Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Dr Bohrgasse 9, 1130 Vienna, Austria.
Max Planck School Matter to Life, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
J Cell Sci. 2022 Sep 1;135(17). doi: 10.1242/jcs.259645. Epub 2022 Sep 8.
Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, and drastic climate action is needed urgently across industries and sectors to prevent the worst in terms of consequences. Although academic research brings great benefits to society, it leaves behind a considerable environmental footprint at the same time. This is particularly true for lab research within the life sciences. To reduce the climate impact of academic research, both bottom-up and top-down strategies are necessary. On the bottom-up side, 'green' grassroots groups are emerging in academia, but most institutions fail to nurture and harness their potential for driving change. We report findings from a survey of 63 such grassroots groups operating in academic environments, highlighting that their main challenges in making research more sustainable include lack of time, budget, involvement in management decisions and support from management. For the first time, we map the inception, goals and structure of green grassroots groups in academia and outline concrete steps in overcoming barriers to harvest their full potential, thus making academic research fit for the future.
气候变化是我们这个时代面临的最大挑战，各行业和领域急需采取激烈的气候行动，以防止后果最严重的情况发生。尽管学术研究给社会带来了巨大的好处，但同时也留下了相当大的环境足迹。生命科学领域的实验室研究尤其如此。为了减少学术研究对气候的影响，需要采取自下而上和自上而下的策略。在自下而上方面，学术界出现了“绿色”基层团体，但大多数机构未能培养和利用它们推动变革的潜力。我们报告了对 63 个在学术环境中运作的此类基层团体进行的调查结果，这些团体在使研究更具可持续性方面面临的主要挑战包括缺乏时间、预算、参与管理决策以及管理层的支持。我们首次绘制了学术界绿色基层团体的成立、目标和结构图谱，并概述了克服障碍以充分发挥其潜力的具体步骤，从而使学术研究适应未来。
