Leaving no one behind EQUAL

At DTU we are committed to embracing and promoting diversity so we can continue to create technology that can make the world a better, more sustainable, fair, and inclusive place.

Having a diverse pool of staff and students and an inclusive environment for all is key to a broad perspective in research and problem solving. Diversity and inclusion help promote technological solutions that are inclusive in their nature.

Our aspirations are set out in a plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which guides our approach to disrupting barriers and supporting equal opportunities for all, regardless of who they are.

We work proactively to ensure more diversity, equity and ultimately inclusion. One step is to recruit not just the obvious, but in every respect the right candidate—regardless of our own biases and presumptions. Another step is to support an inclusive environment in which diversity can thrive.

Initiatives include training in inclusive and biasaware leadership, and student recruitment processes and initiatives designed to attract a broad pool of student profiles. DTU also has a continued focus on providing students with physical or mental disabilities with access to flexible teaching options.

Clearing hurdles posed by disabilities

At DTU we also work on long-term initiatives to promote diversity outside our university. One such initiative is the Technology Leaving No One Behind project, which was created in 2019 in collaboration with the Danish Association of the Physically Disabled and Bevica Fonden.

The project is focused on making inclusion and accessibility a natural part of the development of new technological solutions. One component of this project is an innovation boot camp where young entrepreneurs with disabilities team up with DTU students and develop ideas that address real-world problems faced by people with disabilities.

For example, they have come up with an idea for a slide-in-slide-out battery solution for electric wheelchairs that would enable users to singlehandedly replace batteries, when they are running low.

Bootcamp participants also work on universal solutions that can benefit all people. One such idea is a vibrating bed sheet for people with impaired hearing, who can’t hear the sound of an ordinary alarm clock. It can also be used by those who unwittingly turn off their alarm clock and oversleep.

Working across geographical boundaries

Through the Technology Leaving No One Behind project, DTU also aims to develop technologies that can address challenges faced by developing countries—such as lack of access to potable water.

This is done through the annual Next Generation initiative, which is run out of DTU Skylab. It allows DTU students to work with other young talents from leading universities and early-stage start-ups from around the world to address different issues and bring about sustainable change.

The 2022 topic was Next Generation Water Action. One of the challenges was to find ways to reduce flood risks in urban areas, which spawned out-ofthe-box ideas such as using the traditional Mexican farming method ‘chinampas’ to soak up rainwater through artificial islands with crops and plants.