Cultural diversity
Encyclopedia
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or culture
s in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. It differs from multiculturalism
in that multiculturalism is usually associated with the organizational promotion of multiple cultures whereas cultural diversity is a recognition of the diversity in cultures.
, and in the ways they interact with their environment. Cultural diversity can be seen as analogous to biodiversity
.
s is to life in general. The General Conference of UNESCO
took this position in 2001, asserting in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature"
This position is rejected by some people, however, on several grounds. Firstly, like most evolutionary
accounts of human nature
, the importance of cultural diversity for survival may be an un-testable hypothesis, which can neither be proved nor disproved. Secondly, it can be argued that it is unethical deliberately to conserve "less developed" societies, because this will deny people within those societies the benefits of technological and medical advances enjoyed by those of us in the "developed" world.
In the same way it is unethical to promote poverty in underdeveloped nations as cultural diversity it is also unethical to promote all religious practices simply because they contribute to cultural diversity. Particularly, there are some practices that are recognized by the WHO and UN as unethical: Female Genital Mutilation, Sati (burning the widow on the husbands burial pyre), polygamy, child brides, human sacrifice, etc.
Some individuals, particularly those with strong religious beliefs, maintain that it is in the best interests of individuals and of humanity as a whole that all people adhere to a specific model for society or specific aspects of such a model. For example, evangelical missionary
organisations such as the New Tribes Mission
actively work to support social changes that some observers would consider detrimental to cultural diversity by seeking out remote tribal societies to convert them to Christianity
;
and Islamic groups strategically buy up land in Papua New Guinea.
Nowadays, communication between different countries becomes more and more frequent. And more and more students choose to study overseas for experiencing culture diversity. Their goal is to broaden their horizontal and develop themselves from learning overseas. For example, according to Fengling, Chen, Du Yanjun, and Yu Ma’s paper "Academic Freedom in the People's Republic of China and the United States Of America.”, they pointed out that Chinese education more focus on “traditionally, teaching has consisted of spoon feeding, and learning has been largely by rote. China’s traditional system of education has sought to make students accept fixed and ossified content.” And “In the classroom, Chinese professors are the laws and authorities; Students in China show great respect to their teachers in general.” On another hand, in United States of America education “American students treat college professors as equals.” Also “American students’ are encouraged to debate topics. The free open discussion on various topics is due to the academic freedom which most American colleges and universities enjoy.” Discussion above gives us an overall idea about the differences between China and the United States on education. But we cannot simply judge which one is better, because each culture has its own advantages and features. Thanks to those difference forms the culture diversity and those make our world more colorful. For students who go abroad for education, if they can combine positive culture elements from two different cultures to their self-development, it would be a competitive advantage in their whole career. Especially, with current process of global economics, people who owned different perspectives on cultures stand at a more competitive position in current world.
Ref:Fengling, Chen, Du Yanjun, and Yu Ma. "Academic Freedom In The People's Republic Of China And The United States Of America." Education 112.1 (1991): 29-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
From the increase of immigration, there are many conflicts that happen in all around the world. For example, in America, there are excessive numbers of immigrants from China. From their immigrations, huge side effects started happening. Since Chinese people had a hard time to adapt themselves culturally to the American culture, they made strong bonds among themselves and made their own towns. As the China towns got bigger and their population grew greatly. From bigger population of Chinese, Americans started have anti-Chinese sentiment. For example, even the government banned Chinese women to immigrate to California due to Page Law in 1875.
In the education perspective, there are also side effects from immigrations. Because of the increase of immigrants, children of immigrants started going to public schools in America. Since they came from different cultural and linguistic background, they have a hard time adapting themselves to the American educational environment. They barely understand class materials in the classrooms. Also they have a hard time to communicate with American students. Furthermore, since Chinese's families have different perspective of education, Chinese students start having a dilemma. For example, Chinese parents want their children to be quiet, respectful and obedient to teachers. However, students need to be active and outgoing in the American educational system. From this dilemma, Chinese students start struggling in the school. From their failure of adaptation, they hang out with their own race rather than mingling with other students with different cultural backgrounds. From this situation, the segregation between American students and Chinese students greatly enlarged.
(Honorary Professor of Linguistics
at the University of Wales, Bangor) suggested that at that time, on average, one language was falling into disuse every two weeks. He calculated that if that rate of the language death
were to continue, then by the year 2100 more than 90% of the languages currently spoken in the world will have gone extinct.
Overpopulation
, immigration
and imperialism
(of both the militaristic and cultural kind) are reasons that have been suggested to explain any such decline.
adopted by UNESCO
in 2001 is regarded as a legal instrument recognizing for the first time, cultural diversity as "common heritage of humanity" and considers its safeguarding to be a concrete and ethical imperative inseparable from respect for human dignity.
Beyond the Declaration of Principles adopted in 2003 at the Geneva Phase of the World Summit on the information Society (WSIS), the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted in October 2005, is also regarded as a legally binding instrument that recognizes
It was adopted in response to "growing pressure exerted on countries to waive their right to enforce cultural policies and to put all aspects of the cultural sector on the table when international trade agreements". To date, 116 member states as well as the European Union
have ratified the Convention, except the US, Australia and Israel. It is instead a clear recognition of the specificity of cultural goods and services, as well as state sovereignty and public services in this area. Thought for world trade, this soft law instrument (strength in not binding) clearly became a crucial reference to the definition of the European policy choice. In 2009, the European Court of Justice favoured a broad view of culture - beyond cultural values through the protection of film or the objective of promoting linguistic diversity yet previously recognized . On top of it, under this Convention, the EU and China have committed to fostering more balanced cultural exchanges, strengthening international cooperation and solidarity with business and trade opportunities in cultural and creative industries. The most motivating factor behind Beijing’s willingness to work in partnership at business level might certainly be the access to creative talents and skills from foreign markets.
There is also the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ratified on June 20, 2007 by 78 states which said:
Cultural diversity was also promoted by the Montreal Declaration of 2007, and by the European Union
. The idea of a global multicultural heritage covers several ideas, which are not exclusive (see multiculturalism
). In addition to language, diversity can also include religious or traditional practice.
On a local scale, Agenda 21 for culture
, the first document of world scope that establishes the foundations for a commitment by cities and local governments to cultural development, supports local authorities committed to cultural diversity.
Some (including UNESCO) fear this hypothesis of a trend towards cultural uniformity. To support this argument they emphasize different aspects:
There are several international organizations that work towards protecting threatened societies and cultures, including Survival International
and UNESCO
. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, adopted by 185 Member States in 2001, represents the first international standard-setting instrument aimed at preserving and promoting cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.
Indeed, the notion of “cultural diversity” has been echoed by more neutral organizations, particularly within the UNESCO. Beyond the Declaration of Principles adopted in 2003 at the Geneva Phase of the World Summit on the information Society (WSIS), the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted in 20 October 2005 , but neither ratified neither by the US, Australia nor by Israel. It is instead a clear recognition of the specificity of cultural goods and services, as well as state sovereignty and public services in this area. Thought for world trade, this soft law instrument (strength in not binding) clearly became a crucial reference to the definition of the European policy choice. In 2009, the European Court of Justice favoured a broad view of culture - beyond cultural values - through the protection of film or the objective of promoting linguistic diversity yet previously recognized. On top of it, under this Convention, the EU and China have committed to fostering more balanced cultural exchanges, strengthening international cooperation and solidarity with business and trade opportunities in cultural and creative industries.
The European Commission
-funded Network of Excellence on "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World" (known as "SUS.DIV") builds upon the UNESCO Declaration to investigate the relationship between cultural diversity and sustainable development
.
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
s in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. It differs from multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
in that multiculturalism is usually associated with the organizational promotion of multiple cultures whereas cultural diversity is a recognition of the diversity in cultures.
Overview
The many separate societies that emerged around the globe differed markedly from each other, and many of these differences persist to this day. As well as the more obvious cultural differences that exist between people, such as language, dress and traditions, there are also significant variations in the way societies organize themselves, in their shared conception of moralityMorality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
, and in the ways they interact with their environment. Cultural diversity can be seen as analogous to biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
.
Opposition and Support
By analogy with biodiversity, which is thought to be essential to the long-term survival of life on earth, it can be argued that cultural diversity may be vital for the long-term survival of humanity; and that the conservation of indigenous cultures may be as important to humankind as the conservation of species and ecosystemEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s is to life in general. The General Conference of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
took this position in 2001, asserting in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature"
This position is rejected by some people, however, on several grounds. Firstly, like most evolutionary
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
accounts of human nature
Human nature
Human nature refers to the distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that humans tend to have naturally....
, the importance of cultural diversity for survival may be an un-testable hypothesis, which can neither be proved nor disproved. Secondly, it can be argued that it is unethical deliberately to conserve "less developed" societies, because this will deny people within those societies the benefits of technological and medical advances enjoyed by those of us in the "developed" world.
In the same way it is unethical to promote poverty in underdeveloped nations as cultural diversity it is also unethical to promote all religious practices simply because they contribute to cultural diversity. Particularly, there are some practices that are recognized by the WHO and UN as unethical: Female Genital Mutilation, Sati (burning the widow on the husbands burial pyre), polygamy, child brides, human sacrifice, etc.
Some individuals, particularly those with strong religious beliefs, maintain that it is in the best interests of individuals and of humanity as a whole that all people adhere to a specific model for society or specific aspects of such a model. For example, evangelical missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
organisations such as the New Tribes Mission
New Tribes Mission
New Tribes Mission is an international, theologically evangelical Christian mission organization based in Sanford, Florida, United States. NTM has approximately 3,300 missionaries in more than 20 nations, second only to Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL International David Hesselgrave, Executive...
actively work to support social changes that some observers would consider detrimental to cultural diversity by seeking out remote tribal societies to convert them to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
;
and Islamic groups strategically buy up land in Papua New Guinea.
Nowadays, communication between different countries becomes more and more frequent. And more and more students choose to study overseas for experiencing culture diversity. Their goal is to broaden their horizontal and develop themselves from learning overseas. For example, according to Fengling, Chen, Du Yanjun, and Yu Ma’s paper "Academic Freedom in the People's Republic of China and the United States Of America.”, they pointed out that Chinese education more focus on “traditionally, teaching has consisted of spoon feeding, and learning has been largely by rote. China’s traditional system of education has sought to make students accept fixed and ossified content.” And “In the classroom, Chinese professors are the laws and authorities; Students in China show great respect to their teachers in general.” On another hand, in United States of America education “American students treat college professors as equals.” Also “American students’ are encouraged to debate topics. The free open discussion on various topics is due to the academic freedom which most American colleges and universities enjoy.” Discussion above gives us an overall idea about the differences between China and the United States on education. But we cannot simply judge which one is better, because each culture has its own advantages and features. Thanks to those difference forms the culture diversity and those make our world more colorful. For students who go abroad for education, if they can combine positive culture elements from two different cultures to their self-development, it would be a competitive advantage in their whole career. Especially, with current process of global economics, people who owned different perspectives on cultures stand at a more competitive position in current world.
Ref:Fengling, Chen, Du Yanjun, and Yu Ma. "Academic Freedom In The People's Republic Of China And The United States Of America." Education 112.1 (1991): 29-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
From the increase of immigration, there are many conflicts that happen in all around the world. For example, in America, there are excessive numbers of immigrants from China. From their immigrations, huge side effects started happening. Since Chinese people had a hard time to adapt themselves culturally to the American culture, they made strong bonds among themselves and made their own towns. As the China towns got bigger and their population grew greatly. From bigger population of Chinese, Americans started have anti-Chinese sentiment. For example, even the government banned Chinese women to immigrate to California due to Page Law in 1875.
In the education perspective, there are also side effects from immigrations. Because of the increase of immigrants, children of immigrants started going to public schools in America. Since they came from different cultural and linguistic background, they have a hard time adapting themselves to the American educational environment. They barely understand class materials in the classrooms. Also they have a hard time to communicate with American students. Furthermore, since Chinese's families have different perspective of education, Chinese students start having a dilemma. For example, Chinese parents want their children to be quiet, respectful and obedient to teachers. However, students need to be active and outgoing in the American educational system. From this dilemma, Chinese students start struggling in the school. From their failure of adaptation, they hang out with their own race rather than mingling with other students with different cultural backgrounds. From this situation, the segregation between American students and Chinese students greatly enlarged.
Quantification
Cultural diversity is tricky to quantify, but a good indication is thought to be a count of the number of languages spoken in a region or in the world as a whole. By this measure, there are 4 signs that we may be going through a period of precipitous decline in the world's cultural diversity. Research carried out in the 1990s by David CrystalDavid Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....
(Honorary Professor of Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
at the University of Wales, Bangor) suggested that at that time, on average, one language was falling into disuse every two weeks. He calculated that if that rate of the language death
Language death
In linguistics, language death is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language variety is decreased, eventually resulting in no native and/or fluent speakers of the variety...
were to continue, then by the year 2100 more than 90% of the languages currently spoken in the world will have gone extinct.
Overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
(of both the militaristic and cultural kind) are reasons that have been suggested to explain any such decline.
Cultural heritage
The Universal Declaration on Cultural DiversityUniversal Declaration on Cultural Diversity
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity is a declaration adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its thirty-first session on 2 November 2001-External links:...
adopted by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 2001 is regarded as a legal instrument recognizing for the first time, cultural diversity as "common heritage of humanity" and considers its safeguarding to be a concrete and ethical imperative inseparable from respect for human dignity.
Beyond the Declaration of Principles adopted in 2003 at the Geneva Phase of the World Summit on the information Society (WSIS), the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted in October 2005, is also regarded as a legally binding instrument that recognizes
- The distinctive nature of cultural goods, services and activities as vehicles of identity, values and meaning;
- That while cultural goods, services and activities have important economic value, they are not mere commodities or consumer goods that can only be regarded as objects of trade.
It was adopted in response to "growing pressure exerted on countries to waive their right to enforce cultural policies and to put all aspects of the cultural sector on the table when international trade agreements". To date, 116 member states as well as the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
have ratified the Convention, except the US, Australia and Israel. It is instead a clear recognition of the specificity of cultural goods and services, as well as state sovereignty and public services in this area. Thought for world trade, this soft law instrument (strength in not binding) clearly became a crucial reference to the definition of the European policy choice. In 2009, the European Court of Justice favoured a broad view of culture - beyond cultural values through the protection of film or the objective of promoting linguistic diversity yet previously recognized . On top of it, under this Convention, the EU and China have committed to fostering more balanced cultural exchanges, strengthening international cooperation and solidarity with business and trade opportunities in cultural and creative industries. The most motivating factor behind Beijing’s willingness to work in partnership at business level might certainly be the access to creative talents and skills from foreign markets.
There is also the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ratified on June 20, 2007 by 78 states which said:
Cultural diversity was also promoted by the Montreal Declaration of 2007, and by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The idea of a global multicultural heritage covers several ideas, which are not exclusive (see multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
). In addition to language, diversity can also include religious or traditional practice.
On a local scale, Agenda 21 for culture
Agenda 21 for culture
The Agenda 21 for culture is the reference document of the local governments to draw up their cultural policies. It’s based on the principles of cultural diversity, human rights, intercultural dialogue, participatory democracy, sustainability and peace....
, the first document of world scope that establishes the foundations for a commitment by cities and local governments to cultural development, supports local authorities committed to cultural diversity.
Defense
The defense of cultural diversity can take several meanings:- A balance to be achieved: thus, the idea of defense of cultural diversity through the promotion of actions in favor of "cultural minorities" said to be disadvantaged;
- Preservation of "cultural minorities" thought to be endangered;
- In other cases, one speaks of "cultural protection", which refers to the concept of "cultural exceptionCultural exceptionCultural exception is a concept introduced by France in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiations in 1993...
", which is mainly used in France under the title "French exception". This makes the link between the social vision of culture and the vision inherent in its commercialisation. The cultural exception highlights the specificity of cultural products and services, including special recognition by the European Union in its Declaration on Cultural Diversity. In this context, the objective is to defend against what is seen as a "commodificationCommodificationCommodification is the transformation of goods, ideas, or other entities that may not normally be regarded as goods into a commodity....
" - considered harmful to a "disadvantaged" culture - supporting its development through grants, promotion operations, etc., also known as "cultural protectionism". - This defense may also refer to incorporating "cultural rights" provisions, conducted unsuccessfully in the early 1990s in Europe, into a layer of human rights.
Cultural uniformity
Cultural diversity is presented as the antithesis of cultural uniformity.Some (including UNESCO) fear this hypothesis of a trend towards cultural uniformity. To support this argument they emphasize different aspects:
- The disappearance of many languages and dialects, regarding for example the languages of France, without legal status or protection (Basque, Breton, Corsican, Occitan, Catalan, Alsatian, Flemish, Poitou, Saintonge, etc.).
- Anxiety of people on the preservation of their traditions as in New Zealand, coastal regions in Australia, North America, Central America;
- Increasing cultural preeminence of the United States through the distribution of its products in film, television, music, clothing and nutritional products promoted in audio-visual media, consumer products virtually standardized on the planet (pizza, restaurants, fast food, etc..).
There are several international organizations that work towards protecting threatened societies and cultures, including Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...
and UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, adopted by 185 Member States in 2001, represents the first international standard-setting instrument aimed at preserving and promoting cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.
Indeed, the notion of “cultural diversity” has been echoed by more neutral organizations, particularly within the UNESCO. Beyond the Declaration of Principles adopted in 2003 at the Geneva Phase of the World Summit on the information Society (WSIS), the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted in 20 October 2005 , but neither ratified neither by the US, Australia nor by Israel. It is instead a clear recognition of the specificity of cultural goods and services, as well as state sovereignty and public services in this area. Thought for world trade, this soft law instrument (strength in not binding) clearly became a crucial reference to the definition of the European policy choice. In 2009, the European Court of Justice favoured a broad view of culture - beyond cultural values - through the protection of film or the objective of promoting linguistic diversity yet previously recognized. On top of it, under this Convention, the EU and China have committed to fostering more balanced cultural exchanges, strengthening international cooperation and solidarity with business and trade opportunities in cultural and creative industries.
The European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
-funded Network of Excellence on "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World" (known as "SUS.DIV") builds upon the UNESCO Declaration to investigate the relationship between cultural diversity and sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
.
See also
- Social cohesionSocial cohesionSocial cohesion is a term used in social policy, sociology and political science to describe the bonds or "glue" that bring people together in society, particularly in the context of cultural diversity. Social cohesion is a multi-faceted notion covering many different kinds of social phenomena...
- Social solidarity
- Foundation for Endangered LanguagesFoundation for Endangered LanguagesThe Foundation for Endangered Languages is a non-profit organization, registered as Charity 1070616 in England and Wales, founded in 1996. Its current chairman is Nicholas Ostler....
- MondialogoMondialogoMondialogo is an initiative launched by Daimler AG and UNESCO that seeks to promote intercultural dialogue and exchange among young people.The global initiative is based on three pillars: the Mondialogo School Contest, the Mondialogo Engineering Award and the Mondialogo Internet Portal, which...
- Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
External links
- UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005)
- UNESCO Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity
- International Network for Cultural Diversity
- Cultural Diversity in WikEd
- Broadcasting Regulation and Cultural Diversity
- CEN/ISSS Cultural Diversity Focus Group
- Across Cultures - films and articles on cultural diversity in Canada at NFB.ca
- Coalition for Cultural Diversity
- UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity
- http://www.societyforculturaldiversity.info