Heritage & Cultural Diversity Forum

The University of East Anglia are proud supporters of The Heritage & Cultural Diversity Forum.

Our shared ambition is to provide minority ethnic students opportunities to be heard, to question, and to challenge preconceptions of higher education, training, and careers through meaningful and relevant engagement.

The Heritage and Cultural Diversity Forum was founded and is led by Obianuju Iyaji who is a teacher, educator, and inspirational leader in inclusive education.

Other key supporters include Norfolk Higher Aspirations Scheme and Norwich University of the Arts.

The Heritage and Cultural Diversity Forum proudly announce Breaking Barriers & Boundaries: A Showcase of Creativity. This project is run in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, Norwich University of the Arts, and Norfolk Higher Aspirations Scheme.

Who is the Project for?

The competition is most suitable for Year 10 and Year 12 / L3Y1 students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

What will your students do?

Students will work in small groups or individually to respond to the theme of Breaking Barriers & Boundaries. Students can tell their stories of empowerment through a creative medium of their choice. They could create a film, write a poem, choreograph a dance, paint, draw, photograph. The choice is theirs. Their stories could be factual, fictional, or fantastical.

As part of the project, students will:

• Identify barriers within their society whether that is social, work, or educational.
• Expose and tell empowering stories of breaking through barriers and boundaries.
• Produce a creative response to the theme of Breaking Barriers and Boundaries.
• Collaborate with their peers and professionals to create their response.
• Take part in a series of workshops led by students and academics from the UEA and NUA.
• Showcase their response to other participants at the HCDF 2025 in June/July at the University of East Anglia.

Workshop opportunities

From March 2025, participants will have the opportunity to engage in workshops centered on creativity, critical-thinking, and problem-solving. These workshops will be delivered by students and academics from the University of East Anglia and Norwich University of the Arts.

Your school/college can choose one of the following options:

• Full day workshop led by UEA/NUA students in your own school at a convenient date to you.
• Full day workshop held at Norwich University of the Arts on Monday 3 March 2025.
• Individual workshops in your school/college spread across March to April.

We can also arrange to visit your school/college for drop-in sessions where students can share and get support on the development of their ideas. These can either be at lunch time or after school. Even online if that works better for you.

Dates can be confirmed with individual schools/colleges.

What will your students learn?

By participating in the project and accompanying workshops, students will have the opportunity to develop essential skills to succeed such as:

• Listening
• Speaking
• Problem Solving
• Creativity
• Staying Positive
• Aiming High
• Leadership
• Teamwork

More detailed information on how this project links with the Skills Builder Universal Framework.

​When will the project take place?

The project will begin in March and finish at the Heritage and Cultural Diversity Forum 2025 in late June/early July at the University of East Anglia (Date TBC).

Want to sign up?

Complete the Sign Up Form by 31 January 2025.

Do you have any questions?

If you have any questions about the project, please email empower@uea.ac.uk.