RE: Conference Participation -- The Considerate Way

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I can almost recognise myself in this post :)

I used to travel a lot before the pandemic. Really a lot. I was spending easily 3-4 months abroad scattered over the whole year, and hence visiting Asia (Korea, Japan and China mostly), North America (US, Canada) and South Africa on a very regular basis. I must confess that I was thus an intense carbon burner (as I am based in Paris).

The pandemic and all the activities moving to Zoom made me thinking about this deeply. We also initiated those discussions at the level of the institute. Reducing the amount of trips is better for the planet that we will leave to our children, better for my health as well and for the quality of life. In addition, it is interesting to mention in passing that I now attend even more workshops and conferences than before. However, I attend them sometimes in a not-too-focused manner, as on zoom we get easily distracted...

I am quite happy with this, although I severely miss meeting colleagues from all over the world in person. The research probably suffered a bit from this, as many very interesting projects started around a coffee, a beer or a hike! In 2021, I had the chance to attend a one-week-long in-person conference in Slovenia, and a couple of short events in France. This compensated a bit for the social part.

For the upcoming years, my philosophy changed a lot compared with what it was in ancient times. I will probably organise a couple of trips in 2022 (if we can of course), but mostly in Europe. Meeting people is important, but we should keep it decent enough for the planet. And if it happens that a further trip is planned (sometimes those are needed), then I will try to stay abroad long enough to make it worthy.



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Nicely spoken! Traveling over the world or not traveling at all aren't realistically sustainable options in todays worlds. Like with so many things one has to find a workable balance. It seems like you found the right way of doing it for yourself! I think extending stays is indeed a good alternative to the short trips.

I really appreciate your comment!

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