Illustration: Shutterstock The One World Week was cancelled in 2020 as a result of the corona outbreak. This year, the event will take place, says Lisa Nguyen of the Student Service Centre.
‘During the One World Week, we celebrate diversity in the broadest meaning of the word’, says Nguyen. ‘Consider, for example, cultural differences of staff and students and diversity in gender, religious beliefs, handicaps, etc. It is a week in which we embrace our differences and celebrate inclusion.’
Completely online
The activities, including a festival and the WUR Olympics sports tournament and a wide range of workshops and lectures, usually take place on campus. This year, the entire event will take place online.
‘We have a wide variety of activities’, says Nguyen. ‘There is a lecture on unconscious bias: how does our brain process diversity? How can you remove or reduce your subconscious bias? There is also a workshop on Cultural Dimensions, which provides insight into the different cultural dimensions that affect communication, and how to build relationships and collaborate.’
Blind conversations
During the Blindfolded Conversation, people engage in conversation without being able to see each other. Nguyen: ‘This is something we used to do offline, where you would only see each other at the end of the conversation. This allows you to get to know each other free from the bias you would normally have when you see one another.’
Genderbread Person is a workshop on gender, which is organized by the Wageningen LGBTQ+ association SHOUT. ‘Gender is typically one of those things everyone thinks they understand, while in reality, most do not’, Nguyen says. ‘During the workshop, you learn more about gender identity, gender expression, biological sex and sexual orientation.’
Dancing
Instead of the WUR Olympics, Thymos, ISOW and ESN jointly organize and online Dance Battle. ‘There is no online way to organise the WUR Olympics, so we came up with a completely different thing.’
The One World Week is to take place from 22 to and including 26 March this year. You will find a full overview of all the activities here.
