On the agenda in work environment and equal opportunities

Work environment and equal opportunities are important issues. Everyone working or studying at Umeå University shares the responsibility to maintain and safeguard a good work environment for everyone's well-being and for everyone to thrive on equal terms.

At the start of 2024, the University launched a new organisation for work environment and equal opportunities management. The ambition is to strengthen and coordinate the important preventive measures to achieve a good work environment and equal opportunities aimed at both staff and students. The new organisation sprung out of Professor Ulrika Haake's overview of the work environment and equal opportunities organisation. The new organisation has been discussed at the University and gained support from the faculties, departments, student unions, union representatives and work environment representatives, and is described in a rule that the Vice-Chancellor approved in December 2023.

The new Work Environment and Equal Opportunities Committee (Swedish: ALV-kommittén) monitors the development of areas such as preventive measures against sickness, accidents and discrimination, and safeguards work environment conditions on equal terms. As chair, the advantages I see are that the organisation combines work environment with equal opportunities – which were previously two separate processes – and that the organisation links together work that takes place on various levels of the University.

The new committee consists of staff, student and employer representatives. Together, we're tasked with contributing to the planning of and offering guidance in the systematic work environment undertakings, the active measures undertakings, and other initiatives that contribute to an improved work environment and to equal opportunities for all. We will convene on around four occasions every semester. Two of these meetings will be strategy meetings intended for discussions, exchanging experiences, and coordinating various parts of the organisation. At these meetings, parties responsible for work environment and equal opportunities from each faculty management will participate, and the Vice-Chancellor will chair the meetings. The strategy meetings serve the purpose of following up and improving the University's joint and long-term work from the perspectives of both employer and education provider.

The first strategy meeting of the new Work Environment and Equal Opportunities Committee took place the other week. Topic of discussion was what prioritised issues should be covered in activities from 2025 onwards. One thing we discussed particularly was what issues need tackling to develop the University in the equal opportunities field. Another thing that was highlighted particularly was the student's point of view, thanks to valuable contributions from the student representatives and the Student Health Service. The active involvement of the faculties further improves our possibilities of combining the work environment and equal opportunities work on different levels of the University, and to create a clearer connection throughout the entire University.

In this context, I'd also like to mention the results of the 2024 employee satisfaction survey, which were recently presented, and they show a clearly positive trend over recent years, and very fine results compared to other higher education institutions. That's a good starting point for our future work environment and equal opportunities activities and management.