What Do We Mean By Cultural Diversity?

Why Is Cultural Diversity Important?
Cultural diversity enriches us; it gives us unique insight and perspectives which we might not otherwise be exposed to, and it provides us with the opportunity to discover, learn, and understand the world we live in. Exposure to and participation in the variety of human experience hones our creativity and improves our quality of life. Our diversity helps us understand who we are. The knowledge and appreciation of our differences makes us stronger people and unites us as a society.

Cultural diversity is also intrinsically linked to economic prosperity. Every culture embodies knowledge and wisdom; each brings a different understanding and approach to any given situation. The cross-fertilization of different perspectives can be our greatest competitive advantage. In today's global knowledge-based economy, sustainable growth is predicated on the ability to generate ideas and innovate. But to do this requires access to a diversity of knowledge systems, the open exchange of ideas and a commitment to an open marketplace. Just as an ecosystem is vulnerable without biodiversity, so are our knowledge systems vulnerable without cultural diversity.

Thus, cultural diversity is important from both a social and economic perspective. From a social perspective, it stimulates the vibrancy that draws communities - geographic or interest-based - together and allows them to adapt to change. From an economic perspective, it is linked to creativity and innovation, and thus to our continued success in the new economy.

The recognition and importance of cultural diversity to social and economic development is not a new agenda. It was highlighted in 1995 in the UNESCO Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, Our Creative Diversity . In 1998, UNESCO'S Stockholm Action Plan identified "cultural policy as one of the key components of endogenous and sustainable development." In addition to its recognition in traditional cultural fora, the concept of cultural diversity has been raised in non-cultural fora such as the G-8, the World Bank and La Francophonie as an important component to quality of life, conflict resolution and human security.

What Is Challenging Cultural Diversity?
Our ability to nurture differences in all aspects of cultural expression has never been as promising as it is today. Improved means of communication and interaction offer greater opportunities for creativity, participation, and development. At the same time, cultural diversity is affected by the scope of globalization, the power of information technologies, and the emergence of the knowledge-based society. The flood-tide of change carries both promise and challenge. While current trends offer new and important opportunities for sharing and learning, the global exchange of information and ideas is often unequally distributed and overwhelming to smaller or local cultures. Moreover, our traditional concepts of national identity and sovereignty are changing and raise questions for the ability of countries and communities to make their own choices about how they want to evolve, while still participating fully in the global environment.

Then
To become a true global citizen will be to not deny the inherent power for positive change the Internet puts at all our fingertips. To become a true global citizen is to celebrate the diversity of humankind while retaining the personal right to celebrate our own traditional cultural heritage.

Cultures have always changed in order to survive. Cultures adapt and are formed around shared values and ideas. The Internet presents unlimited opportunities for positive change, if used wisely. We must all learn together how to assure that this power is not misused. How we do this will reflect the beliefs and values of our individual cultures. How we each take up this challenge will soon become a fact of history. For many of us, we need to look to our past to see our future.

Many cultures do not attribute honor to those focused on personal gain, but only to those who act to support everyone's benefit. The kind of world we'll build together, hopefully will be built on this honor that comes from the giving of ourselves by helping others, and not from seeking personal gain, only.

Cultural authenticity adds value to cultural products. Marketing cultural crafts and products, growing one's reputation for quality, can produce a sustainable living while enhancing one's cultural identity. Cultural marketing allows villages to retain their youth rather than lose them to the competing dominant culture.

At issue is a new electronic wind of possibilities. We share the challenge for each of us to show our true selves and to build valued relationships through sharing, mentoring, and teaching others. This is a time to learn to protect what we cherish.

Today we have new tools for preserving our cultural knowledge, particularly that of our elders, while they are still with us. The sum of this cultural knowledge is humankind's joint heritage, which literally tells our shared story and is of immeasurable value. We must use the tools available for such honorable purposes, or suffer the unnecessary loss of our shared cultural knowledge.