Last year, I received an email from my mentor inviting me to register for a workshop organized by The Prasidium. I was thrilled at the prospect and eagerly made plans, counting down the days until the event. However, I had mistakenly marked the wrong date in my calendar. Instead of the workshop date, I focused on a week or two later, thinking I had plenty of time to prepare. I went about my usual routine on the day I believed the workshop was scheduled. As I prepared to settle in after running some errands I had set for myself, I noticed my mentor had attempted to contact me. I quickly checked my messages and realized I had missed her call; the workshop was happening without me. It was only 30 minutes before the workshop ended when I read her message: “Dear Adenike, today is the workshop is starting now. Do you know where it is? We are currently on the second floor of ÖCO. I processed the communication and thought I must have had an oversight about the exact day of the workshop. I briefly considered rushing over to the venue, but even if I did, I would arrive more than three hours late. This was so unlike me; I always strive to be punctual in all my dealings and appointments. I also don’t like to make excuses for failure, particularly not for this setback, but I needed to be honest. Ultimately, I missed the workshop due to my oversight and miscalculation, so I sent a message and an email to apologize.
Fortunately, I was given a second chance; another workshop was scheduled for February 26th, and my mentor kindly reminded me of it and told me not to forget this time. I was happy and diligently wrote down the date and time to ensure I wouldn’t forget and miscalculate the appointment again. As the day approached, my anticipation grew, especially with my mentor providing reminders about this significant occasion, so I was there as early as possible. The workshop was worth attending as it explored fundamental questions about what the University of Oldenburg can and should look like in 10 or 15 years. First, there were presentations by experts in the field, including Alexis Angelis, Dr. Bror Giesenbauer, Jörg Miller, Dr. Sigrun Nickel, and Julia Wandt. The first future cycles allowed everyone to participate in discussions of their choice. This was followed by a gallery walk, where participants from different discussion groups could read about and learn from what other groups had discussed. They then discussed this with a partner to see what lessons they could learn and what contribution they could add to the ongoing discussions.
Next, there was a second future cycle to explore the questions and comments received from the gallery walk further. Participants indicated which discussions should be prioritized for future perspectives and buttress more on the ongoing debate within the circle. Finally, there was a transfer fishbowl comprising an inner cycle, where experts spoke about the most pressing issues and shared the lessons learned at the end of the workshop. Individual participants were also given a token to contribute to the inner cycle by speaking or asking questions while awaiting answers to their inquiries. The conversation spanned a broad range of topics focusing on the university’s role in shaping a livable future, sustainability, social responsibility, communication strategies, and institutional strategy of the university in unlocking the vocational and academic education in the future. Overall, as the president has stated, the future is approaching, and all of this information and knowledge during the workshop will be attainable within the next 10 to 15 years.
Everything Health and Education 