Central to both the College’s Strategic Plan and its current fundraising Campaign is a commitment to making use of the perspectives and expertise of our diverse multidisciplinary community to respond to global challenges. Over the past two days this aspiration has come to life, as students, Fellows, staff, alumni and participants from the wider University and beyond came together for the first Darwin Dialogue, exploring Peace and the Unsustainable.
Through large and small group discussions, as well as creative sessions using storytelling and nature walks to spark ideas, attendees shared approaches, ideas and personal experiences to discuss how peace and sustainability intersect, support each other other and, occasionally, come into conflict.
Intentionally framed as a dialogue among equals, in contrast to a lecture or panel discussion, the dialogues were developed by a working group of students, staff and Fellows, supported by the Global Challenges Coordinator, Dr Zara Goldstone, and Dr Mike Rands in his final public appearance as Master.
With representation from across the world as well as across the academic spectrum, participants included incoming students experiencing their first taste of life at Darwin, as well as leaders from within the University and those who have dedicated their professional lives to peace-building or responding to the climate crisis.
Thank you to everyone who participated in a hugely thought-provoking event which brought together a rich array of global views and backgrounds, and combined moving individual stories with fascinating points of connection.
We look forward to establishing the Dialogues as a fixed point of the Darwin calendar, providing the space, time and community within which to have much-needed conversations.
Thank you to participants Ruby, Richard, Alan and Mika for sharing their experience of the event.
