Greening Research Webinars Series: Final Report

In 2024, Science Europe launched a set of activities on ‘Greening Research’. The objective is to work towards reducing the ecological impacts of research activities and to promote climate sustainability for Science Europe Member Organisations. Building on the experiences of the Working Group on the Green & Digital Transition (2021–2023), the growing set of activities on Artificial Intelligence, and the mid-term review of Science Europe’s Strategy Plan, this webinar series on Greening Research was the first of its kind for Science Europe. It had the following objectives:

• Raise awareness: Explore the environmental impact of research activities, helping to understand research organisations’ footprint.
• Discuss solutions: Dive into principles, challenges, and methods for reducing the ecological footprint of research activities.
• Empower action: Provide concrete examples and good practices for ‘greening research’, offering actionable steps.

The series is a collaborative effort by the Research Council of Finland (AKA), French National Research Agency (ANR), German Research Foundation (DFG), Italy’s National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Portugal’s Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (Formas), Dutch Research Council (NWO), Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and Science Europe.

This report summarises the main lessons learned from the three webinars and proposes key messages for next steps. A summary of each webinar's contents is presented; common lessons and key messages from the whole series are jointly discussed in the final section.