Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection
Non-technical summary Accelerated decarbonization of academic conferences is necessary and urgent. Despite the window of opportunity that COVID-19 created for rethinking conferences, there is a risk of slipping back into old habits now that restrictions are lifted. This commentary reports on recent...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Global Sustainability |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479823000157/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797670928001269760 |
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| author | Rob Raven Paris Hadfield Brianna Butler Jennifer Eagleton Gael Giraud Merin Jacob Jochen Markard Katharina Schiller Mark Swilling Mapula Tshangela |
| author_facet | Rob Raven Paris Hadfield Brianna Butler Jennifer Eagleton Gael Giraud Merin Jacob Jochen Markard Katharina Schiller Mark Swilling Mapula Tshangela |
| author_sort | Rob Raven |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Non-technical summary
Accelerated decarbonization of academic conferences is necessary and urgent. Despite the window of opportunity that COVID-19 created for rethinking conferences, there is a risk of slipping back into old habits now that restrictions are lifted. This commentary reports on recent experiences with a unique, sustainable approach to academic conferencing involving an international partnership and hub model across three continents. There is a need to continue to experiment with and implement new modes of sustainable academic conferencing.
Technical summary
In response to increasing demands to move away from carbon-intensive academic conferences, and a need to address social justice issues, the author-team designed, implemented, and experimented with a new conference model. Three key-design choices informed the model. First, instead of the common single-host-single-location approach, we established a partnership between three universities across three continents. Second, we adopted a hub model of three online conference days, followed by three non-hybrid, in-person only conference days. Third, we sought to accommodate global participation by organizing each of the online conference days during daylight hours in the respective time zones. We find that the model promotes less air travel and improved global south participation. Our approach adds to a growing number of experiments with new modes of academic conferencing in a world that is facing climate and inequality crises.
Social media summary
Decarbonizing academic conferences is necessary and urgent. This commentary reveals experiences with a hub-based format.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:07:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d400416065c4236a9dca381e083dfad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2059-4798 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:07:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d400416065c4236a9dca381e083dfad2023-09-29T09:46:37ZengCambridge University PressGlobal Sustainability2059-47982023-01-01610.1017/sus.2023.15Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflectionRob Raven0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6330-0831Paris Hadfield1Brianna Butler2Jennifer Eagleton3Gael Giraud4Merin Jacob5Jochen Markard6Katharina Schiller7Mark Swilling8Mapula Tshangela9Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Australia Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsMonash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Clayton, AustraliaEnvironmental Justice Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USAEnvironmental Justice Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USAEnvironmental Justice Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USACentre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South AfricaETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandFraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Karlsruhe, GermanyCentre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South AfricaCentre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Non-technical summary Accelerated decarbonization of academic conferences is necessary and urgent. Despite the window of opportunity that COVID-19 created for rethinking conferences, there is a risk of slipping back into old habits now that restrictions are lifted. This commentary reports on recent experiences with a unique, sustainable approach to academic conferencing involving an international partnership and hub model across three continents. There is a need to continue to experiment with and implement new modes of sustainable academic conferencing. Technical summary In response to increasing demands to move away from carbon-intensive academic conferences, and a need to address social justice issues, the author-team designed, implemented, and experimented with a new conference model. Three key-design choices informed the model. First, instead of the common single-host-single-location approach, we established a partnership between three universities across three continents. Second, we adopted a hub model of three online conference days, followed by three non-hybrid, in-person only conference days. Third, we sought to accommodate global participation by organizing each of the online conference days during daylight hours in the respective time zones. We find that the model promotes less air travel and improved global south participation. Our approach adds to a growing number of experiments with new modes of academic conferencing in a world that is facing climate and inequality crises. Social media summary Decarbonizing academic conferences is necessary and urgent. This commentary reveals experiences with a hub-based format. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479823000157/type/journal_article |
| spellingShingle | Rob Raven Paris Hadfield Brianna Butler Jennifer Eagleton Gael Giraud Merin Jacob Jochen Markard Katharina Schiller Mark Swilling Mapula Tshangela Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection Global Sustainability |
| title | Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection |
| title_full | Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection |
| title_fullStr | Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection |
| title_short | Transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection |
| title_sort | transitioning to sustainable academic conferences needs more experimentation and reflection |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059479823000157/type/journal_article |
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