Abstract

Scholars and their institutions contribute to global warming by flying to conferences. An intercontinental return flight in economy class is comparable with burning a ton of fossil carbon or driving a car regularly for a year. The International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC) happens every two years in different world locations. Every six years it is combined with the triennial conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM), of which the author is currently president. Last time (Greece, 2012), 400 colleagues traveled to the conference, almost entirely by air. Next time (23-28 July 2018), we aim to halve carbon emissions per participant by distributing the conference across four hubs (Graz, La Plata Argentina, Montreal, Sydney), compensating for reduced personal contact by improvements in number of participants, accessibility (cost), cultural diversity, and possibly academic quality. ​Most presentations will be live-streamed (OBS software or hardware solutions e.g. in Resowi) to an internet cloud (YouTube, unlisted) and viewed at one or more other hubs, mostly in real time. Two-way video communication (Zoom) will be used for discussions. Content will be accessible only to participants (URLs in Moodle). Each hub will have a morning session for real-time communication toward the East and an evening session for the West. The technology was tested at a “Global Arts and Psychology Seminar” (28 April 2017). We are now processing 700 abstract submissions, whose authors are informed about the new format and have chosen one of four hubs. The multi-hub, semi-virtual format is suitable for any conference in any academic discipline, university, or country. It could significantly and sustainably reduce academic carbon emissions of universities worldwide. A similar idea could be applied in business and politics. The conference will also improve awareness of climate issues among the general public, given that every participant is a "multiplier" -- an academic with an international network of colleagues and students. Further information: icmpc.org/icmpc15.