The Mary Immaculate College (MIC) Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Interculturalism (EDII) Office hosted the EDII Project Awards 2023-2024 Showcase this week where attendees gathered to recognise the impacts of the various funded EDII projects from the last academic year.
Professor Lorraine McIlrath, Director of EDII at MIC, said she hoped that the success of the 20+ projects over the last two years would inspire even more people from the College community to apply for the next round of funding over the coming weeks.
This event featured seven presentations—both in-person and via video—that highlighted successful initiatives that took place across the College and the region. Conducted by staff, students, and community partners, featured projects included:
Neurodiversity and the Academy; The Citizenship Referendum: 20 Years On; Trans Inclusion Workshops for Teacher Education; WOW! The Wonders of Williams: Enabling Children with Williams Syndrome to Create Digital Resources; EDNIP World Café and Learning Exchange Event; Brazilian Urban Instrumental Music from the Late 19th Century and its Entanglements with Race and Gender: A Workshop on Choro; Migrant Parents and Cooking for Cohesion; Traveller Parent Engagement in Science for Fun; Diversity and Intercultural Education Network (DIEN), and Creating Spaces and Events for Learning and Creativity.
Speaking at the showcase, Acting President of MIC, Professor Niamh Hourigan, congratulated all the awardees and emphasised that it was “a great milestone event”.
“We’ve had a lot of momentum around EDII in the last couple of years and I think the most positive part is that it has been from the ground up. We can see in the projects that they are exploring issues that people personally feel passionate about. For me, that is where EDII begins and ends. Aside from broader, bigger picture issues they focus on ‘what inclusion means to me; what equality means to me’, and we’re always learning every day from people’s experiences in various situations; that is why EDII is a journey. This showcase is really important because it’s helping us celebrate and reflect on what was achieved last year, which was a huge amount including the renewal of MIC’s Athena Swan Bronze Award, but it also sets us up to think about this next year and where we are going in our journey.”
The EDII Project Awards aim to foster collaboration across MIC through initiatives that embed equality, diversity, inclusion, and interculturalism in meaningful ways. This event also marked the official launch of the 2024-2025 EDII Project Awards and sums ranging from €500 to €5,000 will be awarded over the forthcoming year.The closing date for applications is Friday 27 September at 5pm.
The EDII Office particularly welcomes projects that align with current EDII priorities including Athena Swan, University of Sanctuary, Menopause, Sexual Violence & Harassment, Gender Identity & Expression and Disability & Neurodivergence.
See further details of the 2024-2025 EDII Project Awards and application forms online here.
