Cultural Infusion at MONDIACULT 2025: Proposing a Precise, Functional, Universal Definition of Culture, Cultural Identity and Cultural Diversity

UNESCO’s MONDIACULT 2022 Declaration rightly reaffirms that cultural diversity is as essential to humankind as biodiversity is to nature.

Our CEO and Founder Peter Mousaferiadis is attending MONDIACULT 2025 in Barcelona and will be presenting in English as part of the Voices of Culture program on 30 September from 9am to 9.30am to propose a precise, functional, universal definition of cultural diversity, culture and cultural identity.

The lack of a precise, generally agreed upon definition for each of these terms creates confusion and makes it impossible to accurately measure and compare across contexts, track changes over time, or develop evidence-based strategies that reflect the full complexity of human identity. A precise, functional, and universal definition for these terms will enable policymakers, civil society, and industry leaders to measure and manage cultural diversity for peace and sustainability.

In a technical paper submitted to the MONDIACULT Digital Library, we proposed the following core and broad definitions of cultural diversity.

Cultural diversity (core definition)

Cultural diversity is the precise measurable variety, disparity, balance and mutuality within a defined group at a defined moment across the four categories of place, heritage, language and belief system.

Cultural diversity (broad definition)

Cultural diversity is the precise measurable variety, disparity, balance and mutuality within a defined group at a defined moment across the four categories of place, heritage, language, and belief system, alongside identity attributes that may be learned or biological.

To arrive at this definition, Cultural Infusion first built on UNESCO’s definition of culture articulated in the Mexico City Declaration on Cultural Policies, 1982, by incorporating the structural ‘skeleton’ it omits. This structure comprises place, heritage, language, and belief system.

Peter Mousaferiadis will walk through the steps we took to arrive at these definitions during his talk, where he will also reveal our proposed definitions of culture and cultural identity.

Our vision is that this model will allow any body seeking to protect cultural diversity and promote sustainability to be effective and fully inclusive.

Peter Mousaferiadis will make the case for adopting this definition globally, showing how it transforms cultural diversity from abstract ideal into actionable strategy, offering the international community a shared language and methodology to compare, understand, and strengthen diversity across contexts.

Computational technology now makes this vision achievable at scale, using democratised datasets
and holistic data to give visibility to cultural attributes previously hidden by being subsumed into broad, often problematic categories. This is to ensure that everyone is counted; essential if we are to protect cultural diversity in its entirety.