, our student experience, and our European cooperation.
Throughout March, this commitment will take shape through three major highlights : a webinar series, a student-led chess tournament, and a Blended Intensive Programme dedicated to inclusive mobility.
Reflecting Together: The Webinar Series
At the heart of Inclusion Month lies a shared intellectual space.
Every Tuesday (and one special Wednesday), from 13:00 to 14:00 CET, members of the INGENIUM community are invited to engage with key dimensions of inclusive university life.
Each session explores a different perspective, combining expertise, lived experience, and practical approaches:
- March 3 – Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD)
Led by Pascal Hilber (URN): Understanding cognitive diversity on campus.
- March 10 – Invisible Challenges
Led by Grace Etienne (Student Board President): Navigating studies with hidden burdens.
- March 18 – Intercultural Competence
Led by Karin Jonegard & Ines Niksic (HIS): Communicating across borders.
- March 24 – Inclusive Mobilities
Led by HKA: Making European exchange accessible for everyone.
- March 31 – The Inclusive Mind
Led by M. Cojan (TUIASI) & M. Moisuc (MTU): Practical steps to grow your mindset.
Together, these sessions move beyond awareness. They aim to equip our community with tools, language and understanding to foster inclusive environments across all INGENIUM campuses.
Connecting Differently: The Big INGENIUM Chess Tournament
Inclusion is not only built through dialogue — it is also created through shared experiences.
Led by students, the INGENIUM Chess Club continues to foster informal, welcoming spaces where international and local students can meet beyond academic frameworks. Chess, as a universal language, transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries and creates natural opportunities for interaction.
As part of Inclusion Month, the Club is organising the Big INGENIUM Chess Tournament on March 6 & March 13, from 17:00 CET.
Acting Structurally: Building Inclusive Universities from Within
Inclusion Month will culminate in a Blended Intensive Programme hosted by the University of Rouen Normandy from March 23 to 27.
This programme focuses on inclusive mobility — examining how European exchanges can become genuinely accessible to all students, regardless of background, personal circumstances, or physical ability.
By bringing together participants from across the Alliance and SGroup, the BIP creates a space to move from discussion to implementation. It embodies the structural dimension of Inclusion Month: transforming shared values into concrete practices within our institutions.
Inclusion Is Participation
INGENIUM Inclusion Month is not a series of isolated events. It is a collective commitment.
A commitment to reflect.
A commitment to listen.
A commitment to connect.
A commitment to act.
Whether by attending a webinar, contributing to the student survey, registering for the chess tournament, or engaging in the BIP, every form of participation strengthens our Alliance.
Inclusion only becomes meaningful when it is lived together.
March 2026 invites each member of the INGENIUM community to be part of that shared responsibility.
