Advancing Diversity within the Europlanet Society

The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure and the Europlanet Society are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive network that supports planetary science and industry across Europe and globally.Europlanet's efforts focus on encouraging cooperation with individuals and institutions from countries that are under-represented in this field and on increasing awareness of the challenges these countries face. However, global events in recent years have significantly impacted the planetary science community. Under-represented groups have been particularly affected, with disruptions in networking opportunities, reduced resources, and low motivation.With growing concerns about the environmental impact of conferences and the ongoing shift to hybrid meetings, we need to find new ways to network effectively. While virtual or hybrid access can reduce some barriers (like cost and travel), it also risks creating a two-tier system where the most under-represented groups could become even more marginalized.In this poster, we report participation trends from major European geoscience and planetology conferences to better understand the current situation and identify effective responses. We discuss strategies for organizing meetings and creating projects to increase the inclusion of under-represented groups in planetary science, thereby advancing a more diverse and inclusive community within Europe.