Shaping diversity together: TH OWL participates in UNI DIV DAY OWL 2025

“How do we want to live together – and what potential does our diversity hold?” Moderator Lydwine Nitidem posed this central question at the start of the event. A livestream on YouTube made the new talk format “DIV TALKS OWL” visible nationwide. Seven students from different disciplines presented their ideas, theses, and social visions on diversity, inclusion, intersectionality, and social sustainability live. The presentations combined theory with practice, creativity with attitude, and showed that diversity is not a fashionable topic, but a forward-looking principle for education, design, and coexistence.

From design to political education: an overview of the talks

Lina Vogel, a graduate of interior design at TH OWL, kicked things off. In her bachelor's thesis, “Mosaic of Humanity,” she developed an online shop featuring self-illustrated figures. These so-called cutouts for architecture firms are intended to make diversity visible by representing different body shapes, cultures, and realities of life. Her core message: “Inclusion doesn't start in the built environment. It starts in the image, in the design, in our imagination.”

Viktoria Proffen and Lara Hartmann also demonstrated how design processes can actively raise awareness of participation. The two interior design graduates developed the “Dive-in Toolkit,” an interactive workshop format for examining diversity, equal opportunities, and participation in spatial contexts. The toolkit consists of seven structured steps: from inviting a person affected by the issue, to changing perspectives, analyzing spaces, joint tours, and group work, to brainstorming, mini mock-ups, and reflection. The process is supported by analog materials such as perspective maps, reflection pads, and a mini mock-up mat as a play area. The toolkit has already been successfully tested in practice, including in the Bülowblock in Detmold, where it helped to mark stair steps and floors in different colors for better orientation.

Joey Brouwer, board member of CSD Lippe e.V., studied social work at Bielefeld University and emphasized the importance of intersectional perspectives for political activism. The roots of the concept were explained in this lecture—drawing on Sojourner Truth and Kimberlé Crenshaw, Brouwer showed how different forms of discrimination are intertwined and how important collective compassion and understanding are. “We can only change things if we do it together.” Particularly memorable was the appeal that becoming aware of and acknowledging one's own privileges does not harm anyone, but contributes decisively to shaping a society in which equal opportunities are possible.

Tatjana Lüke, Equal Opportunities Officer at the Student Union of Paderborn University, reported on the diversity culture practiced on campus. With impressions from past action days and insights into awareness concepts, she presented concrete examples of how barriers for students from different social or cultural backgrounds can be broken down at her university.

Atlas Bohlmann, communication designer, presented “Opisata – queer utopias,” a creative response to the social challenges faced by queer young people. His thesis drafts a positive counterworld to common dystopias, based on the fundamental values of self-determination, accessibility, coming to terms with the past, and mutual care—including for nature.

Elena Entrup, a graduate of TH OWL, spoke openly about her experiences with dysmelia, a congenital limb malformation, and presented her final project, “Body Poetry – The Aesthetics of Being Different.” The deliberately chosen title “Body Poetry” stands for a new, gentle, and respectful visual language that distances itself from harshness and stigmatization. Her exhibition portrays bodies with disabilities beyond common stereotypes and advocates for a new understanding of beauty, dignity, and humanity. “My body is not the problem; it is the environment that has not been thought through.”

Impulses from the university: changing perspectives and shaping the future together

Lydwine Nitidem, a student at TH OWL, interviewed Professor Dr. Uta Pottgiesser, TH OWL Vice President for Culture, Communication, and International Affairs, about the importance of international experience for personal development and cultural sensitivity. After several years abroad, she knows that “you often only realize what you are like when you experience other cultures."Internationalization is therefore not just an academic goal, but an invitation to change perspectives, for students and staff alike. TH OWL intends to continue along this path with new exchange formats, transparent communication, and the clear goal of making diversity visible and effective at a structural level.

Julia Etteldorf, an interior design student, and Christian Einsiedel from the sustainability management department at TH OWL discussed the connection between diversity and sustainable development: sustainability has long meant more than just environmental protection. It is a comprehensive social concept that combines ecological, economic, and, in particular, social dimensions. Goals such as gender equality (SDG 5) and reducing inequalities (SDG 10) are not marginal issues for him, but cornerstones of sustainable university development.

Im Nachhaltigkeitsboard der TH OWL, das unter aktiver Beteiligung vielfältiger Akteur:innen entstand, wird Diversität gezielt als Ressource verstanden: Unterschiedliche Perspektiven helfen, komplexe Herausforderungen umfassend zu analysieren und tragfähige Lösungen zu entwickeln. Die Hochschule verfolgt dabei konsequent einen „Whole Institution Approach“ – für eine gerechte, inklusive und nachhaltige Hochschulkultur.

Exchange on equal terms: workshops and participation

In the subsequent workshops, which were designed and facilitated by the speakers, participants had the opportunity to contribute their own experiences and ideas. Questions such as “What perspectives are still missing?” and “How can structures be made more inclusive in the long term?” were discussed together. Finally, the results were presented in the auditorium and reflected upon together.

The entire UNI DIV DAY OWL was organized by students—from the program and communication design to the organization of the event. The professional livestream, which made the DIV TALKS OWL accessible nationwide, was also planned and implemented by a student project team from the media production department at TH OWL.

UNI DIV DAY OWL was much more than just a day of action; it marked the beginning of a long-term dialogue on participation, visibility, and structural change. The participating universities do not view diversity as a trend, but rather as a mission and an opportunity for the future. The day of action will continue at Paderborn University in 2026.