The unsustainability of academic aeromobility in Australian universities

Abstract

This article analyzes how certain forms of unsustainable hypermobility – primarily air travel – are embedded in the institutional orientations of Australian universities, and hence, into the professional practices of academics in the country. Academic air travel is commonly recog- nized as a key component of a scholar’s ability to cultivate and maintain international collab- orations, achieve high-impact journal publications and win large research grants. Despite the environmental sustainability implications that regular international and domestic air travel entails, a normative system of ‘academic aeromobility’ has developed. We discuss the results of a qualitative textual analysis of Australian university-sustainability policies as well as research and internationalization strategies. We find that the ambitions of academic institu- tions to reduce carbon emissions from air travel are discordant with broader policies and strategic orientations around international mobility. These findings foreground the paradox- ical relationship between many university-sustainability policies and the sector’s broader stra- tegic aims of internationalization and mobility of staff and students, suggesting the limits to piecemeal approaches to organizational policy and practices pertaining to sustainability. We conclude by discussing the role of technology and ‘slow scholarship’ as a means to reduce academic aeromobility.