Promoting the green research agenda
For a decade, DRUID has presented panels and promoted papers and special issues on “Eco-Innovation”, green technology adoption and fundamental research into new technologies that may help alleviating the climate crisis. In the future, DRUID will further promote research within this agenda.
Minimizing the carbon footprint of the DRUID events
On a practical level, in is the ambition of DRUID to minimize the carbon footprint of its biannual conferences. Working with local suppliers, DRUID seeks to source environmentally friendly food and conference materials, and maximize the use of recyclable materials, including water bottles. Furthermore, DRUID now offsets the carbon footprint of its conference activities. For each conference, DRUID offsets 1 tonne of CO2 per conference delegate for catering, venue use, lodging, and local transport. In addition, for each conference, DRUID estimates the carbon footprint of each conference delegate’s air travel from home country to the conference venue. DRUID then obtains sponsorships to offset the carbon footprint of all travel to the conference, and if sponsors are unavailable, offers each conference delegate a convenient way to buy individual carbon offsets for air travel upon registering for a DRUID conference.
For the DRUID18 conference in Copenhagen, June 11-13 2018, DRUID offset 282 metric tonnes of CO2 for catering, venue use, lodging and local transport, plus 243 metric tonnes of CO2 for conference delegates’ air travel. As a result, DRUID18’s carbon footprint was offset with an estimated 120%.
Carbon offsets are undertaken in collaboration with a small Danish startup, Vitapus, offering CO2 offsets certified with Vertified Carbon Standard and Gold Standard.