DIVERSEcity’s Together Against Hate project offers a new resource for collaboration that can be used by anyone looking to build safer, more inclusive and responsive spaces
Next time you’re at a meeting or event, look around to see who is at the table. Is the space welcoming and open to diverse voices? Was it built in partnership, with inclusion in mind?
This is a topic we have been exploring through our Together Against Hate project and community of practice, funded by United Way BC.
The result is “Building the Table” — a living, visual and symbolic resource that emerged from a shared call to action during the 2025 Together Against Hate Community Forum.
The goal? Not simply to invite people to the table, but to rethink what the table itself is — and how it is built.
This multimedia how-to guide for collaboration can be used by anyone striving to build safer, more inclusive and responsive spaces — whether in community organizations, schools, public institutions, business or cross-sector partnerships.
The Building the Table project was developed around six guiding principles.
- Belonging creates the conditions for participation.
- Trust creates the conditions for relationship.
- Lived experience creates the conditions for meaningful knowledge-sharing.
- Shared responsibility creates the conditions for collective leadership.
- Accountability creates the conditions for navigating tension and maintaining connection.
- Co-design creates the conditions for shared ownership and sustainable action.
Each principle strengthens the others. When practised together, they help create spaces where people feel valued, knowledge is shared with care, decisions are made collectively, and relationships remain at the centre of the work.
Explore the free video toolkit and companion publication at dcrs.ca/buildingthetable.