Interview: Data Stewardship for Monitoring Air Travel Emissions Data at ETH Zurich
The following interview between Dr Giuliana Turi (ETH Sustainability, Office of the President) and Dr Julian Dederke (ETH Library) is the second in a series of interviews that take a closer look at the work of active data stewards in the Data Stewardship Network.
Giuliana Turi joined ETH Sustainability in June 2022 and is the project manager for the ETH Air Travel Project. Giuliana has a background in climate and environmental science with a focus on the impacts of climate change on cryospheric and oceanic environments. In her role at ETH Sustainability, she developed a concept for data stewardship for the emissions data from ETH air travel, which includes the monitoring, processing and provision of the data.
The interview was conducted by Dr Julian Dederke (ETH Library), who coordinates a swissuniversities project to establish data stewardship at ETH Zurich. The promotion of data stewardship is an aim of both the external page National Strategy for Open Research Data and the external page Open Research Data programme of the ETH Domain.
Giuliana, you currently work at ETH Sustainability and are the project manager for the Air Travel Project. What are the goals of this project, and what is your role?
The ETH Air Travel Project was launched in 2017 and focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from work-related air travel at ETH Zurich. These data have been recorded since 2006, so we now have one of the most comprehensive data sets on university air travel in Switzerland and abroad. The goal of the project is to implement a concrete path for reducing the air travel emissions of ETH Zurich – one that is compatible with excellence in science and the best possible career opportunities for researchers. At the same time, the greenhouse gas emissions of the whole university need to be reduced to ensure it can achieve its Net Zero target.
As the emissions from air travel account for a sizeable share (approx. 12%) of total university emissions and are relatively easy to record compared to other emissions categories, it is particularly important to have an effective system for the monitoring, processing and provision of the data. This is not only essential for me as the project manager, but also for many other stakeholders at ETH Zurich who need access to the air travel emissions data, including our colleagues in the Mobility and Institutional Research teams and the department and institute heads and coordinators.
I see my role as project manager on the one hand as a coordinator of the various efforts to reduce air travel at ETH Zurich. On the other hand, I also act as a go-between for the various stakeholders in the departments, offices and the Executive Board. I tend to be the first point of contact for questions regarding the recording, calculation and evaluation of the air travel emissions, where bottlenecks can easily occur in the flow of information. That’s why ETH Sustainability also advocates for more data transparency and an open exchange of the air travel emissions data.
So monitoring of emissions data from university air travel is a major part of the project. What exactly happens with these data in the project, and what principles do you follow?
To monitor the air travel emissions, the flights of all organisational units are recorded in the ETH Zurich finance portal ETHIS based on the reimbursement of expenses. When expenses are entered, the information that needs to be recorded includes the flight date, the flight number, the function of the person travelling, the travel class and the reason for the trip.
This air travel information is routinely sent to our partner company external page atmosfair, which calculates the flight emissions based on the latest scientific findings and standards. The emissions calculated by atmosfair then form the basis for monitoring flight behaviour at ETH Zurich and are incorporated into our overall analyses.
Last year, we realised that we were missing one key ingredient for monitoring emissions data – namely formally bringing together the ETH units that had already been working with the air travel data anyway. These units include the Institutional Research (IR) team, which is responsible for the processing and provision of operative and strategic data, among other things, and coordinates and publishes the data of various reports (e.g. the annual report). Then there is the Competence Centre SAP (CCSAP), which played a major part in the development of the air travel monitoring system in ETHIS. Both are part of the Controlling department at ETH Zurich.
In order to map these important and complementary functions, we have developed a concept for data stewardship for the air travel emissions, which comprises three different roles. ETH Sustainability is the data owner, the IR team provides data support (e.g. for the dashboard go-live) and the CCSAP looks after the data workflows within ETHIS. At the time, we didn’t know about the Data Stewardship Network. Our concept had already been developed independently of this, and was tailored to meet the requirements of the Air Travel Project. In the first interview in this series, it was exciting to see that data stewardship actually has many different forms.
So data stewardship plays a major part in how you handle the air travel data?
Yes. For us, it was especially important to establish the roles and responsibilities and to formulate the parameters transparently. This makes it clear which unit is the point of contact for which issues concerning ETH Zurich air travel.
We work very closely with the CCSAP when it comes to solving problems with the air travel monitoring system in ETHIS. With the help of IR, we have also developed an interactive Air Travel Emissions Dashboard, which is also accessible to the public – all in the interest of data transparency. It allows everyone an insight into the results of our analyses, which is something we are particularly proud of.
The ETH Air Travel Project is not a research project as such. Why do you believe that data stewardship is still so important in this context of monitoring emissions data?
ETH Zurich is a very heterogeneous organisation in many respects – a fact that is also reflected in the air travel emissions. Not every department flies the same amount and for the same reasons. To establish who can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from air travel most effectively, and where, we need a solid data basis that can be supported by a concept such as data stewardship – and that includes the monitoring, provision and communication of the air travel emissions data. This means we can make informed decisions regarding flight behaviour at ETH Zurich and offer the individual units bespoke approaches aimed at avoiding or reducing their air travel.
The ETH Air Travel Project, launched in 2017, encourages the ETH Zurich community to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from work-related air travel in a participatory, evidence-based, solution-oriented approach. The basis for the project is the comprehensive data set showing flight behaviour since 2006. The latest data on air travel emissions at ETH Zurich is presented on the external page interactive data dashboard in the data stewardship section on our Air Travel Project website.
Giuliana, do you think your data stewardship concept would be transferable to other projects?
Definitely. We are currently working on a data monitoring approach that would encompass the greenhouse gas emissions from all work-related travel (by air, rail and road), including commuting. It is also conceivable to transfer the data stewardship concept to other projects such as the Sustainable Gastronomy Project or, even more comprehensively, to all emissions categories included in the ETH Net Zero strategy. The prerequisite for this is a solid data basis, coupled with the willingness of all parties involved to deal with the data transparently and share the knowledge that these data contain.
Data stewardship and open data play an important role – both in the swissuniversities National Strategy for Open Research Data and in the Open Research Data programme of the ETH Domain. To what extent do open data aspects also play a part in your project?
The data dashboard I mentioned not only allows the university community to view the data sets on ETH Zurich air travel emissions, but also gives the general public and other universities in Switzerland and abroad access to the data. There have already been numerous external enquires and reactions to it since publication. We hope that, through data transparency and exchange, ETH Zurich can make an important contribution to a more informed society when it comes to the impact of work-related travel and mobility in general on greenhouse gas emissions. The air travel emissions are not research data in a strict sense; however, as in the case of research data, data stewardship is also highly relevant in the area of university monitoring – regardless of whether the data are open or not. Since these are partly sensitive organisational data, they cannot be made fully accessible to the public, but the clear aim is to make the results of the analyses available in a transparent way.
swissuniversities ORD project on the topic of data stewardship
As part of the external page National ORD Strategy, swissuniversities encourages all research institutions in Switzerland to promote data stewardship and create appropriate incentives. One of the ways ETH Zurich pursues this aim is through a project running from 2023 to 2024 coordinated by the ETH Library. You can find all the information you need on data stewardship on our website.
You can read the first interview from March 2023 – A Vision for Open Science and Data Stewardship at ETH Zurich – here. You can find out more about the launch of the Data Stewardship Network here.