In the past few years, the EASST community has been discussing the future of conferencing in various forums and constellations. The last occasion was a thematic session organised by Richard Tutton and Brice Laurent—both elected members of the EASST Council —at the EASST/4S conference in Amsterdam (2024). That conversion confirmed a concern for the environmental impact and raised questions concerning the sustainability of gatherings like the joint event that, this year, counted over 3300 registered participants. As the conference organizers put in their report to the EASST Council, it was both a blessing and a challenge as it required huge organizational and logistical work. The attendance analysis revealed nearly 900 participants from outside Europe, which is by far the highest number for all joint meetings to date. Such data can feed into different considerations, and among others, one is certainly related to the environmental consequences of having so many people travelling to attend the same event.
The EASST Council has also had several internal discussions about the future of conferencing over the last few years, particularly considering the growing climate crisis and the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the things the Council has been worrying about are the climate effect of air travel weighed against the need to have face-to-face conferences (as a basic reason for academic gatherings). Council members have also been pondering over what kinds of inclusivity we prioritize with our current default mode of conferencing, and, perhaps, whether we could experiment with different kinds and modes of conferencing. Lastly, the EASST Council has been concerned about the size of joint conferences, which seems to be steadily growing – and the event in Amsterdam has confirmed this trend. The EASST Council finds it difficult to agree on one model for future conferencing as circumstances vary. Therefore, the Council would like to enter a mode of experimentation where the local organizers are each time invited to think about possible different conference formats and, together with the EASST Council, agree on the model to adopt.
On this basis, the EASST Council has suggested to 4S to change common current expectations towards having a joint conference every fourth year. Instead of automatically expecting the 2028 conference to be joint, the EASST Council suggested that each society organize its conferences for the time being. The response of the 4S Council has been very positive and has expressed a common view on principles of sustainability, inclusivity, and experimentation.
Despite moving away from the treasured tradition of co-hosting with 4S every four years, this decision does not mean an end to the collaboration between the two societies. On the contrary, EASST and 4S want to stay in conversation and look together forward to more flexible and open-ended approaches to such a collaboration in the years ahead.
Maja Horst and Michela Cozza (President and Secretary of EASST Council)
