[U-07] Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in the geoscience

[U07-01] A vision for equality, diversity and inclusivity in the geosciences after the first quarter of the century

★Invited Papers

*Alberto Montanari¹ (1.University of Bologna)

Keywords:Equality, Diversity, Inclusivity

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (hereafter EDI) are ranking high in the agenda of scientific associations and researchers, for the very reason that EDI is widely recognized as a propeller for scientific development. In the past 5-10 years, EDI was promoted in the realm of global geosciences with a multitude of initiatives that adopted a broad vision, thus addressing several forms of diversity: gender, geographical, ethnic, career stage, and many others. These developments followed the enthusiastic initiative of individual scientists that joined into groups and task forces of scientific associations, under the international impulse given by the global development of the EDI movement. However, alongside with the positive and impressive results achieved, EDI was challenged with questions and criticism, essentially related to reconciling equality with diversity: how to ensure equality of opportunities while still preserving global diversity, and in particular cultural diversity? I believe it's time for the geoscientific community to stimulate an open discussion on the above challenging questions, for the benefit of the global diversity of people and research visions. This contribution is an attempt to articulate the discussion on scientific and transparent grounds, by assuming that any form of diversity that is legally and ethically expressed is a valuable contribution to address the key scientific challenges of geosciences and seeking a peaceful future.