Starkly putting out tensions between conferences & carbon footprints
Worked example for @escmid.bsky.social confernce but it's generalisable
Benefits of in-person meetings are at environmental cost not easily squared
#IDSky 🩺 #AcademicSky
https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(24)00305-7/abstract?dgcid=raven_jbs_etoc_email
Worked example for @escmid.bsky.social confernce but it's generalisable
Benefits of in-person meetings are at environmental cost not easily squared
#IDSky 🩺 #AcademicSky
https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(24)00305-7/abstract?dgcid=raven_jbs_etoc_email
Comments
'But lunches! Parties! Pubs!
When you bring it down to the base, it seems bizarre that the human race is happily willing to harm their health and their planet because 'lunch'.
Weird, isn't it?
Up to now, I've done Copenhagen, Rome, Amsterdam, and Bath as destinations I'd otherwise fly to.
Though I have to say that I have definitely made connections and collaborations from being at them, sometimes.
That's why i found the article good - it quantifies the effect of travelling but also demonstrates the challenges with the alternatives or carbon offsetting.
No right or wrong answers really.
Maybe they should make the first half day virtual so everyone dials in on the train! (actually that could be a disaster in WiFi frustrations!!!)