NEOLAiA WP3: UNIC Develops Roadmap on DEI in the Metaverse

Within the NEOLAiA European University Alliance, funded by the European Commission (2024–2028), Work Package 3 (WP3): Diversity & Inclusion serves as a cross-cutting pillar embedded across all alliance activities. WP3 ensures that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles are systematically integrated into education, research, and innovation efforts, supporting NEOLAiA’s broader aim of fostering inclusive and regionally responsive European universities.

UNIC leads Task 3.7 under WP3, which focuses on research on DEI in the Metaverse, with the aim of identifying key trends, challenges, and gaps.

As part of this task, a roadmap was prepared to summarise key themes, trends, and gaps in how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are currently addressed in the Metaverse, based on desk research carried out between 2020 and 2024. As immersive environments become more common in work, education, and social life, the findings show that DEI is widely recognised as important but is often applied inconsistently. In many cases, inclusion is considered late in the development process rather than being built into platforms from the start.

The roadmap focuses on three main areas: inclusive design, organisational practices, and governance and ethics. It identifies ongoing challenges such as limited avatar options, underrepresentation of diverse identities, unclear or weak enforcement of inclusion and conduct rules, and limited transparency across platforms. It also highlights areas for improvement, including involving diverse users in design processes, strengthening governance and accountability mechanisms, and moving beyond policy statements towards practical actions that can be evaluated over time.

Overall, the findings suggest that moving beyond surface-level diversity will require embedding DEI into design, governance, and accountability from the outset, particularly in light of limited industry engagement, if the Metaverse is to develop as a genuinely inclusive digital space built with and for all users.

More information about the Institute for the Future (IFF) and its role in implementing the Alliance’s vision is available.