For our Conferences, we adopt a safer space policy and implement numerous diversity and inclusivity initiatives in the ongoing effort to improve the diversity in our conferences in a safe environment.

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Conference programme

• We aim to have gender and geographical balance: in the speaker selection, it will be exercised care and attention to guarantee a gender balance and a geographical representativity.
• We encourage the Programme Committee to invite speakers diverse in social identities, geographical location, background/training, methodological approaches, and research topics.
• We encourage speakers and presenters to create presentations and posters with accessible fonts and character sizes to help partially-sighted and neurodivergent participants.

Conference organization and environment

• Safer Space Policy: A safer space policy aims to foster an environment of respect, which makes all participants feel welcome – particularly those who are typically marginalized or excluded, whether by gender, sex, race, religion, (dis)ability, sexual orientation, geographical location, and personal background. Differing opinions and perspectives are crucial to effective discussion but all attendees ultimately take responsibility for their speech and behaviour – in person and on social media – throughout the entire event and associated social gatherings.
• In respect of the transgender community, the pronouns of the participants will be asked during the registration on an optional basis. It is also possible that they will be printed on the badges that participants will use during the Conference.
• During the registration process for our conferences, we offer the possibility of indicating dietary requirements.
• Social gatherings (such as coffee breaks, lunches, or conference dinners) are organized for participants to be able to network and socialize.

• Ask respectful questions and avoid dominating a presenter’s question time to further any particular agenda. Question time after a talk is intended to give presenters the opportunity to expand on their talk in response to audience questions, and is not a platform for the audience to individually reply.
• Be mindful of and understand that intersectionality shapes our lived experience.
• Actively include all attendees in social gatherings (such as post-conference dinners and social events), particularly those for whom English is not a first-language and junior students.

• In acknowledgement of the prohibitive cost for many in attending conferences, we try to introduce discounted registration rates for students, retirees, and people from lower-income countries.
• We offer a diverse range of accommodation options with different prices.

• In the Conference location participants will know more about local history and tradition. The social programme will give participants the possibility of looking at the city where the conference is located through renewed eyes and learning about it.

• Accessible fonts, character sizes, and line spacing for partially-sighted and neurodivergent users
• A search bar to help find everything on the website
• A graphic structure, colour, and contrast that facilitates reading
• Descriptive URLs so that screen readers can easily read them
• Alt text for images

Over the years Symposia has been implementing a large number of operational best practices for the daily running of its structure and all its events, from the selection of materials according to eco-sustainability criteria and the energy efficiency of the equipment, to the procedures for possible work peaks and for the replacement of absent staff.

Our conferences are environmentally-friendly events promoting environmental and social solidarity.

Great care will be put into our Green philosophy that will be applied to the catering services as well as to the choice of all equipment, materials, and gadgets.

• Food waste: Thanks to the collaboration with Federcongressi & Eventi, the food bank network Banco Alimentare and the Fair Event organization Equoevento, we will collect the surplus food at the end of the Conference meals and deliver it to charitable organizations such as family homes, soup kitchens, and refugee centers, in accordance with applicable hygiene regulations and in compliance with Italy’s Good Samaritan law (Law 155/2003).
  Find more here.
• Carbon neutral: Our conferences are climate-friendly and, in the best-case scenario, carbon neutral. As the Organizing Secretariat, Symposia minimizes the waste of CO2 emissions during its work and avoid all CO2 emissions that arise from any conference-related activities and travels. For this reason, in the website and private correspondence with participants, our staff will inform participants of different possibilities to reach the venue, such as public transportation and bike routes. We also prioritize renewable energy sources and eco-friendly merchandise in the conference kit.

• Social sustainability: We encourage socially sustainable conferences, designed, planned, and realized with a strategy that minimizes negative impact on the environment and leaves a positive legacy to the host community.