Going to a library conference for talking about ecological sustainability – but what’s about our own carbon footprint?

Abstract

Whenever people get together at face-to-face meetings – there will always be an extra consumption of resources for travelling to the conference and for staying at the venue. More and more of them feel confident that they need to strive to reduce their environmental impact to the most possible minimum. There are already several studies that have analyzed the ecological footprint of conferences. On the basis of their conclusions, the wide range of possible options for conference attendees (at conferences generally and in particular at library conferences) will be shown and discussed. Basically, there are two main kinds of complementary options: 1. Measures, steps, and actions for reducing the own carbon footprint and 2. Options for making an impact on the meeting organizers for the conference’s footprint as a whole. The discussion will be carried out in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDGs No. 7, 12, 13, 15) and to the degrowth movement.