AUATC Meeting Minutes- Wed 7 Feb 2024

Meeting commenced at 1pm

Present: Robert McLachlan (Massey), Tim Ryley (Griffith), Kim Blackmore (Australian National University), Susanne Becken (Chair, Griffith), Brendan Moyle (Massey)

Apologies: Anita Wreford (Lincoln), Lynda Johnston (Waikato), Gillian Lewis (Auckland)

ANU update on research
Report on interviews with institutions being finalised in the next few weeks; key finding is that most are measuring GHG emissions, but very few have implemented measures that go beyond voluntary ones. Kim will share report shortly. Key will be to communicate widely through various networks and to funding bodies etc.

Susanne suggested that communication (including op-ed we discussed) will be more effective if we provide substantiated evidence (e.g. see survey and gap analysis below) of progress or lack thereof.

Travel guidelines survey
We updated the items of our AUATC-internal group survey to get a more recent idea of what types of policies or recommendations should be put forward as good practice for academic institutions.

We would like everyone to review their initial scores in the online spreadsheet or complete the survey if you haven’t done so. It takes about 5 minuts.

You will find that the table appears twice, one time for your opinion/assessment the second time whether you believe this is done by your University.

University actions – update document

We agreed that it is time to update the document:

Air travel related work and activities of member universities.
The document is on our website and it is attached to the email with the minutes. Each institution can please update the content and send relevant files (e.g. new policies if available).

We can undertake a gap analysis to see where good practice should be and where progress is at.

Funding Bodies Meeting
The next NZ Funding bodies Meeting is 1 March 2024. I have the meeting in my diary (forward from Sal), can people confirm who else is attending or wants to attend. We have yet to reach out again to ARC.

General comment:

We need to step up from some general ideas and discussions to some tangible deliverables.  E.g. finalise the AUATC air travel practice guidelines.

Date of next meeting

Wednesday, 10 April 2024, 1-2pm (NZST)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *