Building Inclusion

Book excerpt: Building Inclusion: A Practical Guide to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Architecture and the Built Environment is just that – a manual to support and provide essential guidance to the profession on these key issues. Acknowledging that the existence of EDI procedures does not necessarily ensure their use, it focuses on demonstrating behaviours that help create, implement and enforce policies, procedures and practices to deliver inclusion. Written by Marsha Ramroop, former inaugural EDI Director at the RIBA and award-winning EDI strategist, the book targets the pain points of talent attraction and retention, public sector procurement, community engagement and inclusive design. It utilises case studies from organisations across the sector and the world with successful EDI practices, as well as testimonials of lived experiences of discrimination which provide important insight to the reader. The book takes an intersectional approach, considering not just the separate identities of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender and sexual identity, disability, neurodiversity and class but the overlap of these. Clearly written and accessible, with key points at the end of each chapter, this book is essential reading for those in the profession seeking to implement EDI practices in their work and workplace.