Dealing with Diversity. Making Diversity 'Work'

What, at all, is diverse? Whilst the noun diversity refers to a range and/or variety of things, in literature on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) it is often used interchangeably with these concepts which indicates that diversity ultimately is about the vision of co-creating inclusive sustainable environments in which ‘all’ that is and exists can be accommodated and about the policies that can help us get there. Making diversity ‘work’ isn’t necessarily easy. Companies bet on diverse teams because of the creative and innovative potential the aspect of diversity seems to promise but managing diversity can be quite challenging. How, then, can we make diversity ‘work’ in the professional and/or private environments we belong to? Intercultural competence is a core skill and key asset in the globalized realities we share in the sense that (cultural) differences have become a structural feature of our everyday lives and we need to find ways to deal with that. Intercultural competence can help us do that but making diversity really ‘work’ requires more of us: it needs us to ‘build’ and co-create inclusive structures of belonging in which we ‘all’ can thrive which not only means that it will become necessary to deepen our understanding of intercultural competence towards inclusivity and belonging, it also needs us to co-create shared visions of how we can live and work together peacefully in such a way that we ‘all’ can thrive. In my lecture, I would like to invite you to join me in the journey towards a truly inclusive world.