Online Shop

DATE: Monday 15 March 2027

TIME: 10am-1pm

PRICE: 3^rd sector professionals (social workers, teachers, etc): £60 per person (single ticket), Buy 5 Get One Free £300 (6 tickets), Private sector professionals: £120 per person

Online via MS Teams

TARGETED AT: Professionals across businesses, education, social work, charities, public services and other organisations who want to build more inclusive and supportive workplaces and communities. It may be particularly relevant to those working in HR, EDI, learning and development, and people management.

SPEAKER: Dr Özden Melis Uluğ, Associate Professor in Psychology

What do we do when we witness a harmful comment, microaggression, discriminatory behaviour, or another uncomfortable interaction? Many of us want to intervene but hesitate because we are unsure what to say, worry about making the situation worse, or assume that someone else will step in.

This interactive workshop explores the psychology of bystander behaviour and provides participants with practical tools for moving from being a bystander to becoming an active upstander. Drawing on research from social psychology, participants will examine why people sometimes fail to intervene, identify the personal and situational barriers that can make intervention difficult, and consider how these barriers can be overcome.

Through short presentations, group discussions, reflection exercises, and realistic case studies, participants will learn and practise the 5 Ds of bystander intervention: (1) Distract, (2) Delegate, (3) Direct, (4) Document, and (5) Delay. Rather than assuming that intervention requires confrontation, the workshop demonstrates a range of strategies that can be adapted to different situations, levels of risk, and professional contexts.

In this interactive session, participants will:

•             understand the psychological processes that influence whether people intervene when witnessing harmful behaviour

•             identify common barriers to intervention and consider strategies for overcoming them

•             recognise the difference between being a passive bystander and an active upstander

•             learn the 5 Ds of bystander intervention and when different strategies may be appropriate

•             apply these strategies to realistic scenarios involving microaggressions, discrimination, exclusion, and other forms of everyday harm

•             reflect on how they can intervene safely and effectively within their own professional context.

Participants will leave the workshop with a practical toolkit of intervention strategies and greater confidence in recognising and responding to harmful behaviour when they encounter it.

We will email you the access link to this workshop, and instructions on how to join, few days before the workshop scheduled date. All attendees will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the workshop.

If you are booking for multiple attendees, or on behalf of someone else, please email us at socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk to let us know the names of the attendees.

For enquiries, please contact us at socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk.

By purchasing the ticket, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and cancellation policy. Please read out terms and conditions and cancellation policy on Sussex Social Change Hub website.