Code of Conduct

Tosca meetings Code of Conduct
Tosca is committed to providing a safe, respectful, harassment-free, accessible, productive, and welcoming environment for all meeting participants and Tosca staff, with equity in rights for all. All participants, including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors, Tosca staff, service providers, and others are expected to abide by this Tosca Meetings Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct applies to all Tosca meeting-related events, including those sponsored by organisations other than Tosca but held in conjunction with Tosca events, in public or private facilities.

Expected Behaviour
All participants, attendees, Tosca staff, and vendors are treated with respect and consideration, valuing a diversity of views and opinions.
Be considerate, respectful, and collaborative.
Communicate openly with respect for others, critiquing ideas rather than individuals.
Avoid personal attacks directed toward other attendees, participants, Tosca staff, and suppliers/vendors.
Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert Tosca staff/organisers if you notice a dangerous situation or someone in distress.
Respect the rules and policies of the meeting venue, hotels, Tosca contracted facility, or any other venue.

Unacceptable Behaviour
Overt and/or covert acts of harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form will not be tolerated.
Physical or verbal abuse of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, Tosca staff member, service provider, or other meeting guest.
Examples of unacceptable behaviour include, but are not limited to, verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations, or threatening or stalking any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, Tosca staff member, service provider, or other meeting guest both in person or online.
Recording or taking photography of another individual’s presentation without the explicit permission of the speaker is not allowed.
Sustained disruption of talks at oral or poster sessions, in the exhibit hall, or at other events organized by Tosca at the meeting venue, hotels, or other Tosca-contracted facilities.
Consequences
We expect participants to follow these rules during all conference events as well as any social media coverage.
Anyone requested to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately.
Tosca staff (or their designee) or security may take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the meeting without warning or refund.
Tosca reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting.

Reporting Unacceptable Behaviour
If you are the subject of unacceptable behaviour or have witnessed any such behaviour, please immediately notify a Tosca staff or committee member.
Notification should be done by contacting a Tosca staff or committee member on site or by emailing your concern to info@toscainternational.org
Anyone experiencing or witnessing behaviour that constitutes an immediate or serious threat to public safety is advised to contact 999 and locate a house phone and ask for security.


This policy was developed incorporating elements from the AGU Meetings Code of Conduct (https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2017/agu-meetings-code-of-conduct/) and the Science in Public 2019 Code of Conduct (https://sip2019.squarespace.com/code-of-conduct).