Online or in-person: What will conferences look like in the post-pandemic era?

Attending conferences has always been considered as a key component of a scientist’s careers. Researchers, especially at the early stages, would work hard for a chance to present their work in front of their international peers. And it’s not just that: interesting conversations during coffee breaks and networking events could lead to valuable collaborations and unique career opportunities. At the same time, sponsors and suppliers would have a dedicated space to showcase their best products and interact with their customers. It seemed like a win-win situation for everyone, but was it really?

Certainly, spontaneous conversations and face-to-face interactions cannot be easily replaced. Humans are social creatures, and bonding is much easier when meeting someone in the flesh. However, since the beginning of 2020 we didn’t have much of a choice: everything had to happen online.

The switch hasn’t been easy: the online platforms were an unknown territory for many – and phrases like “you are on mute” and “can you see my screen?” are still very common after two years. Additionally, not everyone had a proper space or adequate settings to work comfortably from home, and ‘screen fatigue’ has been a real issue for many. However, every cloud has a silver lining.

For sure, attending a virtual event requires far less organisation and planning, since it doesn’t involve arranging for travel and accommodation and it certainly causes less disruption to somebody’s work and personal life (especially if they have caring responsibilities). Think about how many great talks and conferences you would have missed if your only option was to attend them in person! Interestingly, many events have registered a higher number of participants after they transitioned to virtual conferencing.

Second, online conferences generally perform much better in terms of inclusivity. Not everyone has access to the same funding opportunities – and in-person conferences can be very expensive. Some people may also struggle to obtain a travelling visa. And both transportation and event venue may present physical accessibility issues. Having said that, virtual events have their own challenges: internet bandwidth may not be optimal, while other people may find the whole virtual setting very unnatural and distracting. But overall, virtual wins hands down.

Third, let’s talk about physical wellbeing. Even though following an event online might lead to ‘screen fatigue’, in-person conferences can be physically very demanding, and the final outcomes may be very different from the initial expectations. Flying – and travelling in general – can be a source of stress. And depending on the distance, you may arrive at the conference exhausted and jet-lagged, factors that certainly affect the personal ability to concentrate and socialise.

Finally, let’s deal with the big elephant in the room: the environmental footprint of scientific conferences.

There have been a few attempts to quantify the carbon footprint of big international conferences. Obviously, factors such as the location and duration of the conference, as well as the number and provenience of participants, have a huge influence and can vary significantly between events. However, it has been estimated that a few thousand participants travelling from all over the world would emit several thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e – a standardised unit of measure which takes into account the effect of all greenhouse gases). To put into perspective, a single international conference participant can emit up to 20 x more carbon emissions than an average person from many low-income countries in a whole year. Crazy, right?

And even though the travelling aspect is the main contributor to a conference’s carbon footprint, there are other important factors to consider, from the energy usage of the venue to the food provided by the catering system, to the choice of gadgets and material offered to the attendees.

“But people will also eat and use energy when attending an online meeting”. Yes, absolutely. However, according to a recent study published on Nature Communication, shifting from in-person to virtual conferencing slashes the carbon footprint and the energy use by a whopping 94% and 90%, respectively.

It’s hard to turn a blind eye to the huge environmental benefits that virtual settings offer, especially since the severity of the Climate & Ecological crisis requires every sector – including science and research – to embed sustainability at the core of their strategies and policies.

“But in-person events were so much more fun and productive”. So, let’s discuss some of the options to make conferences both enjoyable and environmentally friendly.

• Make virtual events as interactive as possible. Online platforms have radically improved in the past two years, even offering avatar-based options that attendees can use to walk around virtual venues and interact with each other – making the whole experience way more engaging and close-to-reality. Therefore, promoting the development of better tools could overcome the feeling of “missing out”.
• Alternate in-person and virtual events. Switching from annual to bi-annual in-person meetings would essentially slash the carbon footprint in half. Even though it might not be the ideal solution from an environmental point of view, this could be a good starting point and a fairly easy compromise.
• When organising in-person events, choose the event location (and the details) wisely. Where will most attendees travel from, and is there an alternative site that would reduce the impact of air transportation? Can the location be easily reached using more sustainable transportation methods, such as trains? Is there an energy-efficient venue available? Will the catering service favour locally-sourced food, and more sustainable menu options?
• Think about adding conference hubs. Even though the organisational aspect of such events might be challenging, adding more hubs to simultaneously run the conference from different locations can drastically reduce the carbon emissions associated with conference travelling.
• Go hybrid. The mixed in-person/virtual setting can look like the solution that could make everyone happy, allowing participants to choose their more convenient option. Where possible, greener transportation alternatives should be promoted amongst people choosing to attend the event in-person. If international air travel is limited, the reduction in carbon emissions can be substantial. However, from a diversity and inclusivity perspective, it’s crucial that in-person and virtual attendees have access to the same opportunities, avoiding the creation of a first- and a second-class of participants.
   

As always, having organisations, institutions, companies, and founding bodies on board can be a game-changer – starting from supporting greener travel choices (even when slower and more expensive), to training staff to deliver presentations online, to embedding sustainability into their own events. We will surely learn a lot about sustainable conferencing practices in the coming years and I’m confident that many progresses will be made. The ultimate goal? Having conferences that promote cutting-edge science and offer a space where new ideas can thrive and new collaborations be made, without costing the Earth.