Diversity is , at the same time, a value and a precious resource, and a challenge, a category full of contradictions and critical points. It is therefore necessary to face the main challenges it rises and to highlight its potential in terms of assertion of individual rights, of valorization of people’s uniqueness referring to the dimensions of gender, age, culture, sexual orientation, disability etc. Through a multilevel analysis which connects key areas of people’s lives, such as from the social and the economic arenas, the conference aims at highlighting and sharing reflections and good practices that, although developed within different contexts, can nonetheless suggest sustainable and effective trajectories of action. Diversity is thus meant as a possible answer to the financial and economic crisis and to the socio-political transformation that globally connects life experiences; as a territory where complex competences and expertise meet and mingle, drawing feasible alternatives that have at their very core the person, its rights and dignity.

The first panel wants to read Diversity from a critical point of view, breaking up and re-assembling its elements within a multidimensional perspective. Beyond the analysis of the philosophical basis, which lies on the concepts of identity and recognition, the speakers will pay specific attention to the social dimension of the concept, identifying critical aspects, contradictions as well as potentials related to the growing European cultural pluralism. The panel will focus on the multiple dimensions of Diversity within a managerial framework, addressing the main challenges and opportunities.

The second panel intends to dive into the financial and business factors, presenting national and international experiences of excellence pertaining to the public and private sectors. Diversity will also be read from the twofold lens of human resources and marketing with a focus on specific local and global contexts. It will try to understand why and how investing in Diversity represents a strategic and unavoidable choice. 

During the round table, under the input of Sant’Anna’s students and qualified discussants, institutional and non-institutional subjects will address challenges raised by the speakers, and in sequence elaborate a programmatic guiding document meant to influence and direct the realm of policies.

CrossThink-LAB is a think tank born of the cooperation between the Dirpolis Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa and the advisory firm Trim2. It has been thought as a space of confrontation between complementary and cross-cutting ideas which link the academic world with business and financial institutions. Characterized by a non-political, and a non-profit vocation and with no geographical boundaries, CrossThink-LAB has at the very core of its research interests, issues pertaining to daily life and that require a urgent, in-depth, shared and interdisciplinary reflection. Loyal to its slogan ‘Sharing Knowledge, Inspiring Actions’, CrossThink-LAB aims at inspiring practices able to impact society and engender change.

It is therefore through this spirit and its interdisciplinary and integrated perspective, that the complexity of the concept of Diversity wants to be analyzed. Diversity is understood as an aggregating factor but also difficult to manage, because of its complexity. The conference takes on the challenge of understanding the critical aspects inscribed in the concept with the purpose, however, of overcoming them and finally allowing the release of its potential.