On behalf of the EGU Council and our thousands of volunteers, the EGU’s outgoing President, Alberto Montanari, incoming President Helen Glaves, and Martin Rasmussen, the Managing Director of Copernicus, EGU’s conference organiser, are excited to welcome you to vEGU21: Gather Online!

A message from the vEGU21 Programme Committee Chair

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our daily lives, EGU is organising its General Assembly as a fully virtual conference for the second time. While we started planning for vEGU21 as a hybrid gathering, in October, during the pandemic’s second wave, we decided to move to a fully virtual format again. As continental Europe is fighting off the third wave, this proves to have been the right decision.

While last year we had just six weeks to transition from an in-person to a fully virtual event, we’ve had much longer to develop and plan for vEGU21! Our guiding principle has been that it should provide you with an experience that is as close to an in-person conference as possible, while at the same time prioritising accessibility and inclusiveness. We hope you’ll enjoy the specially designed virtual conference centre, the wide-ranging scientific programme (13,749 presentations scheduled in 843 sessions), as well as the exhibition, townhall meetings, and community events. Discover the Artists (not!) in residence, listen to inspiring Medal & Award lectures, and engage in the Union Symposia and Great Debates. As networking is an essential part of scientific conferences, we’ve put particular effort into developing engaging virtual networking tools for vEGU21.

While we’re all looking forward to meeting in person again, we hope you’ll have an engaging and inspiring experience participating in vEGU21. I wish to express my sincere thanks to the team at our conference organiser Copernicus, who have been working incredibly hard to develop all the new tools in time, as well as to the many community members who are contributing their time as conveners, science officers, committee members, etc. Last but not least, thanks to all of you for joining us. I hope you enjoy the conference!

Peter van der Beek, EGU Programme Committee Chair