The sustainability of our discipline

[Holtmaat, Ellen Alexandra]

Dear All, 

I know this has been shared on this mailing list before, but just to bring to the attention of those who have missed it: an initiative to make our discipline more environmentally friendly and inclusive. 

I belong to a new organization called Political Scientists for Sustainability which seeks to promote environmentally responsible practices in our profession.  We have crafted a petition that calls on the four largest U.S. political science associations – APSA, MPSA, SPSA, and WPSA – to adopt a four-year trial of alternating between in-person and fully online conferences, in order to lower the climate harms of our activities and make conferences more inclusive.

 

You can read the petition here: http://www.sustainablepolisci.org/flylessconnectbetter.html

 

We also provide a supporting document with more detailed information and discussion:https://www.sustainablepolisci.org/supporting-document.html

 

If you agree with the petition, please consider adding your signature here:http://www.sustainablepolisci.org/flylessconnectbetter.html.  Please feel free to share it with friends and colleagues who you think might be interested in signing it.

  

If you have any questions, please ask.  Anticipating one question – you do not need to be a member of APSA to sign, though you will see that there is question before you sign asking whether you’ve ever been a member.  One advantage of virtual conferences that we highlight is inclusivity in many forms, including making it easier for colleagues from distant countries to participate. 

 

Thank you for considering signing the petition.

Best regards, 

Ellen Holtmaat

Postdoctoral researcher

Oregon State University