Collaborative Transformation: Participation in Future Governance with TU Eindhoven

On the 7th of March 2024, the Technical University of Eindhoven (TUE) organised a community meeting to present the findings of its future governance working group (FGTU/e) and discuss their findings with the community. To ensure all the insights from the discussions were captured an put to good use, the FGTU/e invited Dembrane to record the sessions and analyse them. A large qualitative research would not have been feasible to organise on time and on budget, but with Dembrane, the entire community session was recorded and we distilled insights simply and efficiently.

Context

The current landscape

Organising the session

We received the invitation 2 weeks before the event. Research questions were not quite ready, and the goal of participation was still a little vague. We didn’t even know how many people would be there - “maybe 50?” - Not to worry! We know how hard it is to organise these kinds of sessions, so our process is designed to emphasise adaptability and simplicity. After the initial presentation of findings, the crowd split itself up into groups, and the discussions began.

Voices from the community

Insights and Learnings

Through these dialogues, TUE has learned about the critical balance between autonomy and standardisation essential for fostering an environment of quick decision-making and innovation. The community also emphasised preserving TUE’s community spirit, which facilitates easy access and fosters a dynamic academic atmosphere. Participants were given the freedom to discuss what mattered to them and so there are many more insights than we can give room to here.

Moving Forward Together

This collaboration with TUE has demonstrated the power of involving everyone that wants to participate in university governance discussions. The insights gained are not merely about addressing current issues but “whats really at stake” for the community, and could be crucial in shaping a robust, inclusive governance structure that supports long-term growth and innovation.

Learnings

As we continue to develop Dembrane, our aim is to deepen stakeholder engagement in institutional decision making, ensuring every voice is heard and no good ideas are lost. This pilot with TUE is a promising step toward a model that embraces community input and fosters educational excellence alongside operational agility.

We also learned a whole lot about how we can improve our tools and processes. It was the last session we recorded without the help of our new participant portal (ECHO) and we are really excited to see what hosts will do with it. We also learned a lot about how to improve our reporting. While the report “Captured the essence” of the discussions, boiling down transcripts from 23 hours of recording into a set of insightful quotes is an incredible challenge. Finding the right balance between strategic overview and details on demand is also a challenge we hope to make big strides in with out upcoming analysis tool.

All in all, we are really grateful to the FGTU/e for the opportunity to help with this exciting project, and for trusting us when we said “People know how.”