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The Diverse Culture of Berlin Germany

Integrating Diversity in Berlin

May 15th, 2018
Berlin Global, News from Berlin
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The diversity of people in Berlin helps to shape the city as it contributes to its attractiveness.

Berlin is a special city as people from more than 190 nations live in the city. This means that about 250 religious and ideological communities are active in Berlin. Berlin is also home to one of Europe's largest lesbian, bisexual, gay and transsexual communities. 

Approaching and dealing with diversity helps to pursue the goal of appreciating and promoting human diversity. Non-discrimination against others is therefore necessary in order to promote human diversity. Behind this ideal lies another idea: human diversity needs to be promoted as a social potential. Following the creation of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), the following branches of diversity were identified: gender, ethnic origin and skin color, disability, age, religion and belief, and sexual identity. 

Depending on the situation and context, however, other dimensions of diversity may also be important, like education, social status, marital status, and income. Diversity encompasses both differences and similarities too. This means that people share similarities, but at the same time differ from each other in many aspects. 

Promoting equal opportunities for all has been one of the goals of the city of Berlin for a long time. There are workspaces for the different categories of diversity that are also reflected in anti-discrimination and equality laws. In addition, the National Agency for Equal Treatment Against Discrimination was created. In order to intensify cooperation between the individual departments and the people working there, the network Diversity and Equal Opportunity was founded in 2011 as part of a project entitled "Berlin - City of Diversity". Sharing experiences along with implementing strategies and concepts helps to increase the quality of work.

Ultimately, Berlin is in a state of transition. Although the Berlin Wall fell many years ago, many issues dealing will prejudices about diversity are still being gradually overcome. Overcoming these issues can transform the nation into a multidimensional transnational power which will help the nation be able to face the history and mistakes of the past.

Reference:

News from Berlin