EDIG Origin
EDIG was originally formed by a group of researchers based in Ireland, working with external scientists, who wanted to better understand, and raise awareness of, the experiences of minoritized geoscientists in the larger geoscience community. Initially, EDIG was established to address gender-based harassment in geoscience, but it was subsequently expanded to include all minoritized groups to bring these discussions together and to avoid the inadvertent exclusion of people.
To help the volunteer base to better understand the experiences of those outside of their network, and to help plan future events, EDIG was launched in the summer of 2020 with a survey exploring prejudice, inequity, bias, exclusion, sexism, and discrimination within the larger geoscience community. The results of this survey were subsequently used to structure a two-day, online conference exploring where we have come from, where we are now, and where we are going in geoscience EDI. The conference, supported by 14 initial partner groups, wrapped up with a workshop on unconscious bias supported by the IGI and iCRAG.
While the EDIG project was established to run a once off survey and virtual event in 2020, after the conference, based on the conversations that took place, we decided to continue developing the project. As part of this, we restructured the organization of the committee to ensure a more sustainable, long term approach to the project and we subsequently opened our team up to new members outside of the original founding members.
Overall, the EDIG project aims to bring all of us together to learn how we can all make geoscience more accessible, inclusive and representative. EDIG plans to act as a platform for all of us to become more aware about the challenges and barriers many geoscientists experience during their geoscience journey. As we continue to grow and learn, the EDIG project will change but overall our mission is to provide a platform for us all to come together to engage with these topics and learn how we can all make geoscience more inclusive and accessible for all. We aim to engage more people with these conversations and move into actionable change within our community.
EDIG strives to promote effective, long-lasting change to help make the geosciences as welcoming, equitable, and accessible as they can be. Our goals are to:
- Raise awareness of the intersectional, structural challenges experienced by minoritized geoscientists and to promote progressive action to develop a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable community.
- Challenge people's perceptions through awareness without judgement, so we can all come together to learn and act, and to move towards global representation through challenging our own unconscious biases to ensure as many voices as possible are heard.
- Provide resources and toolkits to help improve accessibility and inclusion in geosciences, including developing a geoscience platform to help improve representation and highlight work by other groups and initiatives to help maximise impact.
- Develop events for organizations and geoscientists to come together, to learn about, and discuss, EDI topics in a safe environment.
The organizational structure of EDIG has been restructured several times as the direction and volunteer base have grown. As it originally started to organise a conference, when we decided to continue and evolve, we formed different internal structures to help ensure our smooth running. Currently, EDIG is structured into two major groups: the Steering Committee and the General Committee. Both committees are open to all, and are designed to try and ensure a more interconnected approach to running EDIG.
As part of our growth, we have run several volunteer-calls for new members to join and help shape the future of the EDIG project. We are always open to new volunteers who want to learn more about EDI in geosciences and want to make our field a more inclusive, accessible and welcoming one for all.