Inspired by Yoshua Bengio’s recent blog and an ongoing petition, I devoted an entire day thinking over ways one could approach acknowledging and mitigating the impact we as researchers have on our climate with Air travel to conferences.
Here are my thoughts (proposal) for the research community, and the conference organizing committees on this Valentine’s Day which I dedicate to our Dear Planet.
- To create web browser tool to enter/monitor data and visualize CO2 consumption resulting from Air travel (+ Food preferences maybe) by research community/attendees to (both past editions and upcoming) major and highly attended conferences such as in the fields of AI/ML
- To create Climate Badges that researchers can proudly display (being true to oneself) on their websites indicating how actively are they contributing to reduced CO2 by reducing Air travels for such conferences and by opting for climate-conscious diet choices (Vegetarian/Vegan) at these conferences. Also, conferences should have similar LIVE display badges on their websites leading up to the conference dates such that attendees can collectively target towards lower carbon footprint from previous editions by re-evaluating their mode of travel (or conference diet options) for conference venues (or local chapters, read below).
- For conference organizers to provide a social platform for attendees to connect with others for Carpooling options (say from nearest airport) or have Shuttle Services (attendees can reserve seats in advance) for the commute to conference venues. This process would encourage social interaction and networking among attendees much before the conference dates thereby leading to open discussions and enriching experience at the conference venues.
- To remodel a traditional week-long centralized conference into a decentralized setup with multiple local chapters, each chapter hosting the assigned (or all) research themes + Networking session for a day or two as a new HOST. After attending their local chapters, attendees can then virtually connect to other HOSTs over the remaining week from one’s comfort
- To identify venues (especially with nearby universities to attract participation from young researchers and students) based on major airport hubs in all continents which would host a local chapter of a conference to allow attendees to participate the local conference chapter rather than flying from all over the world to a single centralized venue
- To leverage the same web tool for visualizing CO2 consumption to help suggest potential venues for local chapters around the Globe wherein an optimal tradeoff between CO2 consumption due to Air Travel and good feasibility of attendance at local chapters can be reached. The above system can also incorporate the affiliation of the author (presenter) of accepted papers+posters and the keynote speakers to decide these venues for hosting local chapters. Also, one can have local chapters organized every other year in neighboring major cities with good connectivity. For example, the USA-WestCoast chapter can be hosted in the SF bay area, Seattle-Portland, or LA-San Diego every other year in rotation. USA-South chapter can be among Austin-Houston-Dallas, or Miami-Orlando every other year.
- To distribute authors for potential best papers to these local chapters to allow attendees to socially connect in person while other venues can connect virtually
- To distribute Poster presentations and authors based on the nearest venues of local chapters, while their Short Videos are uploaded for attendees from other chapters for Q&A via Virtual Chatrooms setup by conference organizers. A similar setup can be used for remote Oral Paper presentations and Keynote speakers.
JD 