The belonging issue is not a lack of ideas; it is a lack of implementation. If we want to move beyond performative inclusion, we need to stop measuring success by how inclusive our posters look and start measuring it by how actively we are dismantling the practices and structures that create exclusion. This requires a fundamental shift from consultation to co-creation, where those most affected are not simply invited into the room to provide input, but are given meaningful influence and decision-making power. It means properly resourcing inclusion rather than treating it as an additional initiative and designing accessibility and flexibility into systems from the outset rather than retrofitting adjustments after barriers or harm have already occurred. It also requires us to critically examine the norms we have come to accept as neutral: what we define as professionalism, productivity, appropriate behaviour, or even leadership. Because sometimes the barrier is not the individual who struggles to fit into the system; the barrier is the system itself and the norms we have built around it.
