United in Diversity: The Importance of Language
Present at the European Parliament
On 21 January 2020, soul.com had the honour to participate in the event “United in Diversity: The Importance of Language” at the European Parliament in Brussels. Soul.com had been invited to this exciting opportunity.
The event had been co-hosted by MEP Julie Ward and MEP Samira Rafaela and co-organised by the Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) of the European Parliament and the Bahá’í International Community (BIC)
At the heart of the event stood the question of “how a language can be developed that fosters in its user a strong sense of loyalty to all of humanity”.
Soul.com’s representative Pascal Jossi could draw on his personal story and on the experiences of soul.com to share insights into this challenging question. In particular, Pascal emphasised how vital it is to create “an environment of trust” through “meaningful conversations”:
“To be honest by looking at today’s topic I don’t know which words we have to add or remove or replace to make language a catalyst for inclusion. But what I do know through my professional experience [at soul.com] is that every change starts with a meaningful conversation.
In meaningful conversations, everybody can share ideas without feeling judged. We can question each other’s assumptions. Those conversations widen each participant’s horizon and lead to new, meaningful actions. And in order for them to occur, we need an environment of trust.”
