Scientific salon on sustainable research

The invited experts of the salon were Nina Wormbs, professor of the history of technology at KTH, Mikael Karlsson, associate professor of environmental science and university lecturer in climate leadership at Uppsala University, and Emmy Wassenius Wickberg, postdoc in sustainability science at the Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University.

What is a climate-resilient academy? It is important to act responsibly when the credibility of science is challenged on many fronts. To meet the Paris Agreement, emissions need to be curbed immediately and rapidly across all sectors of society. This also applies to research and education. The academy has vast knowledge of sustainability challenges and is expected to be innovative and act responsibly – otherwise, trust is jeopardised.

Take part in the debate

In all research fields, it is important for researchers to participate in societal debates and contribute their knowledge. Without transparently conveying the knowledge obtained by research, the transition to sustainability progresses more slowly, as it does not become clear how urgent it actually is.

At the salon, the difference between being active as a researcher without necessarily being an activist was discussed. The panel asserted that it is entirely possible to engage in societal debates with research as a compass, and the higher education act emphasises the research community’s responsibility to share its knowledge with society.

Still, the personal costs of such engagement can be high. Researchers who speak out publicly sometimes face threats and harassment. There are, however, ways of managing this – such as having a colleague temporarily monitor your inbox during periods of exposure. Step-by-step guides also exist to help assess threats and provide strategies based on the situation.

Several participants noted that institutional support is often lacking and that the academic sector as a whole needs to strengthen its efforts to protect and support researchers who come under pressure.

Breaking Patterns

International mobility – in the form of collaboration across borders and exchange of ideas – is one of the cornerstones of scientific advancement. We need to have generous conversations about which journeys we wish to prioritise, suggested the experts. Would it be possible to give sustainability merit, so that sustainable research activities promote career development?

The concept of adaptive cycles is used, for example, in ecology to describe how systems go through periods of stagnation before tipping and undergoing change. It has been transferred and applied to norms commonly found in research, such as the idea that one needs to travel a lot. The development of cheap travel and a constant flow of information plays a significant role and reinforces these norms. Academic success may not necessarily depend on this.^[1][2] International presence can be particularly crucial for younger researchers who need to build networks and gain visibility.

In my research projects, I have to account for every penny spent, but nobody ever asks me to report my carbon budget, remarked a younger researcher.

A survey study at the Royal Institute of Technology KTH revealed that there is significant support at the institution for having guidelines on how employees can act responsibly. The survey included an open-ended question: if one were given a carbon budget, what would one do? 500 responses came in with exciting and concrete suggestions on what individuals saw in their respective professional day-to-day activities that could make a difference.

Is there a conflict of goals in increasing the quality of research while simultaneously reducing emissions? One example of more sustainable close collaborations with colleagues in other countries could be to travel less frequently and be away longer. By merely adjusting academic travel habits, we can make significant progress, stated participants from a university that actively works with carbon budgets. We can get quite far by scrutinising ingrained norms. Many find it existentially challenging to work with climate and sustainability issues. But action can alleviate and empower.^[3]

An engaged conversational group discussed for a long time in various constellations over food and drink at the home of the best and most generous salon host we can think of: Nina Rehnqvist.

The academy’s hosts were Cecilia Engdahl, associate professor in experimental autoimmunity at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Ruth Pöttgen, associate professor in particle physics at Lund University, and Peter Søgaard Jørgensen, associate professor in environmental and sustainability science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Stockholm University.

Learn more

^[1] Wassénius, E., Bunge, A.C., Scheuermann, M.K. et al. Creative destruction in academia: a time to reimagine practices in alignment with sustainability values. Sustain Sci 18, 2769–2775 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01357-6.  ↩︎

^[2] Wynes, Seth & Donner, Simon & Ng, Steuart & Nabors, Noni. (2019). Academic air travel has a limited influence on professional success. Journal of Cleaner Production. 226. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.109. ↩︎

^[3] S. Schwartz, L. Benoit, S. Clayton, McKenna F. Parnes, L. Swenson, S. Lowe. (2022) Climate change anxiety and mental health: Environmental activism as buffer. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02735-6. ↩︎

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