National Inclusion Week® takes place from 14–20 September 2026. This year’s theme, “Build Trust. Navigate Change.”, is a timely invitation to turn inclusion from an organisational promise into an everyday practice.
Across the UK, conversations about identity, equality, migration, faith, gender, disability and belonging are becoming increasingly polarised. Protests, hostile rhetoric, misinformation and public disagreement can create anxiety that follows people into workplaces, schools, services and communities.
Some colleagues may feel directly targeted by what they see and hear. Others may feel uncertain about what they can say, worried about getting things wrong or reluctant to enter difficult conversations.
National Inclusion Week gives us an opportunity to pause, reconnect and decide what kind of workplaces and communities we want to create.
At EDUK, we believe inclusion is not about avoiding difference or expecting everyone to agree. It is about creating environments where people can participate, contribute, challenge respectfully and feel that their dignity and safety matter.
What is National Inclusion Week®?
National Inclusion Week® is an annual opportunity to celebrate inclusion and, more importantly, strengthen the practical actions that make it real.
It encourages organisations and individuals to examine whether people genuinely experience:
- Respect and dignity
- Fair access to opportunities
- Psychological and physical safety
- A sense of belonging
- Confidence that their concerns will be heard
- Freedom to contribute without hiding important parts of themselves
- Recognition of their individual needs, circumstances and experiences
Inclusion is not achieved through a single awareness week. The week should provide a starting point, or a renewed point of focus, for work that continues throughout the year.
You do not need to fill every day of National Inclusion Week® with activity. One useful learning opportunity, one good conversation or one practical action can be a valuable place to start.
Why “Build Trust. Navigate Change.” matters now
Change can bring opportunity, but it can also expose existing inequalities.
Organisational restructuring, financial pressure, new technology, changing working practices and wider social tensions do not affect everyone in the same way. People’s experiences may be influenced by their age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity status, or marriage or civil partnership status.
Trust is strengthened when people know that decisions will be transparent, their needs will be considered, and they will not be disadvantaged because of who they are.
It is weakened when:
- Decisions are made without consulting those most affected
- Some voices dominate while others are interrupted or overlooked
- Discriminatory comments are dismissed as “banter”
- Accessibility is treated as an afterthought
- People are expected to disclose personal information to receive fair treatment
- Concerns are raised but no visible action follows
- Inclusion is discussed only when a complaint or crisis occurs
Navigating change inclusively means asking not only, “What are we changing?” but also:
Who might experience this change differently, who has not yet been heard, and what can we do to prevent unfair barriers?
Inclusion must include everyone
The Equality Act 2010 identifies nine protected characteristics:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
Inclusive practice must consider every protected group. It must also recognise that people do not experience their identities separately.
A disabled Black woman, an older gay man, a pregnant Muslim employee or a young trans person may experience overlapping barriers that cannot be understood by considering one characteristic at a time. This is known as intersectionality.
Intersectionality reminds us not to assume that everyone within a particular group has the same experiences, needs or opportunities. It asks us to listen to people as whole individuals and examine how policies, behaviour and workplace systems affect different people in different ways.
It also encourages us to look beyond the protected characteristics. Socio-economic background, caring responsibilities, neurodivergence, language, immigration status, working pattern, location and access to technology can also influence whether someone feels included.
The EDUK approach: Talk, Listen, Act
Inclusion does not always begin with a major campaign. It often starts with three simple actions.
Talk: ask what helps build trust: Invite colleagues to discuss what trust looks and feels like in their workplace.
You might ask:
- What helps you feel respected and able to contribute?
- What behaviours strengthen trust within our team?
- What makes it easier to express a different opinion?
- How can leaders communicate change more openly?
- What would help people feel safer raising a concern?
No one should be pressured to disclose a protected characteristic, personal experience or trauma. People should be able to contribute through examples, observations or suggestions rather than sharing private information.
Suggested outcome: Agree three observable behaviours that demonstrate trust, such as keeping commitments, explaining decisions and responding constructively when someone raises a concern.
Listen: create space to hear what could work better: Listening is more than inviting people to speak. It means being willing to hear that an existing practice may not work equally well for everyone.
Offer different ways to contribute, including:
- A facilitated group conversation
- An anonymous survey or digital suggestion box
- Individual conversations
- Staff-network feedback
- Written reflections
- Accessible online and face-to-face options
Consider who is not participating and why. Check whether the time, location, language, technology or format may be creating barriers.
Suggested outcome: Identify one recurring barrier, who it affects and what needs to change.
Act: agree one practical improvement: Choose an action that is specific, achievable and visible. Give it an owner, a timescale and a review date.
The action might involve:
- Making recruitment information more accessible
- Improving religious and cultural awareness
- Reviewing support for pregnancy, maternity and returning parents
- Strengthening responses to harassment and discriminatory behaviour
- Introducing inclusive meeting practices
- Making hybrid working more equitable
- Reviewing facilities, uniforms or language
- Improving reasonable-adjustment processes
- Creating safer routes for raising concerns
Suggested outcome: Record the action, name who is responsible and report back to colleagues on progress.
These actions reflect the broader National Inclusion Week® approach of building connections, listening to people and turning intentions into action.
Inspirational activities for National Inclusion Week®
Choose the activities that are most relevant to your organisation. Depth is more valuable than trying to organise something every day.
1. The inclusion lens challenge
Select one workplace process, such as recruitment, promotion, meetings, training, flexible working or customer access, and examine it through the experiences of different people.
Ask:
- Could this create a barrier linked to age or disability?
- Does it work for pregnant employees, new parents and carers?
- Could religious observance, dress or dietary needs be affected?
- Are LGBT+ and trans people able to participate safely and with dignity?
- Could racial inequality or cultural assumptions influence decisions?
- Are married people, civil partners and those with different family structures treated consistently?
- What happens when several of these experiences intersect?
Outcome: One process is improved using evidence gathered from more than one group.
2. “A view from another chair”
Present a realistic workplace scenario and ask participants to consider it from several perspectives.
For example, an organisation introduces a compulsory early-morning meeting. How might this affect:
- A disabled employee who relies on scheduled support?
- A pregnant employee experiencing morning sickness?
- A parent or carer managing school or care arrangements?
- A Muslim employee during Ramadan?
- An older employee with caring responsibilities?
- A younger colleague using unreliable public transport?
- Someone experiencing several of these circumstances simultaneously?
The aim is not to guess what people feel. It is to identify questions that should be asked before decisions are finalised.
Outcome: Participants practise inclusive decision-making and stop treating one experience as the universal norm.
3. Trust in times of disagreement
Facilitate a conversation about how colleagues can disagree without attacking a person’s identity or dignity.
Develop shared principles such as:
- Challenge ideas without demeaning people
- Do not expect a colleague to speak for an entire group
- Listen to understand before preparing a response
- Distinguish discomfort from harm
- Do not debate another person’s humanity or right to belong
- Address misinformation calmly and factually
- Intervene when comments become discriminatory or threatening
- Pause and seek support when a discussion is no longer psychologically safe
Outcome: A team agreement for respectful dialogue that can be used beyond National Inclusion Week.
4. The missing voices review
Examine who contributes to meetings, decisions and development opportunities.
Consider:
- Who speaks most frequently?
- Who is interrupted?
- Who receives visible or career-enhancing work?
- Who is consulted after a decision rather than before it?
- Whose ideas are credited?
- Who may be excluded by inaccessible information, jargon or meeting formats?
- Are people working part-time, remotely or flexibly given equal opportunities to contribute?
Outcome: Two changes to meeting or decision-making practice, reviewed after three months.
5. Everyday allyship
Invite everyone to identify one action they can take when exclusion occurs.
This may include:
- Challenging a stereotype
- Interrupting discriminatory “banter”
- Checking whose voice has not been heard
- Correcting the repeated mispronunciation of someone’s name
- Using a person’s correct name and pronouns
- Describing visual content for colleagues who cannot see it
- Supporting a colleague to request a reasonable adjustment
- Questioning a decision that appears to disadvantage a particular group
- Making space without speaking over those directly affected
Outcome: Participants leave with a specific commitment rather than a general promise to “be more inclusive”.
6. Inclusion during change
Take a real organisational change and carry out an equality and inclusion check.
Ask:
- Who will benefit?
- Who may face additional barriers?
- What information do we need before proceeding?
- Have affected groups been meaningfully consulted?
- Is communication available in accessible formats?
- Are managers prepared to respond consistently and sensitively?
- How will we monitor unintended consequences?
Outcome: An inclusion action is incorporated into the change plan before implementation.
Everyday practices to carry forward
National Inclusion Week® should create momentum, not a temporary moment. EDUK recommends embedding the following practices throughout the year.
Make inclusion part of every decision
Include equality and accessibility questions in project plans, policy reviews, procurement, recruitment and organisational change.
Replace assumptions with respectful questions
Do not assume what someone needs because of their identity, appearance or circumstances. Ask appropriately, protect confidentiality and respond to what the person tells you.
Make reasonable adjustments routine
Create a clear, supportive process that does not make disabled and neurodivergent people repeatedly justify their needs. Remember that many disabilities and health conditions are non-visible or fluctuating.
Use inclusive language, and remain open to learning
Language evolves. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it, correct it and continue. Do not make the person affected responsible for managing your embarrassment.
Respect religion, belief and non-belief
Avoid assumptions about observance and create fair processes for dress, dietary requirements, prayer, leave and workplace events. Inclusion protects people with a religion or belief and those without one.
Strengthen safety and dignity
Respond consistently to racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, religious hatred, sexual harassment and other discriminatory conduct. Silence can be experienced as permission.
Review patterns, not only individual incidents
Examine recruitment, progression, pay, complaints, turnover, absence and access to development. Overall figures can conceal inequalities experienced by smaller or intersecting groups.
Keep listening after the week ends
Tell colleagues what you heard, what will change and when progress will be reviewed. Trust grows when people can see that their contribution has influenced action.
Suggested objectives for your organisation
Your National Inclusion Week activity could aim to:
- Increase understanding of inclusion, intersectionality and the protected characteristics.
- Create a safe and accessible opportunity for colleagues to discuss trust and belonging.
- Identify at least one organisational practice that may affect groups differently.
- Agree one practical and measurable inclusion improvement.
- Strengthen confidence to challenge discrimination and exclusion appropriately.
- Ensure organisational change considers equality from the beginning.
- Establish ownership and a review date so progress continues beyond the week.
Measuring the outcome
Ask a small number of meaningful questions rather than relying only on attendance figures:
- What did we learn that we did not understand before?
- Whose experiences or perspectives were missing?
- What practical change have we agreed?
- Who is responsible for taking it forward?
- When will progress be reviewed?
- How will we know whether the change has improved people’s experience?
- Have different and intersecting groups benefited equitably?
A successful National Inclusion Week is not measured by the number of events held. It is measured by what people understand, what they experience differently and what the organisation changes.
One conversation can be the beginning
Inclusion is built through everyday choices: whose voice we notice, whose needs we anticipate, how we respond to harm and whether we are prepared to act when a familiar practice is not fair for everyone.
At a time when public debate can feel increasingly divided, workplaces can demonstrate another way forward, one based on dignity, evidence, courage, curiosity and shared responsibility.
This National Inclusion Week®, you do not have to do everything.
Have one useful conversation.
Listen to what people need.
Take one practical action.
Then keep going.
Build Trust. Navigate Change. Create inclusion that lasts.
EDUK supports organisations to move beyond awareness and embed equality, diversity and inclusion into leadership, culture, policy and everyday practice.