Following the strong interest and discussion at the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Birds of a Feather (BoF) session at TNC25, the conversation continued at TNC26 in Helsinki, focusing on EDI initiatives across NRENs and the wider research and education community.
The session began with a series of short, focused talks highlighting concrete EDI initiatives currently underway within various NRENs, including CSC (Finland), RNP (Brazil) and GÉANT. Speakers shared examples of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) and wider EDI strategies, highlighting practical lessons learned from implementations.
Discussions covered common organisational and cultural challenges, implementation bottlenecks, and approaches that have proven effective in moving beyond formal legislative compliance towards meaningful and lasting impact. RNP also presented its work on promoting equal access to education across Brazil in line with the national agenda.
A key outcome of the session was the agreement to establish an EDI Community group to support collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the development of common approaches across the community. The group plans to meet online twice a year, with an annual face-to-face meeting.
How to get involved
We welcome anyone with an interest in EDI to be part of the community. Whether you’d like to take an active role, share your experiences, or simply join the conversation, there are plenty of ways to get involved.
To stay connected and hear about upcoming activities, you can join the mailing list here. It’s the easiest way to keep up to date and find opportunities to contribute.
You can also explore the EDI Community Wiki, where you will find slides and materials from the latest BoF session.
The first online community meeting will take place on 9 September at 14:00 CEST and will focus on gender pay gaps and pay transparency. You can register for the session here.
If you have any further questions, please reach out to us at edi-geantcommunity@lists.geant.org.
