Recap: Let’s Talk:Campus
Let’s Talk:Campus was a one-day hybrid event on the future of campus life. The event was focused on issues of student participation and sustainability. The day’s programme was primarily based on submissions from the community. At a parliamentary evening we brought politicians and students togehter .
The campus: the place of study. The place where students, teachers and university staff come together. A campus can be a digital place, a physical place or both. How do we want to design the campus in the future? How can we create inclusive, sustainable and participatory places – a campus where everyone feels welcome and comfortable?
As the Corona crisis subsides, these questions were coming up with renewed vigour. The shift to digital changed many things. Universities have made a start to form new models of teaching and learning, which many summerise under the heading of “blended university”. But what does this term mean? Can campus life, which thrives on encounter and community, ever become hybrid or even entirely digital? What are the optimal interfaces between physical and digital places of learning? And what challenges must be faced in this transformation?
Therefore Let’s Talk:Campus created an open space for this renegotiation of the campus on 20 October 2022. We brought student concerns together with the perspectives of teachers and decision-makers from higher education and politics onto the stage.
Let’s Talk: Campus: Who we addressed and why
Let’s Talk:Campus was meant to be a place to discuss and amplify student issues and concerns. Accordingly, you as speakers and participants, were the most important target group of the event. We especially addressed students who are interested in higher education, participation and the future of higher education. Furthermore, we wanted to address university teachers, administrators and managers as well as political actors.
Let’s Talk:Campus was intended to create a space for ideas and innovations and to facilitate exchange between students, universities and politicians. The aim for the event was to ensure that student concerns are taken more into account in future decisions by universities and politicians.
Framework & Formats
Let’s Talk:Campus was a digital event with presence elements. It was focused on interactive formats on the virtual stages. The formats included:
- Presentations (either as lightning talks of 5 minutes or as talks of 30 minutes)
- Workshops and Micro advanced training (60 minutes)
- Fishbowl (60 minutes)
- Co-Working Sessions (90 minutes)
There was also a live stage in Berlin, which has been streamed to the event platform. The Berlin stage mainly presented talks and possibly panels.
The formats were developed with the Student Advisory Board (see below).
Let’s Talk:Campus – Network & Community
Let’s Talk:Campus actively seeked for partnerships with key student stakeholder groups. Therefore, we offered student organisations a network partnership based on the classic University:Future Festival.
The programme of the event was primarily based on a public call. In addition, the organising team invited outstanding VIP speakers.
The thematic focus was determined by the organising team in cooperation with the Student Advisory Board.
Parliamentary Evening
Education policy is political. That is why Let’s Talk:Campus ended with a parliamentary evening. A panel discussion with excellent politicians was planned. In order to adequately bring the different student concerns into the discussion, the topics were introduced by means of content-related interventions by students.
Student Advisory Board of Let’s Talk:Campus
Let’s talk:Campus was advised by Student Advisory Board, which is primarily composed by students and experts in participation.
