Flying less gets a thumbs-up

Scientific work requires dialogue and the exchange of ideas with the international research community. Global networking is an important success factor for ETH Zurich as well. This includes business trips by university members – for example, to attend symposia or conferences. However, trips that involve flying have a particularly strong impact on ETH’s ecological footprint: in recent years, more than half of its total CO₂ emissions were the result of business air travel. At the same time, this area offers the greatest potential for reducing emissions. Against this backdrop, the Executive Board launched the “Stay grounded, keep connected” project in 2017 to reduce emissions from air travel at ETH Zurich (see box for further information).

No impact from coronavirus

At the beginning of this year, the ETH mobility platform responsible for implementing the project sent out a survey to all the university’s professors to get a general idea of their thoughts and feelings about air travel. Do the results hold up when international air traffic has been restricted for months anyway? Such a distortion can be ruled out, says psychologist Agnes Kreil, who provides scientific support for the project and also conducted the survey. All the data was collected by mid-March – before the Swiss Federal Council’s first measures came into force – and no changes were noted in the course of the responses received from mid-February to mid-March. Likewise, none of the respondents mentioned COVID-19 in the qualitative parts of the survey, Kreil says.

Keeping this context in mind, the professors appear to support the reduction of flights. For example, 81 percent of the participants stated either that they were prepared to reduce their air travel or that they had already done so, while 32 percent said that they had scaled back their air travel explicitly as a result of this project. The topic has also found its way into the culture of conversation: only 20 percent of the participants had not spoken about the project or flight reduction in the previous two months. A total of 176 professors took part, and Kreil says the results will be published next spring.

Responding by offering virtual events

But is there an appropriate replacement for air travel in the scientific community? In addition to traditional alternatives such as bus, train or car, virtual events have gained popularity, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. This is also reflected in the responses to a survey on virtual events, which was launched at the beginning of March by the mobility platform and Nicole Aeschbach, head of the TdLab Geography at Heidelberg University. Many respondents mentioned digital communication solutions as an alternative to air travel. As part of a student’s Bachelor’s thesis at Heidelberg University, responses from 71 participants in the academic community were evaluated in the period from early March to mid-June. Each respondent provided information on a specific virtual event of their choice. The initial results were presented at the online symposium “COVID-19 as a break?” at the beginning of July.

“There’s no question that an event has a significantly lower impact on the environment if it is at least partially virtual,” says Dr. Susann Görlinger, co-lead of the mobility platform. Furthermore, the survey shows that the vast majority of participants had good or very good experiences with this form of communication and would welcome more virtual offerings. Along with environmental friendliness and cost reduction, time savings were also listed as a positive. The events were perceived as particularly family-friendly; extended access through the removal of geographical borders was also mentioned. “Virtual events offer far more than just ecological advantages,” Görlinger points out – they are sometimes more economical and social as well. “For example,” she continues, “improved access will allow regions and communities that have a smaller budget for flights to be integrated more closely into the scientific process.” Virtual events also allow researchers with families to be more heavily involved in scientific exchange.

The sky’s the limit

Still, this form of communication has its weaknesses. Respondents cited, for example, a lack of personal interaction and social signals, and an absence of opportunity to respond to people individually. To find the optimum tools and the ideal form for such events, the mobility platform is looking for best practice examples that it then makes available on its website. According to Görlinger, these elements are still missing in many instances, especially for larger events. Universities have a duty here as well. As she concludes: “With the right technology and a modified form of discourse, virtual events can become a sensible alternative that even offers new solutions to existing problems.”