The BIID Response to Open Letter on Diversity

On 24th June 2020 the BIID was sent an open letter signed by over 140 interior designers and people working in the design industry. Our response to the open letter is below:

“We would like to thank everyone who signed the open letter to us. In addition to the proposed initiatives outlined in the letter, we are actively talking with many designers, design students and others in the industry about their suggestions of new programmes, actions and initiatives.

“We are committed to developing an action plan to improve inclusion and diversity in the interior design profession. We believe that in order for us to best use our resources to achieve this goal, we need to have an understanding of the current state of the profession. Unfortunately, this data does not exist so we have decided that the best first step is for us to launch a Diversity In Interior Design survey. This will also help us, and other organisations working in this area, to track future progress. We very much hope that designers will assist us in this survey to ensure we can provide as complete a picture as possible.

“Following the results of our research, we will be announcing our initial action plan in September 2020. As a democratic membership organisation, any plan that we develop will be led by our members. We would encourage any existing members who want to be involved in shaping the development of this plan to get in touch and we invite any designers who are not yet members to consider joining the Institute, so that they too can play a positive part in the process and effect lasting change.”