Why a new conference model? International conferences are an important part of networking, knowledge development and exchange in academic communities. COVID has disrupted this model and has forced conferences to go online. This limits the possibilities of face-to-face exchange, which is especially important for early- and mid-career researchers. At the same time, conferences are a major source of carbon emissions in academic communities due to international air travel. Traditional conferences also create challenges for those with different physical abilities or care responsibilities or financial and other travel constraints. Rethinking the way conferences are organised can overcome COVID-related challenges in the shorter-term and allow experimentation with low-carbon and just academic conferences for the longer term, all while maintaining the benefits of face-to-face exchange and network building.

This year the three universities will partner to create a week with a truly global experience that involves both online and in-person activities, in which conference participants will virtually travel through three different time zones and continents, with the opportunity to also meet in person.

The conference will be run through a single integrated conference and abstract submission system. Over the course of the week, each university will virtually host 1 online conference day on the conference platform, in their respective time-zone. This is followed by 1 in-person conference day in Stellenbosch, Melbourne, and Washington DC. See the draft planning chart below for conferences times, time zones and locations.

The in-person-days will be organised in line with countries travel protocols and restrictions that may apply at the time. In the unfortunate case that travel restrictions apply at the time of an in-person conference day, the day will be held online. There will be no hybrid sessions.

Participants can choose to only participate in the online conference and/or combine the online experience with a visit to an in-person location of their choice at an additional rate. Recordings of online days will be made available on the conference platform to allow participants to catch up on sessions outside of their time zones.

The in-person conference days will mirror the general conference tracks and session formats, but also provide regional emphasis through keynotes and special sessions. Next to the overall conference themes, the focus of the South African in-person conference day organised by Stellenbosch University will be a review of Africa’s just energy transition dynamics and challenges considering the outcomes of the UNFCCC COP 27. The in-person day organised by Monash University will place emphasis on the role of actors and behaviour change in place-based and just sustainability transitions. The in-person day organised by Georgetown University in Washington, DC, will focus on the governance and questions of justice related to the funding of sustainability transitions.

We encourage participants to limit international travel or compensate the carbon impacts of their travel. The number of participants at in-person days will be limited per location. For planning reasons, participants will be asked for their intention to participate in-person in either one of the conference locations at the time of abstract submission. 

The organisers intend to evaluate the carbon emissions and personal experiences of this novel way of international conference organisation in order to draw lessons and inform future conferences.