The establishment of the forum is grounded in a Department Board decision from 2021, as well as in the Department of Teacher Education’s (ILU)’s annual plan for 2022. Diversity and inclusion are articulated as important dimensions in several aims in the strategic plan 2018-25 and annual plan 2022.

The forum will function as an advisory body to the Head of Department. The forum will discuss what equity, diversity and inclusion imply as distinct and complex concepts and use the Forum's understandings of the concepts to identify opportunities and challenges related to equity, inclusion and diversity in ILU's organization and activities. The forum will recommend measures that can strengthen work with equity, diversity and inclusion at ILU and provide suggestions for strategic development in the long term, and annual action plan in the short term. The measures will cover the entire organization: recruitment (of employees and students), administration, research, the study programs, teaching, dissemination, collegial collaboration, work environment, and partnership with the field of practice.

The Head´s main task is to facilitate and represent the Forum´s work, and ensure that suggestions and recommendations given by the Forum/Head of Forum are based amongst the members of the forum.

The Head of Forum reports to the Head of Department.

The Forum has meetings at least once a semester.

The Forum presents proposals for measures to the Leadership Meeting at least once a semester and writes a report that is presented to the Department Board autumn 2023.

Employees and students at ILU can contact the Forum and report issues they want the Forum to get involved in, focus on, or make recommendations about. Conversely, the Forum can find and create venues to reach out to employees and students.

The forum consists of administrative staff, academic staff and Department elected students, as well as external members.

The members of the forum are appointed by the Head of Department.

The conference The Future Teacher 2024: Equity, Inclusion and Diversity April 17–18, 2024.

The Department of Teacher Education (ILU) participates in the Research Council of Norway-supported project BalanseHub competence network, led by NIFU - Nordic Institute for Innovation, Research and Education in co-operation with PRIO - Institute for Peace Research and SBB - Statistics Norway. BalanceHub aims to strengthen gender balance, diversity and inclusion in Norwegian research and the Norwegian higher education sector.  The department's BalanseHub project called ‘Forum for equity, inclusion and diversity at the Department of Teacher Education, NTNU - opportunities for a diverse teacher education’ is an organizational development project owned by the Head of Department.

The questions for the project are: What are the key diversity and equity challenges at the Department of Teacher Education, NTNU, Norway's largest teacher education environment? How can a leader-supported forum put these challenges on the agenda and contribute to organizational change?

Sub-goals for the project are 1) Development of diversity management, b) Development of diversity competence among employees and 3) Follow-up research.

Diversity competence is essential for our own organisational development at the department, but also beyond: teacher education has a major social responsibility for educating future teachers with high professional ethics and professional integrity in Norwegian schools characterised by diversity.

The Forum for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity facilitates the project at ILU. The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombudsman and Dembra are collaborating partners. The project manager is Tone Pernille Østern. Sevil Sümer is responsible for research. 

Forum for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity. (2023). Report about the pilot project Forum for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity at Department of Teacher Education, NTNU, August 2022 - December 2023 - An activity report. Department for Teacher Education, NTNU. (without attachments). 

Sümer, S., Holland, S.K., & Utvær, B.K. (2023). A Survey on Inclusion and Diversity at the Department of Teacher Education (ILU). Working group on behalf of the Forum for Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. Department of Teacher Education, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology.