The ENHANCE Diversity Offce gathered in Warsaw this June for four days of strategic reflection, cross-institutional collaboration and a clear shared ambition: to move beyond individual initiatives and embed inclusion, diversity and equity at the heart of European higher education.
From 8 to 11 June 2026, diversity and inclusion practitioners, student representatives and colleagues from ten European universities of technology convened at Warsaw University of Technology for the annual ENHANCE Diversity Office meeting. Joined by ENHANCE STEM Ambassadors and members of the WUT community, the gathering addressed one central question: how can ENHANCE scale what works in our alliance's IDE strategy and create lasting institutional change?
Building on the ENHANCE Joint Roadmap on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE), participants reviewed progress across teaching, mobility, governance and community-building, and agreed that the alliance has built something more significant than a collection of projects. Through shared frameworks and collaborative formats, ENHANCE has created an ecosystem for inclusion and empowerment. The discussions were clear-eyed about the next phase: the challenge is no longer to launch new initiatives, but to deepen their impact. Participants agreed on a set of strategic priorities, including upscaling proven approaches, mainstreaming IDE across all areas of the alliance, and strengthening belonging as a foundational principle of ENHANCE.
A distinctive feature of this year's programme was the active participation of the ENHANCE STEM Ambassadors. Student voices were brought directly into strategic discussions on outreach, peer-to-peer engagement and the future design of diversity initiatives. Ambassadors and Diversity Office members jointly reflected on the programme's strengths, and their recommendations — around communication training, mobility opportunities and mentoring structures — will shape its next phase. Participants also attended selected sessions of the Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit, one of Europe's leading gatherings on women in technology and innovation. The experience reinforced a key conviction: lasting change requires not only supporting individual talent, but transforming the institutional cultures and structures that shape STEM careers.
The week culminated in a public WUT Café event titled From Initiatives to Impact: Upscaling and Mainstreaming Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in ENHANCE. A keynote panel featuring Dr Iwona Grabarek (Warsaw University of Technology), Ayub Otieno (Warsaw University of Technology), and Raphaela Hettlage (ETH Zurich), moderated by Maria Saline (Chalmers University of Technology), explored how inclusion and excellence reinforce one another, and what it takes to make that visible across an alliance of ten universities.
Looking ahead: From initiatives to impact
The meeting concluded with strategic discussions on impact assessment, future proposals and the role of the Diversity Office in the next phase of ENHANCE. Building on the achievements of recent years, participants agreed that the future of the alliance lies not in creating ever more initiatives, but in increasing their impact and embedding inclusion, diversity and equity across all levels of ENHANCE.
We extend our gratitude to the local team at Warsaw University of Technology for hosting with such generosity and warmth, and for creating the conditions in which these conversations could thrive. As ENHANCE moves into its next phase, inclusion, diversity and equity are set to become defining elements of what the alliance means by excellence.
