Geographical representation at EGU General Assemblies in the period of 2015-2019

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is the leading organisation for Earth, planetary and space science research in Europe. Each year the EGU holds a General Assembly that is the largest and most prominent European geosciences event, attracting over 16,000 scientists from all over the world. This presentation provides an overview of the geographical representation of participants to the EGU General Assembly in recent years.

The presentation focuses on a five-year dataset spanning 2015 to 2019 and provides an insight on growth rates of the different countries individually and in comparison to the EGU General Assembly average growth (38% during the period 2015-2019).

China has the fastest-growing representation at the EGU General Assembly with a growth rate close to 300% in the period 2015-2019. The growth rates of the Republic of Korea and Canada have also climbed, and now represent the second and third fastest-growing countries attending the EGU respectively, with growth rates just over 80%.

The representation of Central and Eastern European countries (also known as EU-13 countries) at the EGU General Assembly has also grown steadily at a rate comparable with the EGU average, i.e. around 38%. Western European countries are the most represented at the annual general assembly accounting on average for 58% of the total participants over the 2015-2019 period. In addition the participation of Western Europeans to the general assembly continues to grow at the EGU but a slightly slower pace 29% than for Eastern Europe, but at a rate similar to participants from the USA.

This analysis leads to the conclusion that participation at the EGU General Assembly has grown both in the total number of attendees and in their geographical diversity. The most striking shift in the representation of countries has been towards an increase in the participation of Asian countries (China, Taiwan, Rep. of Korea & Japan) that collectively now exceeds the participation of North American participants (USA + Canada). In particular, if the current rate of growth in participation is sustained by China over the coming years this dataset suggests that their representation will surpass that of the USA shortly. It was also clear that the EU-13 countries continue to participate in the EGU General Assembly in growing numbers and with particular representation in certain scientific divisions such as Soil System Sciences (SSS), Hydrological Sciences (HS) and Climate: Past, Present & Future (CL). Overall, the above data provide valuable guidance in how to shape future EGU actions to promote diversity, equality and inclusivity at the annual EGU meeting.