Travel and meeting policy

Summary

Balean is a foundation for ocean restoration and conservation. Based on the principle “practice what you preach”, we also have sustainability on our mind for all our internal activities. We have no office, no commute, mostly online meetings, and we are working on making our IT as green as possible as well.

In line with this, we also created a policy to help determine when to travel physically and when to meet online. The goal is to minimize our ecological footprint while ensuring effective collaboration.

Guidelines

Core Principles

• Avoid first: Prefer remote meetings unless they significantly compromise outcome quality.
• Reduce second: If physical travel is necessary, opt for the lowest-carbon alternative.
• Offset third: Only unavoidable emissions are compensated via verified schemes.

Avoid first

Online meetings and home office has allowed us to prevent carbon emissions from travel significantly. Online meetings is therefore the default option at Balean.

Reduce second

Sometimes a meeting can only be effective when you meet in person. See When to meet in person for more guidelines on this topic. If you need to meet in person, choose the travel option with the lowest carbon emissions.

1. Go by bike of by foot where possible
2. Prefer public transport (train/bus) over a car
3. Only use a car when public transport is not allowing you to reach your destination in time.
4. Use flying as a last resort.
5. If you do need to take a long journey, try to extend your stay by combining events. For example plan a vacation at the same destination to extend your stay.

Offset third

We see carbon offsetting as a last resort. Our priority is to reduce the amount we travel as much as possible. We pay to offset our carbon emissions from air, road and rail travel.

Meeting guidelines

When to meet online

• Online meetings always have the first preference.
• If you can meet in-person without carbon emission, prefer that over online.
• Only meet in person when online meetings are not an option. See When to meet in person for guidelines on when to consider an offline meeting.
• If the meeting takes less than 4 hours, always prefer online over meeting in person.

When to meet in person

• Strategic or Creative Collaboration is Critical
  • Multi-day workshops, design sprints, or innovation labs where brainstorming and co-creation are central.
• High-Trust Relationship Building is Required
  • Kick-offs with new partners, key donor negotiations, or sensitive stakeholder meetings where rapport and trust are essential.
• Complex or Sensitive Discussions Need Rich Communication
  • Conflict resolution, organizational change discussions, or high-stakes negotiations.
• Tactile or Physical Work is Involved
  • Hands-on activities like prototyping, field site visits, equipment training, or working with physical data/maps.
• Cross-Cultural or Interdisciplinary Teams Benefit from Rich Interaction
  • When face-to-face dynamics reduce misunderstanding and build common ground more effectively.
• Meeting Length and Intensity Justifies It
  • Extended workshops (e.g., 6+ hours/day over multiple days) where online fatigue would impair productivity.
• Multiple Goals Can Be Combined into One Trip
  • When several high-value engagements can be bundled (e.g., site visits + partner meetings + training) to maximize impact per trip.
  • It is also encouraged to extend your stay for personal reasons.
• Significant Long-Term Impact is Expected
  • When in-person interaction is likely to produce outcomes that shape strategy, partnerships, or funding in a lasting way.
• There is Clear Added Value Over Online
  • The organizer must demonstrate how physical presence will materially change the outcome compared to online.

Events and conferences

When you want to visit conferences or events, the same principles apply as with in person meetings. But also consider the following:

1. Does this event help us achieve outcomes we couldn’t achieve otherwise?
2. Justify travel if your visibility or influence is expected to create measurable impact.
3. Check if the event offers livestreams, hybrid participation, or recorded sessions and prioritize those options if they meet your needs.
4. Consider in-person attendance when critical partners, funders, or collaborators are confirmed to be present, and online networking would not provide the same opportunity.
5. Prefer local or regional conferences reachable by train or bus
   • Flights should only be considered if the event’s value and outcomes strongly outweigh the emissions impact.
6. Limit multiple team members attending the same event unless their roles are clearly distinct and necessary.
7. After the event, assess outcomes: Did we build valuable partnerships, raise our profile, or secure funding? If not, reconsider attending similar events in the future.

Travel guidelines

• Always prefer the lowest-carbon alternative.
• One-way rail journeys to other countries in Europe that take less than 10 hours, should be made by train at least one way; both ways where possible.
• One-way journeys that take less than 6 hours should be completed both ways by train.
• For journeys less than 200 km, consider public transport unless a destination is not reasonably accessible by public transport (e.g. public transport would take three hours or more).
• Also consider the lowest-carbon alternative when travelling from your destination airport/train station to your final destination. Prefer public transport or a shared bike over taking a taxi.
• If your destination is only reachable through flying, consider other alternatives first (like meeting online). Only fly as a last resort.

Emissions and offset

When calculating CO2 emissions, we use the CO2e standard. Use the calculators by MyClimate.org for a standardized way of calculation.

Decision criteria

1. Can the meeting be conducted effectively online?
   • Check Meeting guidelines
   • Yes -> Hold it online.
   • No -> Proceed to step 2.
2. Clearly describe the reason for meeting in person based on the guidelines.
   • Proceed to step 3
3. Select how to travel to the meeting based on the travel guidelines.
   • No carbon emissions -> Travel to the meeting
   • Otherwise -> Explain why necessary
4. Can you combine the trip with other events?
   • Yes -> Please elaborate on which events
   • No -> Reconsider meeting online

Roles & Accountability

• All significant travels must have a decision record which is reviewed by at least one other person.
• Travel logs and justifications are logged in a central system.

Decision template

Use the following decision template as an example to log specific decisions for meetings that include flying.

# Decision Overview: `Travel or Online Meeting`

**Date:** `[fill in]`
**Meeting Subject:** `[short description]`

## Meeting Details

* **Can the meeting be online?** `[yes/no]`
* **Distance between participants:** `[e.g., Europe - Canada]`
* **Meeting length:** `[e.g., 2 days]`
* **Justification for in-person:** `[e.g., yes, better brainstorming]`
* **Can the meeting be combined with other events?** `[Short motivation]`

## Decision

* **Decider(s):** [Name, Role]
* **Chosen option:** `[online/physical]`
* **Chosen transport:** `[bike/car/train/flight]`
* **Reason and justification:** `[short motivation]`

## Emissions & Offset

* **Estimated CO₂ emissions (kg):** [...]
* **Offset applied?** [Yes / No] — Details: [...]

Use Case Example

Meeting Details

To consider collaboration with a canadian organisation, we planned a 2-day workshop to work on a mutual business plan and discuss strategic details for that plan.

• Can the meeting be online? Yes - when split in multiple shorter meetings
• Distance between participants: Netherlands - Canada East Coast
• Meeting length: 2 days
• Justification for in-person: It is a meeting where Strategic or Creative Collaboration is Critical and High-Trust Relationship Building is Required. Significant Long-Term Impact is Expected with this meeting.
• Can the meeting be combined with other events? Yes, there is an opportunity to meet with other business partners.

Decision

• Decider(s): [Name, Role]
• Chosen option: Physical
• Chosen transport: Flight
• Reason and justification: The destination is only reachable by air. Due to timezone difference, a full day online meeting is not very practical. Relationship building in online meetings is less effective. The meeting is much more effective when held in person. Therefore the decision is made to fly.

Emissions & Offset

• Estimated CO₂ emissions (kg): 000
• Offset applied? [Yes / No] — Details: […]