In 2020 Academy Week 'went virtual’ - with what effects?
17 February 2022
ANH2020 paper infographic emissions

 

Switching to virtual conferencing can have a huge impact on the carbon footprint of major scientific events and significantly increase attendance from those in low and middle income countries, according to new research published in in The Lancet Planetary Health.

Co-led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Tufts University, the study examined data from the ANH (Agriculture, Nutrition and Health) Academy Week, held annually and alternating between locations in Asia and Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated moving the conference online for 2020 and 2021.

The team found moving the event to online in 2020 cut travel-related emissions to zero and doubled attendance numbers compared to previous in-person iterations of the event. Importantly,  this also translated to increased attendance from a wider geographic spread at the virtual event, including more people from low and middle income countries (LMICs).

The average number of unique LMICs that were represented between 2016-2019 was 23, while the online conference in 2020 attracted participants from 46 unique LMICs.

In 2019, when the conference was held in India, air travel emissions represented 1.2 tons of CO2 per participant, which is more than 60% of the 1.9 tons a typical person generates in India in an entire year. For the 2020 online event, the aviation-related CO2 was zero.

The research looked at data routinely collected for each conference, such as participant satisfaction surveys and delegate attendance at conference social events. Estimates of CO2 generated by international flights were computed using an online calculator tool from Atmosfair.

The authors say their work highlights the environmental burden of academic air travel and showcases the planetary health and societal benefits of moving large international events to virtual settings. However, they also caution that that online formats present trade-offs when it comes to delegate participation in social events and networking.

The cut in carbon emissions demonstrated is stark - showing that it is possible to make significant changes to the carbon footprint of a scientific conference by going online while increasing  overall attendance  across the world. However, while the switch to virtual eliminated the burden and impacts of air travel for many and therefore increased attendance, the virtual environment didn't overcome all equity issues. For example the 2020 conference saw full-day internet outages in both Ethiopia and Malawi; while participation in opportunities to connect and socialize was considerably reduced.

As the authors suggest, these issues must be proactively considered by conference organisers to reach the goal of equitable scientific exchange in global programmes such at the ANH Academy Week.

Publication

Yates J, Kadiyala S, Li Y, Levy S, Endashaw A, Perlick H, Wilde P (2022) Can virtual events achieve co-benefits for climate, participation, and satisfaction? Comparative evidence from five international Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy Week conferences. The Lancet Planetary Health. DOI:10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00355-7

ANH2022

This year's ANH Academy Week takes place online again during the weeks of 20 June - 1 July. Find more information about the event here

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