Abstract
New conference formats are emerging in response to COVID-19 and climate change. Virtual conferences are sustainable and inclusive regardless of participant mobility (financial means, caring commitments, disability), but lack face-to-face contact. Hybrid conferences (physical meetings with additional virtual presentations) tend to discriminate against non-fliers and encourage unsustainable flying. Multi-hub conferences mix real and virtual interactions during talks and social breaks and are distributed across nominally equal hubs. We propose a global multi-hub solution in which all hubs interact daily in real time with all other hubs in parallel sessions by internet videoconferencing. Conference sessions are confined to three equally-spaced 4-h UTC timeslots. Local programs comprise morning and afternoon/evening sessions (recordings from night sessions can be watched later). Three reference hubs are located exactly 8 h apart; additional hubs are within 2 h and their programs are aligned with the closest reference hub. The conference experience at each hub depends on the number of local participants and the time difference to the nearest reference. Participants are motivated to travel to the nearest hub. Mobility-based discrimination is minimized. Lower costs facilitate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Academic quality, creativity, enjoyment, and low-carbon sustainability are simultaneously promoted.
Highlights
In the public imagination, brilliant academic research is done by lone geniuses working late among dusty books or in stuffy laboratories
The “evaluation” column is an educated guess based on the number of potential participants living near the smallest hub or the likelihood of participants traveling to the smallest hub without flying
The time difference between Paris and Tokyo is 7 h; between Paris and Chicago, 7 h; and between Tokyo and Chicago, 10 h. It is more difficult for Tokyo and Chicago to communicate with each other in real time for long periods than it is for Paris to communicate with the other two hubs, which could motivate colleagues to fly to Paris
Summary
Brilliant academic research is done by lone geniuses working late among dusty books or in stuffy laboratories. Scholarship and research have always been social enterprises (Montuori and Purser, 1995). In both humanities and sciences, new knowledge is created, and new insights revealed, when experts with complementary backgrounds get together to solve big problems. An important place where people bounce original and promising ideas off each other is the international conference. Until a few years ago, academics thought nothing of flying from anywhere in the world to a single location and enjoying a few days of intense communication. In 2021, after a year of virtual communication triggered by the COVID19 epidemic, many are longing to go “back to normal.”. Whereas COVID-19 happened more suddenly, climate change is more important in the long term
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
