EDI (equality, diversity, and inclusion) often risks becoming abstract — but the EDI in Research Conference at Brighton grounded these ideas in real lives and urgent questions.
I presented on Sensory Inequalities and Access to Blue Space, drawing on how the Accessible Waters project engages with lived experience and embodied knowledge. My focus was on moving beyond sight-centred assumptions — and towards more inclusive, sensory-rich understandings of wellbeing and environment.
It was encouraging to see conversations moving toward action: how universities can support more accessible fieldwork, how marginalised voices can be better centred, and how structures can be rethought.
EDI is not just policy — it’s practice. And conferences like this offer space to ask harder questions and imagine better ways forward. I left with fresh insights and a stronger sense of connection to others asking similar things.