The European Commission promotes pluralism among employers and in the public sphere, in response to migration and the changing needs of increasingly diverse societies. In this area, the Diversity Charter is an important initiative. This is an undertaking made in writing to take measures to counter discrimination and promote pluralism in the workplace. In Poland, at the moment only 275 institutions have signed the charter – local government authorities, organisations, institutions of higher education, and businesses. Unfortunately, the measures these organisations take are insufficient, often superficial, and are for publicity purposes only.
The project aims to develop, describe, and apply Diversity Officer (DO) standards as a model solution for three specific areas: public administration at local authority level, business (employers), and institutions of higher education to bring about efficient, inclusive, and egalitarian measures and to devise and implement a complete range of policies to promote pluralism in those areas. Based on public consultations, research, and expert opinions, a description will be provided step by step of who the Diversity Officer is, what they do, the kind of support they provide, and what qualifications they have, so that local government authorities, institutions of higher education, and businesses can make use of a complete and thorough model, and implement it in their organisations.
There is a pilot version for the project. The project is intended for organisations in Lublin, while the universal nature and gravity of the issue lends it to be adapted for broader application. During the pilot stage, the devised standards will be adopted in three organisations.