SF2A Environmental Transition Commission: Summary of the 2025 workshop

TL;DR

This paper synthesizes the SF2A 2025 Environmental Transition workshop, documenting actions and discussions across institutional governance, early-career researcher wellbeing, infrastructures, and geopolitical constraints affecting astronomy research. It highlights concrete actions (the OMP OSU case and a five-pole road map), concerns of early-career researchers, lifecycle analyses of infrastructures, digital footprints, and travel policies, as well as historical and geopolitical case studies (Kourou spaceport history). The work provides practical recommendations and roadmaps for reducing emissions while maintaining research activity, including policy advocacy and shifts in travel behavior. It frames environmental transition as a political issue requiring collective action and safeguards for academic freedom, thereby offering a structured reference for policymakers, institutions, and researchers to align sustainability with scientific priorities.

Abstract

During its annual conference in 2025, the French Society of Astronomy \& Astrophysics (SF2A) hosted, for the fifth time, a special session dedicated to discussing the environmental transition within the French A\&A research community. During the 2025 workshop, the goal was to review four contemporary topics within the context of environmental transition actions and discussions: (1) institutional actions, (2) the early-career researchers singularity, (3) research infrastructures and tools, and (4) the geopolitical conditions under which A\&A research remains possible. The workshop concluded with a round-table discussion that brought together the various speakers so that every participant could express their ideas.