What should we do about staff air travel emissions? crowdsourcing consensus and understanding division within an Australian university

Abstract

As universities grapple with reducing the climate change impacts of staff air travel, evidence is needed on the relative popularity of possible institutional approaches. This novel empirical case study offers insights from an action research process within an Australian university using Polis, an online wiki survey platform that enabled simultaneous crowdsourcing and collective evaluation of suggestions. Our in-depth qualitative-quantitative analysis of over 170 participants’ opinions spans matters of urgency and responsibility, ways to reduce lower priority flying, and mechanisms for reducing emissions from necessary flights. Opinions were diverse, with tensions between individual and institutional responsibility and disagreements over the relative priority of flight emissions reduction versus the benefits of flying. Frequent fliers and men were more likely to express resistance to change. Nonetheless, broad consensus was found on many specific initiatives and principles, indicating ‘low hanging fruit’ that may be prioritised in efforts to progress through this collective action problem.