Community and culture

Equality, diversity and inclusion at the Grantham Institute

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Its effects are felt globally, but unevenly; despite largely being caused by a minority of people privileged by wealth and power, it is those without the resources to protect themselves that are affected by the impacts most deeply. However, all elements of society need to come together to work on solutions to climate change to ensure that a fair process which considers all different outlooks and motivations.

For these reasons, the Grantham Institute aspires for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to be core values of our community of staff, students, affiliates and stakeholders. We aim to consider EDI in every decision made whilst we work to achieve our Institute’s ultimate vision: inspiring and enabling people to create a zero-carbon, climate-resilient world.

Welcoming, accessible and inclusive

We aim for the Grantham Institute to be a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment for everyone. We work to achieve this by ensuring the Institute considers the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of our community relating to climate change, including vulnerable and underprivileged populations. We share and learn from others at Imperial College London and other research and higher education institutes. This is an ongoing journey that is supported by an Institute-wide commitment to EDI. Important first steps have been made; many still must follow.

Decision-making

We are working to ensure our decision-making processes are more transparent and acknowledge EDI as a central consideration. EDI has been added as a standing agenda item at both the weekly Institute Management meetings and the monthly Institute all-staff meeting. We review the membership of the Grantham Institute Advisory Board annually.

The Grantham Institute EDI committee was established in 2019 to work towards the Institute’s EDI goals. The committee works with other departments, institutes and groups across Imperial College to share ideas and information about different EDI initiatives. The committee has also recently worked with the Natural Environment Research Council to share ideas about removing barriers to participation in environmental science.