"Beautiful inside and out" 

Recently, while visiting Antonio, my trusted farmer, I noticed a basket by the cash register, labelled "ugly but good". This basket, filled with unusually shaped fruits and vegetables, represents more than a novelty; it embodies a sustainable practice in agriculture. By selling these less aesthetically pleasing products at a discount, Antonio challenges the typical consumer preference for perfection, highlighting that the taste and nutritional value remain, reducing food waste significantly.

This incident is a microcosm of a larger truth applicable to many areas of our lives, including how we perceive human diversity. Often, we categorize and exclude based on conformity to norms, yet diversity in human experiences and traits drives innovation and enriches interactions.

Diversity is not merely a social good; it's an environmental imperative. In workplaces and communities, embracing diversity means fostering a culture where varied perspectives contribute to solving complex global challenges, including those related to environmental sustainability.

The European Union's Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 is an example of institutional efforts to promote inclusivity, aiming to dismantle stereotypes and create equitable economic opportunities, which can lead to more sustainable societal structures. 

Similarly, the principles enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights advocate for inclusivity across different demographics, enhancing social resilience and adaptive capacity to environmental changes.

So, are gender equality and the fight against discrimination just fine words?

No, they are much more. They are the key to building a world where everyone can have the same opportunities, without having to fight harder than others to make their voices heard. It is a matter of justice, certainly, but also of growth: because an inclusive society is a stronger, more innovative, more capable society in facing the challenges of the future.

However, achieving this goal is not the responsibility of a few: it requires a joint effort of institutions, businesses, and civil society to translate these principles into concrete actions.

Efforts include:

• Promoting workforce diversity, which enhances problem-solving and innovation necessary for addressing environmental challenges.
• Integrating diverse perspectives to advance sustainability and responsible environmental practices.
• Developing inclusive work environments that appreciate contributions from all generations, crucial for long-term environmental stewardship.
• Encouraging a collaborative culture that values continuous learning and adaptation, key to sustainable development.

Many companies are actively implementing effective Diversity Management initiatives with tangible tools to promote inclusion. For example, some have introduced internal reporting systems to handle incidents of discrimination, while others offer awareness training to enhance employee sensitivity to diversity issues.

Another approach is the use of anonymous application processes to avoid unconscious biases in hiring, or explicitly declaring a commitment to equality in job advertisements to encourage applications from minority candidates.

A notable case of inclusion is that of Walmart, which has identified a barrier to professional growth among its frontline employees, many of whom are African American or Hispanic/Latino. The lack of qualifications and the cost of training have prevented them from accessing more lucrative roles. To overcome this barrier, Walmart introduced a free education and upskilling program, which has increased employee retention by 20% among participants and allowed those enrolled in the initiative to increase their likelihood of promotion by 87.5%. This is a concrete example of how diversity, when supported by targeted investments, can lead to real growth.

What if diversity didn't just concern work or culture, but also our very bodies? If those "ugly but good" vegetables, discarded because they don't conform to an aesthetic ideal, resembled us more than we think? Body shaming is one of the most insidious forms of exclusion, a prejudice that infiltrates everywhere, from glossy ads to social media comments. According to the Diversity Media Research Report 2024, the media not only influence the concept of beauty but often distort it, fueling fatphobia and creating an unattainable aesthetic model that undermines the self-esteem of millions of people.

But fortunately, something is changing… take it from a satisfied size 46, who has always battled with size 44 and, in a bygone era, even lived the illusion of being a size 42! 😉

More and more people are demanding authentic beauty models that reflect the variety of real bodies and embrace diversity as a strength.

And then it's important to also talk about intersectionality, namely the way gender, age, sexual orientation, and ability influence individual experiences due to possible discrimination and various forms of exclusion.

We need to flip the perspective. Body diversity is not an anomaly, but the norm. Rethinking the way we talk about bodies is the first step to dismantling stereotypes and building a more authentic narrative. Beauty is not a fixed measure or a rigid category: it is a fluid reality that belongs to everyone.

Oxana Likpa knows this well. Born in Palermo to Ivorian parents, she is albino and for years faced discrimination and bullying at school. "I would like to go into classrooms and explain to the kids what it feels like to be excluded just because you are different," she says. "People are afraid of what they don't know, and little or nothing is known about albinism: the only time I found it in a school book, it was accompanied by a photo of an animal."

Knowledge is the first step toward inclusion. Today, Oxana is an established model, the face of major brands, and has been on the cover of Vogue Portugal. She has turned her uniqueness into a strength, showing that it is not society that should define who we are, but we who should rewrite the narrative of our diversity.

So, what would happen if we started celebrating differences instead of fearing them? Remember, this Friday is mismatched socks day. So, make sure to wear two different socks, which might seem like a trivial gesture, but is actually a powerful symbol to remind us that there is no single form of normality and that variety makes the world richer!

It's time to say goodbye, this time to the tunes of the musical "Wicked", which has recently been made into a beautiful film, so give it a look!

See you soon,

Chiara Pontoni

Sustainability Manager at Gesteco