Geoscience 2023 Social Responsibility Guidance (Accessbility & Inclusion, Health & Wellbeing)

GSNZ 2023 is committed to providing a safe space for all conference atttendees and empowering diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible participation.

At GSNZ 2023, a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible environment is one where all community members and event attendees, whatever their age, education, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, national origin, neurotype, race, religion, belief system, spiritual practice, sexual orientation, physical ability, physical appearance, body size, dietary preferences or other unique characteristics feel valued and respected. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and strive to ensure that all voices are valued and heard.

Below is some specific information about what GSNZ 2023 is doing to ensure our event is safe, accessible and inclusive, followed by some advice for what attendees can do to help GSNZ 2023 achieve this. If you have other requests not covered below, please let us know ahead of the conference as some actions may require advanced notice for implementation. Making our conference more accessible and inclusive is an evolving process and we would love to hear feedback so that we can improve upon our actions. Please email any feedback to gsnz@confer.co.nz.

COVID-19 and other contagious illnesses

GSNZ 2023 is committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of all participants. While all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in Aotearoa New Zealand, we encourage all participants to RAT test daily prior to attending conference activities. RAT tests will be available from the registration desk.  Anyone who receives a positive RAT test result, has cold or flu-like symptoms, or knows they have an active case of a contagious illness (e.g. chicken pox, measles) should stay away from the conference to help reduce the risk of transmission maintain a healthy space for all other attendees.

We encourage all GSNZ 2023 participants to practice good hygiene. Please wash your hands often, cough and sneeze into your elbow, and avoid touching your face if possible. Hand sanitiser and masks will be available at the registration desk. The supply of masks will be limited however, so please consider bringing your own.

We do not take responsibility for any costs incurred due to illness before, during or after the conference. Please ensure you have plan in advance for what you might need to do – ensure you have travel insurance, check their polices around COVID.  Please contact gsnz@confer.nz if you need any support managing illness.

Medical Assistance

If you require medical care:

• Wellington Hospital is ~3.2 km away at 49 Riddiford Street, Newtown, Wellington 6021
  
• General Practiioners (GPs) and accident and urgent medical care facilities near the conference venue can be found here: https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/gps-accident-urgent-medical-care/wellington/kelburn/
  
• General Practiioners (GPs) and accident and urgent medical care facilities, including for travellers, are also available through Wellington Accident & Urgent Medical Centre (https://www.wamc.co.nz/) at 17 Adelaide Road, Mount Cook, Wellington. Ph: 04 384 4944.
  

The phone number for the emergency services in New Zealand is 111.

Mobility

All areas of the venue are accessible using a wheelchair (see venue map for wheelchair accessible routes). There will be chairs available in all spaces to sit rather than stand. In session rooms, there will be space for wheelchairs and those who wish to stand. For presenters who wish to sit to present, a seat will be available.

Food and drink

For delegates who have provided dietary requirements with their online registration, your food will be provided separately and clearly labelled. Please see the registration desk if you have any issues.

Water will be available throughout the conference (please bring a bottle to fill up).

Morning and afternoon tea will be provided but please bring your own lunch or support local businesses by buying lunch from one of the on-site cafes.

Food and drink will be served on crockery. Recycling and composting bins will be available for waste.

Audio

Microphones will be used by speakers and people asking questions. Hearing aid loops are available in all lecture theatres. 

Well-being

A quiet room will be available throughout the conference for taking a break, whether that is simply to get away from everyone, pray, or to breastfeed/pump.

Bathrooms

Gender neutral bathrooms are available at the conference venue. 

What GSNZ 2023 is not doing

Hybrid Conferencing

GSNZ 2023 is unable to offer hybrid conferencing. All conference events will be held in-person.

Closed Captioning

Closed captioning will not be used at GSNZ 2023 as the AI driving the generation of closed captions has been shown to perform very poorly when presented with different accents and/or words and terms from different languages. We are pleased that these are very common at our conferences and wish to avoid any confusion, offense or embarassment that may be caused by the generation of inaccurate captions. If closed captioning is something you would normally rely on to access information, plesae email gsnz@confer.nz before the conference.

How you can help

You can help GSNZ 2023 be a safe, accessible, and inclusive space for all by:

• Adhering to the GSNZ 2023 Code of Conduct that sets out the standards of behaviour expected from all conference participants.
  
• RAT testing daily prior to attending conference, stay home if the test is positive or you have any cold or flu-like symptoms, or have an active case of another contagious illness (e.g. chicken pox, measles).
  
• Practicing good hygiene by washing your hands often, coughing and sneezing into your elbow, and avoiding touching your face. Please use the hand sanitiser provided and consider bringing and wearing a mask.
  
• Being on time and seated prior to all formal conference proceedings and sessions.
  
• Making the registration desk aware as soon as possible if you spot any issues of any kind.
  
• Asking for help if you need it.
  
  

Convenors

• Keep the presenter to 15 mins max- 12 minutes plus 3 mins for questions and transition. Keynotes are 30 mins. 
  
• Use inclusive language when introducing speakers.
  
• Remind the audience to keep questions concise, constructive, and on topic.
  
• Encourage presenters to use inclusive language (e.g., gender neutral terms) and create accessible slides and posters.
  
• Make sure everyone speaking (including those asking questions) uses a microphone. If a question is not said through a microphone, repeat the question through a microphone.
  
• If you have time, make contact with your presenters prior to the conference. Make sure they are aware of the deadlines, the session time/date and ask if they have any accessibility requirements they would like you to be made aware of.
  
  

Presenters

• Keep your talk to 15 mins max- 12 minutes plus 3 mins for questions and transition. Keynotes are 30 mins.
  
• Use inclusive language (e.g., gender neutral terms - here’s a guide from EGU).
  
• Make sure your slides or poster are accessible - check out these EGU blogs [1] [2] for more detail.
  
• Don’t use a rainbow colour scale or the red-green colour range - they are problematic for people who are colour blind and they distort data perception. A good alternative is the colourblind-friendly viridis, or pick another colour scheme.
  
• Check figures are understandable for people who are colourblind - you can simulate how they look beforehand to check.
  
• Use a san serif font (e.g., arial, verdana), make sure there is high contrast between the text and background, and that the font is large enough to read (minimum 24 pt, but ideally 36 pt for the body of the text, especially for posters).
  
• Let the audience know if they can/cannot photograph/screenshot your work or share on social media (if you don’t want it to be shared, pop something on each slide in case someone comes in late).
  
• Don’t use flashing lights in your presentations.
  
  

Attendees

• Be respectful of all presenters and speakers by showing up on time and muting mobile devices during conference sessions.
  
• Remember to capitalise the first letter of each word (e.g., #GeoscienceIsAwesome) in any hashtag you use to make it easier to read and help screen readers to read it properly.
  
• If including an image on social media, use alternative text (alt text) to describe what is in the image so screen readers can describe it for those who cannot see it.
  
• Ask concise, constructive, and on-topic questions.
  
• Use a microphone if asking a question during a session.
  
  

This guidance has benefited and been adapted from guidance developed for the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly 2023.