We interviewed some of our colleagues ahead of 21st May the UN's World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

“Cultural diversity is a driving force of development, not only with respect to economic growth, but also as a means of leading a more fulfilling intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life. Cultural diversity is an asset that is indispensable for poverty reduction and the achievement of sustainable development”.

Egle Rosinaite, Isabel Marsh, William Milsom, and Dominick Horsley who are our wonderful Assistants as well as Chiara Guerrini and Erika Singh our Associate Copywriters, Silvia Shengyun, our dedicated Multilingual Coordinator and David Williams, our fantastic Non-Executive Director shared their views.

Why acceptance and recognition of cultural diversity matters to you?

“Acceptance and recognition of cultural diversity is important to me because I see everyone as equal. I accept everyone and want to be accepted myself. Everyone deserves the same chances and opportunities.”

“Cultural diversity is a huge thing that more companies should be celebrating. I think it’s important to recognise this because it gives people the opportunity to proud of their culture and who they are, by sharing it with those around them.”

“Personally, I believe that the appreciation of cultural difference is very important when truly understanding an individual's motivations, background, and upbringing. Therefore, a greater understanding of cultural differences enables a more respectful approach towards etiquette, values, and communication, thus, improving business relations.”

“We are all different no matter which country we are from. There are even different cultures and languages within some countries.”

“Acceptance and recognition of cultural diversity matters to me because it allows me to keep up to date with what is happening in the world within different cultures and stay educated on different cultures.”

“Because I cannot imagine a world without cultural and language diversity. While I acknowledge the necessity of a common language like English to communicate on a global level, I also advocate the importance of preserving language diversity (including local dialects and ancient languages such as Gaelic or Catalan), because they represent our roots, heritage, who we are and where we come from.”
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What do you think can be done differently or more of to influence behavioural change and raise awareness of the importance of cultural diversity?

“A lot of workplaces still do not want to accept people who come from different background as equal to them. Workplaces need to integrate more diversity into their teams. People from various backgrounds need to be given a fair chance to secure a leading position within a company, and to be judged by the same criteria as other colleagues.”

“I think a good way to encourage more awareness of cultural diversity is to simply continue to post, share and celebrate it in all formats.”

“Education at younger ages of different cultures and how to correctly embrace them is essential. Teaching younger kids about the importance of cultural diversity would help in the behavioural change away from pushing cultures away.”

“I think education is incredibly important in creating behavioural changes and new attitudes towards cultural differences. In some cases, the public needs to be more accepting; viewing difference as a chance to discover the unknown rather than be frightened or sceptical of it. This level of acceptance would likely stem from increasing an individual's exposure or education towards a culture.”

“Promote the benefits of cultural diversity. A wider mix of experiences, skills and cultures enables different thinking.”

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