Social and Environmental Effects of Post-COVID-19 Computer Science Virtual Conferencing: The Euro-Par Case

Conferencing is one of the main pillars of Computer Science research activity regarding career and networking, with conference publications playing a more prominent role compared to other disciplines. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to switch to virtual conferencing, and many works have shown the benefits of virtual conferencing in terms of inclusivity and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We are moving toward the usual conferencing format as it appears that the pandemic is increasingly under control. However, the changes imposed during the period of the pandemic brought many essential lessons regarding conferencing social and environmental effects. A crucial task is gathering these community experiences to give directions on keeping the learned lessons post-COVID-19. We used the Euro-Par conference to combine these lessons in the Computer Science case. We show practical results that reinforce the marginal emissions of virtual conferencing compared to in-person conference travel. We also open the debate that rethinking the conferences' utility according to our objectives (scientific and ecologic) and being aware of social/geographical biases are essential factors in participating in and organizing post-COVID-19 conferences.