RE4GREEN was proudly represented at the 9th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI 2026), held in Vancouver from 3–6 May 2026 — one of the world’s leading forums dedicated to shaping global discussions on trust, ethics, transparency, and integrity in research.

As part of the conference programme, Janina Bau, Policy and Project Officer at the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA), delivered the RE4GREEN session entitled:

“Safeguarding Trust: Ensuring Scientific Integrity and Inclusiveness in Climate Change Research and Innovation.”

The presentation highlighted the growing urgency of strengthening research ethics and integrity frameworks in the context of climate change research and the Green Transition. Drawing on emerging findings from RE4GREEN, Janina Bau emphasized that climate change is not only an environmental challenge but also a profound ethical and societal one.

The session explored how inequalities between low- and high-income countries continue to shape access to sustainable technologies, resources, and participation in research and innovation ecosystems — contributing to wider risks such as water scarcity, food insecurity, socio-economic instability, and unequal policy outcomes.

A central message of the presentation was that safeguarding trust in climate science requires moving beyond compliance-based approaches toward a more inclusive, transparent, and ethically grounded research culture. RE4GREEN advocates for embedding ethics-by-design principles across the entire research lifecycle while reinforcing openness, accountability, and societal engagement.

Particular emphasis was placed on:

• promoting Open Science practices and FAIR data principles,
• addressing systemic biases and governance gaps,
• preventing ethics dumping in international collaborations,
• and ensuring that environmental responsibility becomes a core dimension of research integrity.

Janina Bau also presented RE4GREEN’s policy-oriented approach for aligning environmental research with ethics and integrity through targeted action. These include strengthening ethical oversight in funding schemes, improving EU–national policy alignment, expanding inclusive research integrity training, and fostering collaboration among researchers, ethicists, citizen scientists, policymakers, research managers, and communities directly affected by climate change.

The session further showcased evidence generated through RE4GREEN social labs and gap analysis activities, which revealed the critical importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and the need to integrate justice theories, inclusiveness, and environmental ethics more systematically into existing research integrity frameworks and training materials.

Importantly, RE4GREEN is building on existing European initiatives and governance tools while introducing a dedicated focus on environmental sustainability and climate ethics. The project is currently developing operational Research Ethics and Research Integrity (RE&RI) Guidelines, to be published in 2026, which will provide practical tools for embedding environmental ethics into research governance and innovation practices.

WCRI 2026 offered an invaluable opportunity to engage with the international research integrity community and to contribute to ongoing global discussions on how ethics, inclusiveness, sustainability, and scientific excellence can jointly support more trustworthy and socially responsible research systems.

RE4GREEN remains committed to supporting a research ecosystem where integrity, environmental responsibility, and societal trust are placed at the heart of climate research and innovation.

At the 36th meeting of the National Ethics Councils (NEC Forum), titled Ethics and Values in a Rapidly Changing World and held at European University Cyprus in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 23–24 April, our colleague Dr Anaïs Resseguier, Principal Research Consultant at Trilateral Research, delivered an engaging presentation of the RE4GREEN project’s core activities and achievements. This biannual gathering brings together European ethics councils in the country holding the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe, creating a vibrant space for exchanging ideas and sharing ongoing work on ethical issues across member states.

As part of a session dedicated to environmental ethics, our colleague introduced RE4GREEN with enthusiasm, highlighting its key ambition: to meaningfully integrate environmental ethics into research ethics and integrity frameworks, and in doing so, strengthen the research community’s role in advancing the Green Transition.

She also shed light on the project’s main research efforts, including the extensive review work carried out and the dynamic engagement with stakeholders through social labs. The presentation concluded with a forward-looking overview of both the outputs already available and those in development, with particular emphasis on the ethics and integrity guidelines and the training modules hosted on the Embassy of Good Science platform.

Within the framework of the RE4GREEN EU Project, our colleagues Lucy Sabin, Natalie Evans, and Rosie Hastings have developed a thoughtful and engaging zine titled Sustainability and Eco-Justice in Everyday Research.

This resource invites researchers and innovators to pause and reflect on a fundamental question: how do our everyday research choices shape the environment, the climate, and broader questions of justice?

Rather than offering prescriptive rules, the zine provides guidance and inspiration. It highlights key knowledge, skills and values that can support more sustainable and equitable research practices, while encouraging readers to critically examine their own work. From the questions we ask and the methods we choose, to how we share and apply our findings, research is never neutral—it carries real-world impacts.

Structured around themes such as Embodying Sustainability Values, Embracing Complexity, Envisioning Sustainable Futures, and Acting for Sustainability, the zine combines practical insights with reflective questions. These prompts encourage consideration of environmental impacts, fairness across communities and generations, and the responsibilities researchers hold towards both human and non-human systems.

Importantly, the zine acknowledges that there are no simple solutions. Instead, it creates space for exploration, dialogue, and continuous learning—supporting researchers to connect their work with wider societal and environmental priorities, and to imagine more responsible and just alternatives.

We invite you to explore the zine, engage with its questions, and consider what sustainability means within your own research practice.

Find and download the zine from the new section dedicated to RE4GREEN Publications here.

This video interview was conducted within the framework of Social Lab 5: Fresh Waters and Oceans, part of the RE4GREEN project. The Social Lab focuses on the critical role of oceans and freshwater systems in maintaining climate stability, protecting biodiversity, and supporting resilient and sustainable communities. Addressing these challenges requires innovative governance approaches, scientific collaboration, and careful consideration of ethical dimensions linked to the green transition.

In this interview, Karla Nahuelpán (PhD student, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) speaks with Janire Salazar, a PhD researcher at the Institut de Ciències del Mar (Barcelona), Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography. Janire’s research investigates the structure and dynamics of benthic communities, particularly those dominated by gorgonians, using Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) in both the Mediterranean Sea and the Weddell Sea.

Throughout the discussion, Janire shares insights from her work in marine ecology and ecosystem restoration, emphasizing the importance of conserving biodiversity and safeguarding marine habitats impacted by human activities. She highlights the ecological significance of gorgonian communities and their contribution to maintaining healthy marine ecosystems, while also reflecting on how these systems relate to broader climate change challenges.

The conversation also addresses current debates surrounding the green transition, including the environmental implications of offshore wind energy and deep-sea mining. Janire underscores the importance of balancing renewable energy development with the protection of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Additionally, she stresses the need for stronger dialogue among scientists, clearer ethical frameworks, and inclusive decision-making processes involving local communities and stakeholders.

Watch the full interview to discover more about the scientific, environmental, and ethical challenges shaping the future of oceans and freshwater systems.

We are excited to announce that the RE4GREEN project will be featured at the 9th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI 2026), taking place from 3–6 May 2026 in Vancouver.

As part of this leading international event, RE4GREEN will contribute to the session:

“Safeguarding Trust: Ensuring Scientific Integrity and Inclusiveness in Climate Change Research and Innovation”,
on 4 May 2026.

The session will be delivered by
Janina Bau (Policy and Project Officer at European Association of Research Managers and Administrators), who will present key insights and policy recommendations emerging from the project.

Why this session matters

Climate change is not only an environmental challenge—it is also an ethical one. Early findings from RE4GREEN (2024–2027) reveal significant and growing disparities between low- and high-income countries in access to sustainable technologies and resources, with far-reaching consequences including water scarcity, food insecurity, and socio-economic instability.

In this context, RE4GREEN places strong emphasis on safeguarding trust in science by reinforcing research integrity frameworks. The session will highlight the importance of:

• Transparency, inclusiveness, and respect for societal values
• Open science practices and adherence to FAIR principles
• Addressing global inequalities in climate research and innovation

It will also shed light on critical risks such as ethics dumping, governance gaps, and systemic biases that may undermine both scientific credibility and policy impact.

From principles to action

A key message of the RE4GREEN approach is that ensuring ethical and trustworthy research requires going beyond compliance. The project advocates for:

• the integration of ethics-by-design
• stronger public engagement
• the inclusion of research ethics committees, integrity offices, and early-career researchers in shaping future practices
• and the development of targeted training on research integrity within climate research

Looking ahead

WCRI 2026 offers a valuable opportunity to share RE4GREEN’s work with a global audience and to engage in meaningful dialogue on the future of responsible climate research.

We look forward to contributing to ongoing discussions on how ethics, inclusiveness, and sustainability can jointly shape more robust and trustworthy research and innovation systems—and ultimately support better policy outcomes for a rapidly changing world.

👉 Find the abstract of Janina Bau’s contribution here: https://wcri2026.org/program/
👉 Explore the full conference programme here: https://wcri2026.org/program/

Stay tuned for more updates!

The newsletter includes information about the project, updates on RE4GREEN’s participation in conferences and meetings of the Stakeholder Advisory Board, as well as a brief overview of progress across the various work packages. More specifically, you will find information on the scientific publications that have recently begun to emerge within the framework of our project, our progress regarding the Social Labs, the podcast currently in development, and the micromodules we are creating.

You’re just one click away from discovering more.

On 17 February, at the National Technical University of Athens, the first seminar lecture of the current academic semester was delivered within the framework of the Interdepartmental Postgraduate Programme in Materials, Science & Technology of the School of Chemical Engineering by our colleagues Eleni Spyrakou, Vana Stavridi, Leonidas Ananinadis, and Dimitris Koulos. The lecture, entitled “Ethics and Integrity in Scientific Research: What They Are, How They Are Applied, and Why They Matter”, placed at its core the fundamental values that underpin responsible scientific practice and academic excellence.

The presentation offered an in-depth exploration of the concepts of research ethics and research integrity, with particular emphasis on how these principles are embedded in everyday research practice and on their crucial role in safeguarding the credibility, trustworthiness and standing of the scientific community. In parallel, the Horizon Europe project RE4GREEN EU was introduced, highlighting the importance of ethics and research integrity within the context of the green transition, as well as the contemporary challenges that arise in this domain.

Special attention was given to the project’s objectives and to the innovative Social Labs methodology implemented within RE4GREEN, presented as a dynamic approach to understanding and addressing challenges related to ethics and integrity in research. Furthermore, reference was made to the development of dedicated training materials aimed at educating a broad and diverse range of stakeholders.

The discussion that followed with the students was particularly engaging and constructive, reflecting their strong interest in issues of research ethics and their recognition of the need to incorporate ethical considerations into their own research activities.

Overall, the event marked a strong and promising start to the new academic year, laying solid foundations not only for scientific advancement but also for responsible and ethically grounded innovation.

We are delighted to announce the eighth episode of Earth to Research, the podcast created by our colleague Lucy Sabin for RE4GREEN, which opens up space for critical reflection on the growing presence of artificial intelligence in research and everyday practice.

Titled Slow AI-cademia, this episode features Mariana Fernández Mora of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, whose work challenges dominant narratives around AI through her project Slow AI. The conversation invites listeners to reconsider how algorithmic systems are shaping academic cultures, knowledge production, and ethical responsibility.

Rather than centring technical performance or efficiency, the episode foregrounds values, emotions, and intentions in our engagements with generative AI. Through speculative thinking and storytelling, Mariana proposes alternative ways of relating to algorithmic technologies—ones that are attentive to environmental limits, social justice, and more-than-human perspectives. Themes of consciousness, nature, and care run throughout, offering a clear departure from mainstream Silicon Valley imaginaries.

This episode will be of interest to students, early-career researchers, educators, research co-ordinators, and AI practitioners alike. It encourages listeners to slow down, question assumptions, and imagine different futures for AI in academia. The discussion concludes—appropriately—with a spell, reminding us that critical inquiry can also be playful, poetic, and transformative.

References

Fernández Mora, M. (2025). A spell for the unlearning machine. In Fernández Mora, M. (ed.), Restless grounds: Speculative futures on algorithmic technologies, 1, May.
UNEP (2024). AI has an environmental problem. Here’s what the world can do about that. September 21.

Find and listen to all episodes of Earth to Research on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/28S05gUCjiCW5Cczdg22j1
Podbean: https://earthtoresearch.podbean.com/

The IRECS Final Conference, held in Brussels, Belgium, from 11 to 12 December 2025, proved to be an exceptionally stimulating and productive forum, bringing together diverse perspectives on collaboration, sustainability, and research ethics across Europe and beyond.

Within this rich exchange of ideas, our colleague Dominic Lenzi represented the RE4GREEN project as an invited speaker in the panel “The Sustainable Use of Cluster Networks: IRECS as a Cluster of the Clusters”, which took place on Friday, 12 December 2025. His contribution focused on both the opportunities and the practical complexities of cooperation among European research projects and their partners, inside and outside the EU.

Drawing on RE4GREEN’s work, Dominic presented the project’s contribution to advancing ethical reflection in research, notably through the development of innovative micromodule training materials that embed sustainability and environmental ethics. Hosted on the Embassy of Good Science platform, these resources exemplify RE4GREEN’s commitment to supporting ethics and integrity in everyday research practice. He also outlined the project’s involvement in shaping a proposed addition to the ALLEA Code of Conduct for Research, reinforcing its engagement with European-level standards.

The discussion further addressed the broader reach of European research initiatives. In this context, Dominic highlighted the international character of the RE4GREEN consortium, which brings together expertise from South Africa, Japan, and South Korea, demonstrating how European-funded projects can foster meaningful dialogue on research ethics well beyond Europe’s borders.

At the same time, the panel did not shy away from critical reflections. Attention was drawn to the difficulties of building concrete and lasting collaborations between projects that often differ in scope, priorities, and timelines. Using examples from artificial intelligence and climate engineering, the conversation explored the tension between the strict ethical frameworks governing publicly funded research and the more flexible regulatory environments shaping private-sector research and innovation.

Overall, the session underscored the value of forums such as the IRECS Final Conference in nurturing open, critical, and inclusive scientific dialogue. Such exchanges are essential for strengthening collaboration, confronting emerging ethical challenges, and ensuring that research and innovation continue to be guided by shared values and robust ethical standards.

We are pleased to announce the publication of the first article of the project, entitled Convergences and Gaps between Environmental Ethics, Climate Ethics, and Research Ethics: A Scoping Review, in the peer-reviewed journal Science and Engineering Ethics.

Authored by Michel Bourban, Dominic Lenzi, Mads P. Sørensen, Rachel Fishberg, Jan Mehlich, Fabian Fischbach, José Luis Molina, Kasandra I. H. M. Poague, Alexandra Csábi, Rose Heffernan, Rosie Hastings, and Anaïs Rességuier, this article marks an important milestone for the project and sets the conceptual foundations for its subsequent research.

The paper addresses the ethical challenges posed by contemporary scientific research and technological innovation, particularly in relation to environmental and climate impacts. While innovation can help to reduce environmental and social harms, it can also intensify ecological pressures and generate new forms of risk. Against this backdrop, the authors argue for more forward-looking and anticipatory forms of research governance capable of responding to these tensions.

Drawing on a systematic review of academic literature conducted within WP1, the study examines how environmental ethics, climate ethics, and research ethics are currently conceptualised and how they intersect. A central finding is the limited extent to which environmental and climate-related concerns have been incorporated into existing research ethics frameworks. The analysis highlights the need to strengthen these frameworks by integrating insights from environmental ethics and climate justice.

The article also uncovers significant imbalances in the literature, notably a strong focus on climate change—and particularly on the ethics and governance of geoengineering—at the expense of other environmental issues. The authors caution against treating geoengineering governance as a broadly applicable model for research oversight and call for a more inclusive ethical agenda.

By identifying both convergences and gaps across these ethical domains, the article outlines a future research agenda aimed at fostering deeper integration between research ethics and environmental and climate ethics, thereby supporting more responsible research and innovation.

Read the article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-025-00575-8