The Creative Diversity Dialogue

Celebrating International Diversity Day

The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue celebrates the world’s cultures and the essential role dialogue has in achieving peace and stability. 

To mark this day in 2020, the BBC Director-General Tony Hall and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J Mohammed held an hour-long LinkedIn conversation to understand how to harness the power of inclusion during – and post – the coronavirus pandemic. They were joined by BBC executives, renowned academics and thought leaders in the areas of diversity and Inclusion. 

The discussion examined the crucial role the creative industries have played in ensuring intercommunity conversations and understanding continued during the COVID-19 crisis. Live news coverage has given us up-to-the-minute information. New series like ‘Killing Eve’ have brought debate and conversation to social media. While moments like the BBC’s ‘Big Night In’ brought communities and nations together when we had to be apart. 

Where there has been innovative new content, there has also been closure of many productions. The impact has been stark on a 3m-strong workforce that is largely made up of freelancers. According to the OECD, the creative industry is one of the “most affected by the current crisis”.

The panel discussed what impact this loss of financial stability may have on a sector that brought the British economy more than £111bn in 2018. They delved into how the creative industry can continue to showcase our diverse world under unprecedented monetary pressures.

Questions were posed: How can we create adaptations such as ‘Noughts and Crosses’ that invited viewers to consider racial divisions? How can we produce ground-breaking programming like ‘Fleabag’ that embraces inclusive casting? How do we represent all voices so communities understand each other?