EDBT/ICDT is a leading conference on database research, both practical (EDBT) and theoretical (ICDT). In 2020, EDBT/ICDT was held online because of the pandemic, but it was also the first edition to feature a climate change session. This session introduced participants to the ongoing climate crisis and presented how our research activities are a factor of this crisis: both in terms of the research topics that we study, and in terms of our (pre-COVID) practices of travelling to academic conferences. The session was organized by Demetris Zeinalipour for EDBT, and by myself, Antoine Amarilli, for ICDT.
As a maintainer of the TCS4F initiative, and in preparation for the next EDBT/ICDT edition, I am happy to publish here our report of this climate change session. It contains both a summary of the session, and some concrete proposals from us to adjust the organization of future EDBT/ICDT editions. These proposals are still under discussion by the decision bodies of EDBT/ICDT.
You can download the report here. You can also see the slides of last year’s presentation.
The 2021 EDBT/ICDT edition will again happen online. There will again be a climate change session, where we will present our proposals, and have a discussion featuring Benjamin Pierce as an external guest to give us a broader perspective. If you are registered to EDBT/ICDT this year, we encourage you to follow that session! (on Friday 26 March at 16:30 central Europe time (GMT+1))
If you would like to advertise your support of the TCS4F initiative, we now have a poster available on the Show your support page!
Don't hesitate to use it to advertise your support of the TCS4F initiative (we are currently at 153 signers) — or save it for when you can access your office again for countries in which universities are currently closed.
This summer, the TCS4F initiative had the honor of being featured in an article of Communications of the ACM (CACM), Doing Something About the Weather. This article was written by Claire Hamlett following an interview with the TCS4F founders.
TCS4F was also presented by Thomas Schwentick in the fascinating panel “Evolution or Revolution? The Future of Conferences in Theoretical Computer Science” at the Online Worldwide Seminar on Logic and Semantics (OWLS).
Other than that, we now have reached 144 individual signers of the pledge, so please continue to spread the word to your colleagues, and encourage your research groups and conferences to sign!
The carbon footprint
of an event is the total increase in greenhouse gas emissions caused as
a result of the event. The same can be defined for any activity,
including your professional or personal activity. To bring it down to a
number, carbon footprints are usually measured in some mass of equivalent carbon dioxide (e.g., 1 ton of CO2e). Of course, this indicator is only relevant to the climate crisis, and should not obscure the many other environmental issues that we currently face.
In terms of research groups and conferences, 3 research groups and 2 conferences (Highlights and STACS) have committed to the 50% carbon reduction objective. We are currently approaching more conferences about the issue and hope to see more signatures soon!
Of course, the environment crisis isn't the main problem on anyone's radar
right now, but the pandemic is in fact a good opportunity to adapt our practices and think about how they will have to evolve in the future. So please consider spreading the word, mentioning the manifesto to your colleagues and collaborators, and advertising your signature of the manifesto with our badges! There are certainly more than 100 climate-conscious researchers in
theoretical computer science on Earth, so we hope to see more signatures in TCS4F's second month of existence!
