INCLUSION

INCLUSION and INCLUSIVITY

Inclusion is about belonging to- and participating in a diverse society.

An inclusive environment is holistic and recognises the unique contributions each child and their family make to the richness of a diverse community.

Inclusivity involves making people feel welcome, valued, supported, and respected.
Inclusivity celebrates our differences, recognising that all of us are unique with individual experiences, thoughts, and perspectives. Whether it involves parts of your identity, hobbies, or interests, you deserve to feel like you belong just as much as anyone else. Inclusivity consists of standing up for others when they’re experiencing an environment that doesn’t provide a safe space for everyone to feel like they belong. Everyone deserves an inclusive space.

Finally, Inclusion is the creation of a culture where everyone is welcome, despite each person’s differences. It is the extent to which members of an organisation feel valued, respected, and accepted.

Putting an emphasis on diversity and inclusion is seeing value in everyone’s potential contribution, their different backgrounds and perspectives as well as actual equality and collaboration that stems from it. In an environment where everyone is given a voice and heard, there is room for (young) people to learn from each other through their differences, and consequently create a better community for everyone together. If we acknowledge that this is what we are aiming for, we soon see that looking at numbers is not enough, though it is a good beginning. Diversity alone doesn’t automatically mean an inclusive environment. It can quickly become void without real inclusive efforts, actions and system in place which aim at increasing access to opportunities for everyone as well as the same sense of belonging for minority groups than the majority. 

Inclusion in our society means not just putting diversity on the agenda and monitoring the numbers, but maybe even more importantly including everyone in the conversation about why it is necessary and how it benefits the society as a whole. We must actively build an environment of respect and openness. We need different perspectives for developing critical thinking, imagination and flexibility; to say encouraging diversity and inclusion among young people is also equipping them with an important skill for work and life: communication, teamwork, leadership and more.

The positive impact of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation includes better decision-making, driven by having various perspectives from different groups that highlight the problems, barriers, and challenges that are unique to those groups. As well as greater employee satisfaction, organization resiliency, and better recruitment and retention rates.

Likewise, a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation strengthens the relationship between the general public and these organizations, thereby, fostering public trust.

DIVERSITY and INCLUSION

Diversity and inclusion are regularly used as synonyms but they are quite different.

Roughly said, diversity is about ‘what’ and inclusion is about ‘how’.
Demographics such as race, ethnicity, social class, education, gender, sexual orientation and so on can go much further than just social categories. ​It can also be about all the things that make people unique like their preferences, perspectives or characteristics.

Inclusion on the other hand, focusses on measures that are put in place by a company to make sure their employees feel welcome. It’s about creating an inclusive environment and a culture of human rights, where all citizens have a sense of belonging and can thrive. 
Inclusivity creates space for beneficial alliances and cooperation. It creates cities that are stronger and more stable. It also motivates residents to improve the quality of their lives since they believe in the system of governance. City residents can unite against common challenges and improve their city.

What are social exclusion and inclusion?

Social exclusion means being shut out from the social, economic and political systems which make up our society. Experiencing social exclusion can mean one or more of the following:

Struggling financially to make ends meet and having limited options for improving your financial situation;
Feeling socially isolated or lonely, having few friends and limited opportunities to meet new people or  make new relationships;
Having limited access to community resources such as health, educational and recreational services;
Having no 'voice' and influence over decisions that affect your life.

Social inclusion means the exact opposite, being actively engaged in our society's social, economic and political systems, and consequently feeling a sense of belonging and having more choices and opportunities in life. The various aspects of social inclusion are illustrated in the figure on the right.