Why Diversity Matters for Better Together Berlin

Unlocking Berlin’s Full Potential Means Engaging All Communities

Diversity in Berlin as a strategic opportunity

As one of Europe’s most diverse capitals (+35% (>1,4m)* of residents have a migration background), Berlin is uniquely positioned to lead the way in inclusive health research. Ensuring representation from all ethnic groups in clinical trials is paramount for developing effective and safe treatments for everyone. Diversity supports:

Representative patient pools to reflect the real-world population
Trial result generalizability, so results apply across subgroups

Local awareness to build relationships with these groups
Sponsor commitments to EDI and ESG

Berlin population

(Est. 2023*)

35%

with migration background

Estimated trial participation

(Based on Diversity Reports**)

10%

with migration background

90%

without migration background

*Source: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (2023)
** Source: Estimated Clinical Trial Participation by Migration Background – The PICANT trial

Language diversity in Berlin

Targeting the Top 3 languages covers over 55% of the city’s multilingual speakers

Language	Estimated Speakers*	% of Population	Notes
English	~500,000+	~12%	Common in expat, academic, and business communities
Turkish	~200,000	~5%	Largest heritage language; strong cultural presence
Arabic Languages	~135,000	~3.3%	Includes Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi communities
Russian	~100,000	~2.4%	Legacy of post-Soviet immigration. Ukraine immigrants partially reflected in numbers
French	~100,000	~2.4%	Popular among youth, West African, and diplomatic populations
Polish	~80,000	~2.0%	Significant Central European community
Spanish	~80,000	~2.0%	Common among young adults, education, and Latin American diaspora
Others	~205,000	~5.9%	E.g. Italien, Hebrew, Chinese aso.
Total	~1,4 mio.	~35%

*Source: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (2023),DESTATIS (2024), First language or native speakers

How to leverage Berlin’s diversity for clinical trials

Tangible Steps for Inclusive Outreach

Multilingual Materials

Flyers, videos, websites in Turkish, Arabic, Russian, and more

Community Media

Diaspora radio, ethnic newspapers, Relevant influencers

Site Readiness

Languages spoken, ethnicities, cultural competence training, multilingual branding

Inclusive Storytelling

Videos with underrepresented voices & native languages

Cultural Partnership

Mosques, community centers, immigrant health advisors

What we measure and compare

Joined Goals: With no reliable data on trial diversity in Europe or Berlin, our goal is to collect and compare KPIs across groups—not to forecast outcomes.