NEOLAiA

During NEOmentor Week, Bielefeld University prepared students from eight NEOLAiA universities for their roles as mentors. The Diversity and Inclusion Work Package, led by Professor Dr Michaela Vogt and Dr Amelie Labusch, organised the week in close collaboration with the Accessibility Services and the Diversity Team at Bielefeld University. The participants worked on accessibility, diversity, health and conflict resolution, and developed approaches for a mentoring and reverse mentoring programme at their home universities. 



At the start of the week, the international students explored the Bielefeld University campus. They also had the opportunity to try out assistive technologies, such as those supported by VR headsets. They then explored how higher education institutions can improve participation and break down barriers. In doing so, they exchanged ideas with their colleagues from Bielefeld at the Accessibility services (ZAB) and the Diversity Team. They discussed specific solutions and implementation ideas based on the NEOCharter and NEOBest Practices, which the Alliance uses to strengthen diversity and inclusion. 

Another key focus was on Student Health Management. The students developed strategies to build networks at their home universities and specifically tackle barriers faced by under-represented groups. In further working sessions, they also reflected on how peer learning can work in the roles of mentee and mentor. 

A key component of the programme was also a training module on conflict resolution and diversity delivered by the Conflict Academy at Bielefeld University. In the subsequent mentor training, the participants worked on methods for approaching and selecting mentees for the one-year mentoring and reverse mentoring programme at their home universities. 

To conclude the week, the students presented their findings at a poster session. Following this intensive week in Bielefeld, characterised by academic exchange and collaborative project work, they are now returning to their home universities, where they will serve as mentors for a year. 

Encounters outside the formal sessions also shaped the week. Shared lunches and dinners, a trip to Sparrenburg Castle, an international evening and a visit to Olderdissen Zoo provided opportunities to get to know one another, engage in informal discussions and gain a better understanding of the different perspectives within the group. 

Reactions from Bielefeld to the NEOmentor week 

Professor Dr Michaela Vogt, vice rector for international affairs und diversity and society and Head of the Diversity and Inclusion Work Package: 
“With NEOmentor, we are forging an important link within the NEOLAiA Alliance between the professional development of committed students and the sustainable promotion of diversity and inclusion at our universities. Participants not only take new skills back to their home universities, but also become actively involved there themselves and support other students. This is explicitly a mutual learning process: in the spirit of reverse mentoring, the NEOmentors also learn from the experiences and perspectives of their mentees. They can then share their mentoring experiences with their universities and thus contribute to the further development of inclusive structures. In this way, the European exchange is translated into the day-to-day reality of university life in a very concrete manner. My special and heartfelt thanks go not only to Dr Amelie Labusch, Chelsea Wahner and Silvia Burkhardt, but also to the A ccessibility services (ZAB) at Bielefeld University, headed by Michael Johannfunke. With the ZAB as a highly competent partner, we jointly conceived, organised and designed the NEOmentor Week. Our close and committed collaboration was a key foundation for the programme’s success.” 

Dr Amelie Labusch, Co-Lead of the Work Package: 
“The students gained an incredible amount of specialist knowledge during this week, but NEOmentor is far more than just a training programme. It was impressive to see how quickly students from different European universities formed a community. They worked closely together, learnt from one another, laughed a lot and also shared very personal experiences with one another. I particularly remember the moving speech given by one student, which showed just how much this shared experience meant to the participants. Another particular highlight for me was our international evening: the students brought traditional food and drinks from their home countries, performed traditional dances and invited everyone to join in, recited poems, organised quizzes about their home countries and played games from their childhood together. On that evening, cultural diversity was not merely discussed, but experienced together. It is precisely these kinds of encounters that, for me, make NEOLAiA so special.”