Diversity in Action Office
What has happened in the area of “Diversity” since April 2025.
This page is currently under construction and will be updated regularly.
August 29, 2026 | TH Wildau Speaks at the CSD in Königs Wusterhausen
Christopher Street Day (CSD) took place in Königs Wusterhausen for the first time. Ray Trautwein, our diversity manager, represented TH Wildau by delivering a speech. The focus was on the question of what responsibility organizations bear for diversity, anti-discrimination, and equality. After all, a university is also part of the society and the region in which it operates. CSD demonstrates how important visibility and collaboration are. While a single event cannot change structures on its own, it raises public awareness, brings different people together, and can spark new collaborations. Many thanks to the event team for the opportunity to participate.
August 6, 2026 | Interview on “Living Diversity” at the Technical University of Applied Sciences in Wildau
College isn’t just about imparting knowledge. It’s also important to take different life realities into account in order to design structures and processes that allow career paths to be pursued in a way that is sensitive to diversity and family-friendly. Franziska Kieslich, head of the Family Services Office, and Ray Trautwein, diversity manager and head of the Career Service, spoke with Susanne Trotzky from radioSKW about what this entails and what we’re doing at TH Wildau to achieve it. You can listen to the interview here. (Spoiler alert: The connection between diversity and career paths is particularly evident among international students.)
May 30, 2026 | Participation in the University Information Day (HIT) at TH Wildau
At the HIT event on the Wildau Campus, the Diversity Office, the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, and the Family Services Office shared a booth area. Visitors were able to talk with representatives from the working group and the aforementioned departments, as well as browse and take home plenty of informational materials. Diversity Manager Ray Trautwein and Franziska Kieslich, Head of the Family Services Office, also shed light on the interplay between diversity, inclusion, and family in a brief interview with Susanne Trotzky from RadioSKW.
May 19, 2026 | Empowerment Workshop on German Diversity Day
As part of the university-wide program for the 14th Diversity Day, the Diversity Office offered a German-language workshop on career-enhancing empowerment strategies. The workshop was led by Jon Parth, also known as J on fire from the Dragstreet Boyz, a Berlin-based performance group. Jon has been a drag artist for over ten years and is active in anti-discrimination work. In the workshop “Empower Your Inner Super Hero: Embodiment of Strength in Everyday University Life,” participants were encouraged to discover their own inner “superhero” through techniques drawn from drag and performance art, enabling them to carry themselves with confidence in everyday university life—even in challenging situations.
May 19, 2026 | German Diversity Day: Program on “Language and Diversity”
To mark the 14th German Diversity Day, a nationwide day of action organized by Charta der Vielfalt e.V., the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group at TH Wildau, in cooperation with the Family Services Office, the Student Counseling Infopoint, the StuRa and StuPa, the (International) Career Service, the Career Center for Faculty Development, and Techniker Krankenkasse, has put together an exciting program on the topic of “Language and Diversity”: The event featured speeches during the raising of the rainbow flag, information booths, and free smoothies, as well as three workshops: one introducing German Sign Language, and two on career-enhancing empowerment strategies for everyday life at work and in higher education.
April 29, 2026 | “Präsidium: Live” on the cross-cutting theme of “Diversity”
“Präsidium: Live” is a participatory series organized by the university administration on current (strategic) topics. The series is brief, interactive, and open to all members of the university community. In April 2026, the focus was on the cross-cutting theme of “Diversity”: The goal was to gain new perspectives on familiar locations and programs at TH Wildau in order to derive ideas for diversity-sensitive initiatives. As a result, for example, the website for the Germany Scholarship at TH Wildau was made more accessible to international students. The Diversity Office and the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE) led this shift in perspective.
March 4, 2026 | New signage for accessible infrastructure on the Wildau Campus
At the start of the semester, new directional signs were installed to make accessible facilities on campus more visible. The idea for this initiative came from an inclusion exhibition and feedback from many members of the university community—and has now been transformed into a sustainable project aimed at improving wayfinding and fostering active inclusion. Initiated by the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE), the project was implemented in collaboration with SG Bauangelegenheiten, Technical Services, the Diversity Management Office at TH Wildau, and the company Nowka+Forster GmbH. Learn more at #THinsights.
January 20, 2026 | Lunch & Learn: Sexual and Gender Diversity—Findings from the Federal Government’s Ninth Report on Aging
In the closing session of the “Lunch & Learn” series on diversity for the 2025/2026 winter semester—organized by the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE) in cooperation with the Diversity Management Office at TH Wildau—Prof. Dr. Ralf Lottmann from Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences provided (empirical) insights into the complex intersection of gender, sexual orientation, and age; discussed the needs of LGBTIQ* seniors as well as innovative care approaches; and emphasized that the topic of diversity-sensitive care is not a side issue, but rather concerns “all of us.”
December 9, 2025 | Don't Panic—How to Perform (Like a Drag King) at University?
In this online workshop, offered by Diversity Management in cooperation with the Career Service at TH Wildau, Luka Özyürek (aka Caine Panik) shared their personal journey from an introverted student with social anxiety to a drag king who comes alive on stage—not in spite of, but precisely because of these challenges. During the workshop, participants learned about the theoretical meaning of drag, but also had the opportunity to experience firsthand what drag can achieve (in the workplace and for one’s own career)—and, above all, how drag as an art form can foster resilience in everyday student and work life. The workshop’s motto was: anything goes, nothing is mandatory—let’s simply figure it out together.
December 2, 2025 | Lunch & Learn: The Power of Our Roots—How Social Background Influences Educational and Career Opportunities
The third session of the Lunch & Learn series on diversity—organized by the Career Center for Faculty Development in cooperation with the Diversity Management Office at TH Wildau—focused on the dimension of diversity known as “social background.” Valentin Burgert, Project Manager for Social Impact at the nonprofit organization Netzwerk Chancen, spoke on the topic “The Power of Our Roots—How Social Background Influences Educational and Career Opportunities.” The focus was on both the structural hurdles and barriers that people in Germany encounter on their educational and career paths, as well as highly individual perspectives on the topic of social background.
December 1, 2025 | Networking for Diversity-Sensitive Higher Education Design
At the end of the year, Prof. Dr. Andreas Moerke (Diversity Advocate at Worms University of Applied Sciences, among other roles) and Lars Bergmann (Head of the State of Brandenburg’s Office for Gender and Sexual Diversity at AndersARTiG e.V.) visited TH Wildau to explore, together with Diversity Manager Ray Trautwein, how universities can be made more diversity-sensitive. Among other things, they discussed which stakeholders should be involved, when, and how, as well as how to communicate transparently—both internally and externally—about “diversity” and the work being done in this area.
November 4, 2025 | Lunch & Learn: A Safe Brandenburg? Queer Visibility at Universities
The second guest in the “Lunch & Learn” series on diversity—organized by the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE) in cooperation with the Diversity Management Office at TH Wildau—was Lars Bergmann, who heads the State of Brandenburg’s Office for Gender and Sexual Diversity. Lars Bergmann not only presented the latest data on LGBTIQ* issues at Brandenburg’s universities but also discussed the ambivalence surrounding queer visibility in relation to queer safety. Among other things, the discussion focused on reflecting on which (political) framework conditions play a role here and how.
October 7, 2025 | Lunch & Learn: Diversity—A Matter of Leadership?
The first guests in the “Lunch & Learn” series on diversity—organized by the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE) in cooperation with the Diversity Management Office at TH Wildau—were Dr. Judith Muster and Yulia Komarova (Metaplan®). As renowned experts in organizational consulting, the two provided valuable insights into how diversity in organizations can be structurally and systematically shaped through leadership—and what specific challenges this presents for the “university” type of organization.
October 1, 2025 | The “Lunch & Learn” online series kicks off
In the fall of 2025, TH Wildau launched the online “Lunch & Learn” series, in which we offer accessible insights into various university-related topics during the lunch break. To this end, the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE) and the Diversity Management Office at TH Wildau collaborated and presented the first sessions of this series during the 2025–2026 winter semester—on the topic of diversity. The format stands out for its simplicity: just tune in, listen, and take it all in, or ask questions yourself and help shape the discussion.
June 28, 2025 | Networking at TH Wildau's Homecoming Day
At TH Wildau’s Homecoming Day, Diversity Manager Ray Trautwein—in his dual role as head of the Career Service—staffed an information booth alongside Dr. Ilona Kunkel from the Career Center for Faculty Development (KpE) and Anne Fiedler-Siebert from the “AlEx+ | Alumni for Excellence” project to showcase the university’s various offerings. This allowed the Career Service to present its offerings to the many alumni who returned to campus, as well as to other interested individuals. In addition, potential areas for collaboration with the two colleagues in diversity management were explored—exciting partnerships are on the horizon!
May 27, 2025 | German Diversity Day: Program on “Social Background”
To mark the 13th German Diversity Day—a nationwide day of action organized by Charta der Vielfalt e.V. that highlights diversity in the workplace—the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group at TH Wildau has put together an exciting program. The focus was on the diversity dimension of “social background.” Activities included, for example, a film screening and panel discussion at StuK, as well as information booths in the cafeteria lobby. In front of Building 13, the rainbow flag was raised, and speeches were given by: Chancellor Thomas Lehne, Wildau Mayor Frank Nerlich, and Diversity Manager Ray Trautwein, who has been heading the Diversity Office at TH Wildau since April 1, 2025. Learn more at #THinsights.