Published on 13 January 2022
This blog is written by Alastair Downie, Head of IT at The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, who has been kind enough to share his thoughts on hybrid meetings. In the University where I work, there is a lot of chat just now about hybrid meeting rooms, and there are many interesting interpretations and creative ...Published on 21 October 2021
Emissions from travelling are a significant component of an event’s footprint. There are multiple factors that influence the total number of these emissions such as location, number of attendees, weather, individual behaviours, and others. Two of the most commonly used transportation modes for event attendees are the aeroplane and the train. Of course, the use ...Published on 13 October 2021
We are looking forward to starting a discussion on hybrid events and the related new technologies. In this post, Alastair Downie, Head of IT in Gurdon Institute and Director at The Company of Biologists shares his thoughts. As Universities scramble to establish resources for the ‘new normal’ in time for the start of the academic year, ...Published on 24 June 2021
When considering all the elements of an in-person event, from catering to material waste and from travelling to accommodation, the greenhouse gas emissions add up quickly. A 2019 report from Hope Solutions showed that the UK events industry emits 1.2bn kg of CO2e every year. It is clear that an in-person event has a significant ...Published on 3 June 2021
The impact of food waste is not only financial but also includes the energy, fuel and water used to grow food that may not be used. When food waste is sent to landfill it further contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. A research conducted throughout the foodservice industry uncovered that1 A third of all food produced is wasted, ...Published on 6 May 2021
As we discussed in one of our previous blogs, ‘Which areas contribute the most to an event’s footprint?’, the main areas that contribute to an in-person event’s footprint are travel, food, materials and waste. This was estimated to be over 170 kilograms of CO2 emissions per day for an average conference attendee. A similar online conference would have a significantly smaller carbon footprint, but not zero. What ...Published on 15 April 2021
Virtual events have been happening for quite some time now, but they have taken centre stage in our life the past year or so. There is an ongoing discussion on their advantages and disadvantages, but we will get to that in another post. In this blog, we want to present five steps that can help you organise ...Published on 25 March 2021
In recent years there has been an increase in virtual meetings, mostly due to the fact that we all operate more globally than we used to. Especially now, in the COVID19 era, most groups of people have had to meet virtually even when they were physically in the same city. Virtual meetings do have a ...Published on 18 March 2021
Climate change is not a myth and natural resources are finite. Studies12 show that at the current rate of production, by 2050 there would be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Our environmental awareness has grown and evolved over the past decade. This, in turn, has led to an increase in the public consciousness of our collective effect on the environment. Industries across ...Published on 11 March 2021
This is the first in a series of blogs in which we will discuss environmental sustainability and social responsibility in events and explore new technologies or other innovations that can help our community interact virtually. In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) introduced the concept of sustainable development and described how it ...