Integration and cultural diversity; focus on racism: Language

Venue

Date

Start: 08.02.2023
End: 08.02.2023

Partners

City of Bochum

The UNIC Pop-up CityLab "integration and cultural diversity", which focused on the issue of racism, brought representatives of the Ruhr University Bochum and the city of Bochum, as the two largest employers in Bochum, into exchange. The discussion was about how to deal with racism within both organizations (e.g. with accusations of racism from employees or applicants) but also accusations of racism from their "customers" i.e. students in the case of RUB, citizens in the case of the city. Likewise, the question of prevention of (systematic) racism in the organizations was addressed.

37 including: researchers, students, university staff members and city representatives.

  • 4 students
  • 2 researchers
  • 12 university staff members
  • 19 city representatives

Language is a big problem for many migrants, not only in everyday life but especially when dealing with authorities and institutions, as German is still the only valid official language. However, Germany presents itself as an immigration-friendly country that welcomes all people. The fact that only German is allowed as an official language makes communication with migrants much more difficult and prevents them from realising their potential. A legal change away from German as the only official language would be necessary to counteract this. In addition, a simplified official language should be introduced or the use of technical solutions for cross-lingual communication, e.g. translation software, should be made possible. The accessibility of information on homepages should also be adapted to the multicultural clientele and the information should be made available in different languages. Staff could be offered language learning opportunities. The aim of all services must be to enable all citizens to manage their own affairs.

Tags

UNIC CityLabs | UNIC Superdiversity Academy

Themes

Diversity and Inclusion | Diversity | racism

Type of Case

discussion group

Languages

German

Organizing unic universities

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