The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) joins the new Bochum “Employers against Discrimination” initiative. Academic Director Prof. Dr. Christiane Eilders and Managing Director Tim Pfenner sign the new charter on behalf of CAIS on February 7, 2024 in Bochum’s historic town hall.
Bochum sends a clear signal against discrimination in the workplace with the “Better Together” charter: 13 representatives from science and the regional economy pledged their commitment to a prejudice-free working environment with their signatures in the town hall on February 7. The “Bochum employers against discrimination” initiative was launched by nine municipal companies at the beginning of 2023. Openness, tolerance and fair treatment – the new signatories, all partners of the UniverCity network, have now also committed to these values.
“It is important to take a stand against discrimination. We have taken up the cause of combating discrimination and exclusion in all its forms,” said Lord Mayor Thomas Eiskirch. “With their signatures under the charter, employers with around 20,000 employees have now taken a clear stand against discrimination. That is a very clear and unequivocal signal.” On January 13, 2023, the city administration and eight municipal companies signed a charter in the historic town hall, marking the beginning of a visible stand against discrimination in the workplace. After all, employees and trainees have the right to a non-discriminatory workplace and training place. Employers, in turn, are obliged to create a working environment free of discrimination, harassment and violence for all.
Since then, the measures successfully introduced in recent years have been further developed and new ones have been added. In the newly founded network in particular, all stakeholders have exchanged ideas and agreed to make existing structures even more visible and to develop preventative formats such as information events and awareness-raising workshops – also jointly.
The campaign and the alliance are open to all employers in Bochum. Since the launch, representatives from academia and the regional economy in particular have shown great interest.
Other signatories of the charter:
Julian Schmitz, Managing Director of Bochum Marketing, , Prof. Dr. Daniel Kaltofen, Rector of EBZ Business School, Prof. Dr. Andreas Wytzisk-Arens, President of Bochum University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Sven Dietrich, President of the Hochschule für Gesundheit (HSG), Axel Degenhardt, Administrative Director of the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP), Prof. Dr. Martin Paul, Rector of Ruhr University Bochum, Prof. Suanne Lengyel, President of Georg Agricola Technical University in the DMT-LB, Iris Litty, Chancellor of the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Rhineland-Westphalia-Lippe, Michael Bergmann, Managing Director of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Central Ruhr Area, Lord Mayor Thomas Eiskirch
Not in the picture:
Frank Weeke, Managing Director of the Akademisches Förderungswerk (AkaFö), Prof. Dr. Sunhild Kleingärtner, Scientific Director of the German Mining Museum in the DMT-LB, Prof. Dr. Andreas Jacob, Rector of the Folkwang University of the Arts.
Information on the alliance can be found on the city of Bochum’s website at www.bochum.de/Referat-fuer-Gleichstellung-Familie-und-Inklusion/Besser-miteinander. The contact person in the Department for Equality, Family and Inclusion is Sylvia Prenzel (sprenzel@bochum.de)
Press contact
Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS)
Contact: Dr. Esther Laukötter
Phone: +49 157 85001399
E-Mail: Esther.Laukoetter@cais-research.de
About the CAIS
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been funding the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in Bochum as a central institute for digitalization research on a long-term basis since April 2021. By proposing evidence-based solutions, CAIS contributes to shaping digital change in the interests of people. CAIS was founded as a research college at the beginning of 2017 and has since awarded fellowships to national and international guest researchers in the field of digitalization research. The first research program “Digital Democratic Innovations” was launched in October 2021, and the second research program “Educational Technologies and Artificial Intelligence” has been running since mid-2022. The third research program “Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence” is planned for early 2024. The research programs interlink the disciplines from social sciences and humanities to computer science and test research results in practice.