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Unparalleled reduction of air travels.
Fewer air travels
Air travel connected with work remains at a low level. So far this year, up to and including November, air travel has decreased by 71 percent compared to 2019. At the same time, work is underway to develop a digital tool that will measure all emissions, not just air travel.
THE PANDEMIC has provided an unexpected impetus. In the space of two years, there has been an unparalleled reduction in air travel. Except for a few months when the restrictions were eased, air travel has practically been non-existent, says Environmental Coordinator Fredrik Högberg at the GMV, who is secretary of the working group for the Climate Framework at the University of Gothenburg.
Between 2019 and 2020, there was a decrease of 73 percent. The decline was almost as big this year, according to the latest statistics from the Egencia travel agency. – I’m surprised that the decline has continued throughout 2021. Even though we have become much more accustomed to digital meetings, the question is whether a pandemic will force long-term behavioural change that will make us choose to refrain from air travel, says Fredrik Högberg.
– IF AIR TRAVEL continues to remain at this level, the University of Gothenburg will easily achieve the climate goal of reducing emissions by 25 percent by 2023, compared to 2019.
The statistics also show that there has only been a small number of flights between Gothenburg and Stockholm. According to the
travel policy, which will be updated, short flights should preferably be avoided and require authorization from the head of department or manager.
– IT IS GRATIFYING that we are finally seeing a reduction in air travel on this route. For the organisation's work on the climate issue, it would be beneficial if flying to Stockholm was no longer an option.
In addition to travel, which is easy to measure, there are many other types of emissions. By next summer, the new IT tool Carbon Intelligence System (CIS) will be introduced at all departments and units throughout the University of Gothenburg. The system was developed by the Gothenburg-based company Svalna, which has connections to both the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. The tool was tested at the Faculty of Social Sciences and works well, according to Fredrik Högberg. – The tool is more or less ready, we are now testing it and tweaking various parameters. The advantage of the CIS is that it measures everything. It is based on all the invoices that we pay and captures all our activities, such as energy, district heating, electricity, broadband, goods, services, transport and travel.
FREDRIK HÖGBERG
THE CALCULATOR on which the system is based measures, for example, the entire production chain for computers, desks, mobiles and even printed newspapers and sheets of paper. – We know that air travel gives rise to large emissions, but that is not the whole picture. Computer and IT systems and the purchase of goods and services also account for a substantial part. One goal is to become better at coordinating purchasing and setting tougher requirements in procurements. I believe that the system's greatest benefit is that it will provide us with new ideas for how we can reduce emissions in other areas.
ACCORDING TO Fredrik Högberg, there are several other universities that are initiating action in this area, but no one has come as far as the University of Gothenburg. – It will be exciting to put the tool in the hands of our heads of department and managers, says Fredrik Högberg who will visit all the faculties and demonstrate the system next spring.
This is something that Henrik Aronsson, Head of the Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, is looking forward to. – Our department currently has the most emissions in terms of goods, which is partly due to the fact that we buy a lot of chemicals. One advantage would be to coordinate purchasing, even with other departments. I think we can have a big impact and the new tool will be very helpful.
Fredrik Högberg is Environmental Coordinator.
HENRIK ARONSSON Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Johan Wingborg
FACTS
The University of Gothenburg
will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and by 2024, emissions will have decreased by 25 percent, compared to 2019. To achieve these goals, the University of Gothenburg, with the support of the GMV, will establish a carbon dioxide emissions budget. This is what the vice-chancellor's decision entails and it should be seen as commitments within the scope of the Climate Framework for universities and colleges.
Could have given more
How have things gone for UGOT Challenges, the University of Gothenburg's ambitious investment in global challenges, which will soon come to an end?
The University of Gothenburg has every reason to be proud of these environments. But it could have been even bolder, says Mats Benner, chairman of the initiative's final evaluation.
AN INTERNATIONAL PANEL of nine people carried out the final evaluation, which was completed on October 24. The inquiry does not go into how successful the individual six centres have been, but has instead looked at the overall initiative itself.
And the general assessment is good, explains Mats Benner, Professor of Research Policy at Lund University. – The initiative has led to greater exposure for the University of Gothenburg and to a lot of exciting and innovative research that has had a good societal effect. The areas that have been most successful have become very prominent.
At the same time, the initiative has not led to much renewal, the evaluators say. – Above all, the centres are strong in the specialities where they already have successful senior researchers. Well-known stars have been able to shine, while the opportunity for younger researchers to prove themselves has been more limited. And new interdisciplinary constellations, where the different fields of science operate on equal terms, have not really come to fruition either. Instead, one research area has dominated but with some minor elements from other disciplines.
THE INITIATIVE HAS also been characterized by a lot of ambiguity, both in terms of organisation and intention, says Mats Benner.
– YOU COULD SAY that UGOT Challenges meant one model with six exceptions. It was unclear where in the organisation the centres belong and whether the ambition has been anything more than just temporary experiments. The faculties have not been satisfied while the departments are more positive, which of course is related to the fact that the majority of the resources have gone to new doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.
The evaluation also indicates that the initiative did not require any follow-up or reporting of results. – Researchers are used to reporting what they have published, what employees have been hired and their various collaborations, so it is strange not to request something similar in this case. It would not have had to involve the obsession with red-tape that prevails at British or American universities, where you can barely make a phone call without reporting the reason for it, but a little more reporting on outcomes could have been required.
What the investigators have been wondering about most, however, is the goal of complete academic environments at each centre, Mats Benner explains. – It is quite unclear what is meant by this, but that education is part of a complete environment is, in any event, clear. That is why it is remarkable that the effects on education have been so negligible. One reason for the difficulties is, of course, that research and education are financed in different ways. But including education in the initiative would otherwise have been sufficient as a laudable ambition, without using the more obscure concept of "complete academic environment".
CARINA MALLARD, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, is pleased that the evaluation was carried out, and with the scientific breadth of the panel. However, she is surprised that they do not say that they can evaluate the scientific quality of the research but only provide a very general conclusion. She would have also liked to see the international societal benefits of the centres given more prominence, as the aim of the initiative was precisely to address global challenges. – But otherwise, it is a valuable evaluation that management, in dialogue with the faculties, will examine. Among other things, the organisation of centre forma-
Carina Mallard would have liked the evaluation to say more about the scientific quality
FACTS
UGOT Challenges is an initiative implemented by the University of Gothenburg for the period 2016–2021 that involves interdisciplinary research related to global societal challenges. The investment was SEK 300 million and the following centres were included: Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research, Centre for Future Chemical Risk Assessment and Management Strategies, Centre for Collective Action Research, Centre for Critical Heritage Studies, Swedish Mariculture Research Centres and the Centre for Ageing and Health. The University of Gothenburg Centers for Global Societal Challenges – an evaluation was carried out by Tim Allen, London School of Economics and Political Science; Lars Geschwind, the Royal Institute of Technology; Darja Isaksson, Vinnova; Marja Makarow, Academia Europaea; Göran Marklund, Vinnova; Ronan O'Connell, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; Deborah Power, the University of Algarve, and Mathilde Skoie, the University of Oslo. Chairman: Mats Benner, Lund University. The individual centres are also under evaluation. The Grants and Innovation office has estimated that the UGOT Centres have received at least SEK 1 billion in external funds.
tions will be reviewed in our operational plan. We will also investigate how decisions and results can be reported better, for example through public events such as seminars.
CARINA MALLARD ALSO
agrees that greater clarity would have been desirable, for example when it comes to the interpretation of complete academic environments.
The evaluation proposes continued funding for at least a couple of the centres.
But at present there are no such plans, emphasizes Carina Mallard. – It was clear from the beginning that this is a temporary initiative. However, several of the centres have developed very well and will certainly be able to stand on their own two feet.
Although the evaluation indicates many shortcomings, it is, on the whole, enthusiastic, Mats Benner explains. – There is tremendous value in doing things that are out of the ordinary, and the University of Gothenburg should get credit for this initiative. It could have been even bolder, clearer and better organized. But that type of criticism is quite common when it comes to investment in major centres in Sweden and not unique to UGOT Challenges.
CARINA MALLARD
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
