Sustainability

425 participants will attend the 9th STS Italia conference in Bologna. This is a substantial increase with respect to previous editions, and it will be our first in-person meeting since the 2018 conference in Padova. Conferences provide excellent opportunities for scientific and professional development. Yet we recognise that these events inevitably have an environmental impact on carbon emissions, waste, and energy consumption.

We can minimise these negative impacts by combining our efforts to promote sustainability at the conference. Your collaboration is, therefore, essential to achieve these goals.

Water:

At the conference, you won’t find any plastic bottles. But there will be water refill stations, so please bring your own refillable water bottle.

Lunch boxes, refreshments and waste:

Registered participants will receive a lunch box. We ask you to select the lunch option upon registration for each of the two days. This goal is to reduce food waste. You can choose between vegetarian and vegan options. There will also be an option for those wishing to eat meat. However, we encourage you to select vegan and vegetarian options to minimise your environmental impact.

We work with our caterering Atmospherae to ensure that most of the ingredients used for lunches and refreshments are locally sourced and seasonal. All cups, plates, and cutlery will either be recycled or compostable. We will provide suitable containers for separate collection. Please make sure to place any waste in the correct containers. Consider bringing a refillable mug.

Lunch boxes that will not be collected will be donated to Cucine Popolari, Bologna's long-lasting independent initiative aimed at proving meals to vulnerable people.

Reducing paper and plastic usage:

The conference program will only be available in digital form, not print. A QR code for easy consultation will be printed on name tags. Name tags will be printed on paper and secured with a string to avoid lanyards and plastic pouches. We also encourage you to minimise the number of printed materials.

Travelling to the conference and transportation in Bologna:

If you can avoid flying, we encourage using alternatives such as bus or train. You can prioritize active travel in Bologna by choosing to walk or cycle, or you can choose to use public transportation.

Below you can find more information about how to get around in Bologna:

Feedback

Your feedback on how we can improve is always welcome, either before, during, or after the conference. Let us know what you think by writing to stsitaliaconf@gmail.com with the subject – “Sustainability”.