On an ethic of not going there

Guasco, Anna

doi:10.1111/geoj.12462

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Discussions within the Labos 1point5 initiative suggests that field trips often are at the heart of mitigation discussions and one of the feared consequence of reduced access to air travel. While decreasing academic flying related to conferences and networking is an intensive topic of research, questioning of the rationale for fieldwork and the development of reduction strategies are almost absent from academic work (Guasco 2022). The grey literature highlights the emergence of this question and provides examples of how delegation to local staff and the use of new technologies can reduce the carbon footprint of fieldwork.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight quotas outperform focused mitigation strategies in reducing the carbon footprint of academic travel

Ben-Ari,

Lefort,

Mariette

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The carbon footprint of academia has become a prominent concern and a burgeoning research area, with a notable focus on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from research-related travels. Mitigation strategies often promote alternatives, such as developing virtual communication or adopting sustainable transportation modes for short distances. While more ambitious strategies involving the transformation of research practices are increasingly discussed, these mitigation solutions are rarely subjected to rigorous quantitative assessments or meaningful comparisons. This study analyzes a unique database of about 130 000 travel segments by car, train and plane in 159 research entities across a wide array of disciplines in France. We investigate the patterns and associated carbon footprint of these research travels and explore a diversity of mitigation options. Our analysis shows that air travel overwhelmingly outweighs the carbon footprint of research travel, representing more than 96% of GHG emissions. Intercontinental flights are infrequent (less than 10% of all plane trips) but dominate GHG travel emissions, accounting for over 64% of total emissions. In contrast, domestic and continental flights are the most common but their mitigation potential by modal shift to train is limited (e.g. less than 15% for trips under 1000 km). Similar reductions can be achieved by targeting a small subset of travels, for example by modulating the frequency of conference attendance. The greatest and possibly most robust mitigation potential lies in combining modal shift with moderating air mileage (e.g. reducing travelled distance or number of flights). Strategies focusing on electrification or modal shifts for cars, proposed in official guidelines, are found to have negligible impact. In the absence of low-carbon alternatives for long-haul flights, we contend that only comprehensive strategies and policies which include moderating air travel distance or frequency can achieve a robust significant reduction in the GHG emissions from academic travel.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight quotas outperform focused mitigation strategies in reducing the carbon footprint of academic travel

Ben-Ari,

Lefort,

Mariette

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Wittgenstein (1953) demonstrates that the word "understanding" has a different grammar from "knowledge"; it functions differently in our lives, as a different concept. For Grimm (2021), the objects of understanding are more complex and interconnected than objects of propositional knowledge. Here we have seen that this understanding is arrived at relationally, through the corporeal experience of being there.…”

Section: " Observation" Is Embodiedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The COVID‐19 pandemic impacted on fieldwork for both research (Oliver, 2022) and teaching, with virtual fieldwork rapidly proliferating (Bryson & Andres, 2020; Howlett, 2021; Li et al, 2022; Mercer et al, 2022; Rose‐Redwood et al, 2020; Yoon & Mecca, 2022). Geographers' repertoire of methods has expanded, Guasco (2022) arguing that geographers should always justify doing fieldwork, just as much as she felt obliged to justify not doing fieldwork. In education, such justifications often refer to student outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpretive field geomorphology as cognitive, social, embodied and affective epistemic practice

Couper

2023

Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes

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This article examines the epistemic practices of interpretive field geomorphology-that is, the in-the-moment act of "seeing the landscape" geomorphologically. Drawing on the philosophical works of Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty, it aims to bring to light the complex, multi-dimensional, knowledge-producing process of field observation and interpretation. Methodologically the study is based on geomorphologists' accounts of their fieldwork, gathered through questionnaire and interviews. By paying attention to what geomorphologists say they are doing in the field, interpretive field geomorphology is articulated as a combined cognitive, social, embodied, and affective experience through which understanding is arrived at. The paper thus sheds light on one part of what Brierley et al. call "the dark art" of geomorphological interpretation, and draws out implications in terms of researcher positionality, researcher training, and offering an epistemic justification for field-based pedagogies.

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“…The diverse labour forces employed on such expeditions did not stop them being colonial undertakings, contributing to the expansion of European empires and to the flow of knowledge and collections to metropolitan centres. Attention to such labour should also give us pause to reflect on contemporary fieldwork practice geosciences, particularly the problems with forms of ‘parachute science’ that treat local skills, knowledge, and labour in exploitative ways (North et al, 2020; Guasco, 2022).…”

Section: Diversifying the Histories Of Geographical Labourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why study the history of exploration?

Armston-Sheret

2023

Dialogues in Human Geography

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To some critical geographers, the history of exploration might seem an unpromising field. Colonial-era expeditions embody many of the values that most contemporary scholars seek to move away from, including racism, heroic masculinity, and imperial expansion. This reflection on Lachlan Fleetwood's important book, Science on the Roof of the World, will address one central question: 'What does the discipline of geography gain by further analysis of nineteenth century expeditions?' This is an important questionand not a new one (Barnett, 1995). In answering it, this commentary will reflect on the productive role that the history of exploration can play within contemporary geographical research.

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On an ethic of not going there

Cited by 17 publications

References 37 publications

Flight quotas outperform focused mitigation strategies in reducing the carbon footprint of academic travel

Flight quotas outperform focused mitigation strategies in reducing the carbon footprint of academic travel

Interpretive field geomorphology as cognitive, social, embodied and affective epistemic practice

Why study the history of exploration?

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