About the EDGE Network

Launched in early 2023, The Equity and Diversity for all Genders in Ecology (EDGE) network at the BES aims to address the challenges related to gender inequity, bias and discrimination many of us face on a day-to-day basis and foster a community of like-minded ecologists focused on issues pertaining to gender. We have identified four priority objectives that we will work towards.

1) Foster a supportive and safe community where gender related issues are discussed, and solutions are developed: At the EDGE network, we not only want to create a belonging community but also do things together that makes belonging matter. Hence, we want to develop an inclusive, close-knit and engaged community in which everyone can safely voice their issues and thoughts, connecting with those who are facing, or have faced, similar problems.

2) Build a comprehensive evidence base of gender related issues faced by ecologists: We aim to build an evidence base that covers the breadth and depth of gender related issues in the science, policy and practice of conservation and ecological sciences. This evidence base will allow us to understand the full scope of the impact of gender related issues in the ecological sciences with a nuanced understanding of the role of work culture, country specific norms, stereotypes and expectations.

3) Equip all ecologists with the resources to be aware of, think strategically about and implement solutions to gender related problems: We want to build awareness of the variety of gender related challenges that our community faces and more importantly we aim to equip our members with the tools, skills and advice to tackle these challenges. In this way we hope that we foster a community of ecologists with a gender aware work philosophy.

4) Promote diverse voices who are championing gender related initiatives in the ecology community: At the EDGE network, we want to champion all ecologists working towards gender equity in research, policy and practices. We hope that such champions will inspire, guide and motivate everyone to take steps towards building a gender equitable, unbiased and unprejudiced world of ecology.

These objectives will be reviewed and revised time to time. Email us at edge@britishecologicalsociety.org to have your say on the objectives of the EDGE network and join our mailing list to stay updated!