Europlanet Diversity Working Group · Europlanet Diversity Working Group Jacqueline D. Campbell 1,...

EuroplanetDiversityWorkingGroupJacquelineD.Campbell 1 , AnitaHeward 2,6 , AnnaŁosiak 3,4 , R.Parekh 5 , VictoriaPearson 6 , LoïcRossi 7

1 MullardSpaceScienceLaboratory,UniversityCollegeLondon,London,UnitedKingdom,2 Europlanet2020ResearchInfrastructure,MiltonKeynes,UnitedKingdom,3 WildfireLab,UniversityofExeter,Exeter,UnitedKingdom,4 InstituteofGeologicalSciences,Warsaw,Poland,

5 SchoolofEarthSciences,UniversityofBristol,Bristol,UnitedKingdom,6 SchoolofPhysicalSciences,TheOpenUniversity,MiltonKeynes,UnitedKingdom,7 FacultyofAerospaceEngineering,DelftUniversityofTechnology,Delft,Netherlands

Introduction:Since 2005, the Europlanet project has providedEurope’s planetary science community with a platformto exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools,data and facilities, define key science goals for thefuture and engage stakeholders, policy makers andEuropean citizens with planetary science.

Europlanet has been funded through a series of EUFramework programmes to build the community anddevelop research infrastructure for planetary science inEurope. It is the parent organisation of the EuropeanPlanetary Science Congress (EPSC), Europe’s largestannual meeting on planetary science. In September2018, a new Europlanet Society will be inaugurated thatwill be open to individual membership.

Europlanetiscommittedtobuildingadiverse,inclusiveplanetarysciencecommunityinEuropeandtoensuringthatindividualswithinthatcommunityexperienceequalopportunity,regardlessofgender,

disability,ethnicity,religionorbelief,sexualorientation,maritalstatus,age,nationalityor

socioeconomicbackground.*

EuroplanetDiversityWorkingGroupFollowing a 'Diversity Breakfast' event at the 2017 European Planetary ScienceCongress (EPSC) in Riga, Latvia, where delegates discussed issues ofdiscrimination and inequality in planetary science, a Diversity Working Group wasformed, made up of people from a range of backgrounds. We are developingTerms of Reference for the group working within the Europlanet organizationalstructure, are developing short- and long-term objectives, hold monthly onlinemeetings to work on these and hope to effect significant changes within theplanetary science community.

Short term, we have been discussing and implementing measures to facilitateinclusiveness at EPSC 2018 in Berlin, Germany.

We are providing diversity guidelines for the various committees that organisedifferent aspects of EPSC, including the EPSC Executive Board, which has overallresponsibility for the meeting, the Local Organising Committee (LOC), theScientific Organising Committee (SOC), as well as Conveners and Session Chairs.

Through these EPSC guidelines, we aim to ensure that*:• EPSC represents diversity in the planetary science community, including in the

membership of its Committees, its Conveners, Session Chairs, Speakers andpublic outreach activities

• the Committees nominate one member to take responsibility for equality,diversity and inclusion

• at least one Diversity Officer is present during EPSC, who delegates canapproach for advice and support on any issues encountered at the conference

• all venues are accessible, including those used for presentations, postersessions, registration, social and public events

• family resources are provided, such as rooms for nursing mothers, babychanging facilities and childcare facilities, where it is possible to do so

• all formal and informal activities and venues are socially inclusive (e.g. holding“dry” events, ensuring those with specific diets are not excluded, and beingaware of cultural sensitivities)

• one or more events dedicated to equality, diversity and inclusion are held, e.g.dedicated lecture, networking event, buddying, mentoring.

We have also identified good practice for EPSC to consider, where possible:• choosing venues and delivery modes that are accessible to those with

disabilities, e.g. hearing loop facilities or real-time captioning for presentations• providing mentoring for 1st time attendees• providing bursaries for attendees from key groups• providing virtual access to the conference• providing a reflection, or multi-faith prayer room.

Long Term Plans:We are collating resources including scientific papers, articles,organisation details, and videos pertaining to the promotion ofequality in STEM. We plan to research and make use ofexisting initiatives that can benefit the Europlanet Society inthe future, and identify areas within the Society that wouldbenefit from the development of new initiatives to improveinclusivity in planetary science for all.

We believe that individuals, groups, and planetary scientists ingeneral would benefit from a commitment to equity anddiversity, and we would like to ensure that EPSC andEuroplanet overall become exemplars of these benefits.

IfyouareinterestedinjoiningtheEuroplanetDiversityGroup,pleaseemailusat:europlanetdwg@gmail.com

LatvianMinisterofEducationandtheChairoftheEPSC2017LOCinRiga

EarlyCareersactivitiesatEPSC2017 *exactwordingissubjecttoongoingdiscussionandmaychangeEuroplanet2020RIhasreceivedfundingfromtheEuropeanUnion'sHorizon2020researchandinnovationprogrammeundergrantagreementNo654208.