Over the last few years EGU has been working hard to make strides to improve accessibility and inclusion for our diverse cohort of members when attending the General Assembly. This has included examining the way we provide presentation spaces, facilitating engagement in presentations of various styles, providing all-gender bathrooms, quiet spaces, prayer and religious rooms in the conference center, scheduling regular breaks, improving the function of the meeting for parents and guardians of children, and more. However, our ability to identify inflexibilities in EGU’s conference design is often limited by our own experiences, so now we’d like to hear from you!

EGU is giving out 10 on-site registration fee waivers and 5 virtual registration fee waivers to individuals who experience one of a diverse range of barriers to conference participation, in order to learn more about their experience during the General Assembly in 2025, EGU25. EGU25 will take place 27 April – 2 May, 2025 in Vienna, Austria and online. In exchange for receiving a full registration fee waiver, we ask that the 15 recipients document and identify barriers or issues that they come across during the meeting – in the style of a ‘secret shopper’. This will comprise of completing forms before, during, and after the meeting, as well as having access to a contact person within the EGU staff for spontaneous reporting during the week. We hope that this initiative will reveal barriers that we were unaware of previously, allowing us to take steps to improve the accessibility of the meeting for the full diversity of scientists who are part of our community.

To apply for this waiver and contribute to this group, please fill out this form by midnight CET 22 January 2025. We are particularly interested in members who have physical or mental disabilities or who are chronically ill, especially if you are someone who has faced barriers attending in-person meetings in the past. We also welcome applications from people with specific religious or gender-identity requirements, parents and/or carers, and people from under-represented groups at EGU, for instance due to race or sexuality.

You are not required to disclose the nature of your circumstances, although that would be helpful in assisting us to make sure different types of experiences are represented by this group. The final selection of members of the Advisory Group will be made by the EGU Programme Committee Co-chairs, with support from the EGU Office and the EDI Committee.

Any further questions, please contact Jane Roussak (general-assembly@egu.eu)

• EDI Committee
• EGU25 General Assembly
• EGU General Assembly, accessibility and inclusion