Sustainability is one of our main objectives during the congress. Hospitals contribute a great amount to the health of human society, however, they also play a huge role in polluting our planet. Therefore, ISCOMS will raise awareness of the impact hospitals have. In the following, we outline how this will be done.
Maria Koijck is a Dutch spatial artist, who wants to increase people’s awareness of surgery waste. In 2019 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and her breast had to be removed. From the waste that was produced during the operation, she made a piece of art that will be shown in the lunch area throughout the congress (see video).
To reduce waste during the congress, we ask all our participants to bring their own water bottles and bags. There will be no physical congress bag. However, there is a stand with free sustainable gadgets and there is a possibility to buy an ISCOMS bag.
Next to this, the book of abstracts (BoA) will be online, and also all the poster presentations will be given on LCD screens this year to save paper. You can find the BoA on our website and in our app.
Furthermore, the congress will be 100% vegetarian, which saves more than 1800 kilos of CO2! Next, we strongly advise our European participants to come by train (see the train map of Europe made by the Green Office of the University of Groningen). If you travel by plane, you can compensate for your flight by investing in sustainable solar energy, see www.flygrn.com.
If you are interested in making the hospital sector more sustainable, we strongly recommend signing up for the sustainable workshop during the congress!
In short: travel by train and bring your own water bottle and bag!