Actively mitigating barriers to inclusion at the EGU General Assembly

Participating in geoscience conferences are a vital activity in the career of a researcher. International conferences are hubs for accessing hot-of-the-press scientific findings and provide valuable opportunities to consolidate collaborations and develop new networks across every career stage.

However, attending international geoscience conferences represents a significant financial and logistical cost. Opportunities for researchers to access funding to participate in an international geoscience conference varies widely across countries. In addition, researchers that have caring responsibilities, disabilities or experience temporary unemployment may face additional financial barriers to participation as legitimate expenses resulting from the conference attendance cannot be reimbursed from research project budgets or from their affiliated research institutions. This places a strain on geoscientists facing financial hardship, and leads to the exclusion of researchers from career-defining meetings. Furthermore, many geoscientists require more practical solutions to enable participation at an international conference, either through the provision of child care facilities onsite or supporting essential caregivers to accompany EGU participants.

Over the last 10 years the EGU has steadily built up a range of structures and funding mechanisms to support the international geoscience community participate in the EGU general assembly https://www.egu26.eu/authors/financial_support_and_waivers.html. Every year the EGU is supporting hundreds of geoscientists through the Roland Schlich Travel Support and the EDI Participation Support Scheme. These support schemes primarily provide financial assistance to scientists in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences who encounter significant financial barriers that prevent them from participating to the EGU General Assembly. In addition, the EGU is providing a number of practical solutions including a popular and easily accessible free childcare facility onsite and providing flexible support for accompanying caregivers of participants. 

The EGU continues to listen attentively to the needs of it’s members and is actively facilitating engagement and soliciting feedback in dedicated environments (the EGU EDI Booth), networking events and advisory groups specifically addressing Accessibility and Inclusion. Through these diverse initiatives EGU will strive to actively mitigate barriers to inclusion at the EGU General Assembly.