Sustainability Days Event 07Mar26
From Athanasios Nenes
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On Saturday, 7 March 2026, I had the pleasure of taking part in Sustainability Day at EPFL—an inspiring event dedicated to sharing and discussing climate research with a wider audience.
During the session, we screened a short film titled “Climate in a Warmer, Post-Fossil World.” The event continued with a fascinating talk by Prof.Jérôme Chappelaz on the importance of the poles and polar research for understanding our climate, and concluded with a roundtable discussion with our colleague Prof.Alexandros Papayannis and an engaged audience. The discussion was skillfully moderated by Julie Winz (Kummer) from RTS.
It was a wonderful opportunity to highlight some of the exciting climate research carried out within the CleanCloud project—particularly during the CLAVIER, CHOPIN, and PIANO campaigns—as well as work from the EC/ESA ACI cluster, EPFL, and the Swiss Polar Institute. Together, these efforts show how field observations, innovative measurement technologies, and research on atmospheric processes help shed light on the global challenges of climate change—while also opening an important dialogue with the public.
The film also captured something that is often missing from scientific outreach: the human side of research. Behind every dataset and discovery are people—scientists working in challenging environments, collaborating across disciplines, and driven by curiosity and commitment. Sharing that human dimension felt especially meaningful. And who knows—perhaps one of the young participants in the audience will be inspired and one day follow a similar path.
Thank you to everyone who came, watched the film, and joined the discussion. And many thanks to EPFL Sustainability Days—especially Agnès Le Tiec and Justine Tincq—for making this wonderful event possible.
Here is a short glimpse of a truly engaging and memorable event.
During the session, we screened a short film titled “Climate in a Warmer, Post-Fossil World.” The event continued with a fascinating talk by Prof.Jérôme Chappelaz on the importance of the poles and polar research for understanding our climate, and concluded with a roundtable discussion with our colleague Prof.Alexandros Papayannis and an engaged audience. The discussion was skillfully moderated by Julie Winz (Kummer) from RTS.
It was a wonderful opportunity to highlight some of the exciting climate research carried out within the CleanCloud project—particularly during the CLAVIER, CHOPIN, and PIANO campaigns—as well as work from the EC/ESA ACI cluster, EPFL, and the Swiss Polar Institute. Together, these efforts show how field observations, innovative measurement technologies, and research on atmospheric processes help shed light on the global challenges of climate change—while also opening an important dialogue with the public.
The film also captured something that is often missing from scientific outreach: the human side of research. Behind every dataset and discovery are people—scientists working in challenging environments, collaborating across disciplines, and driven by curiosity and commitment. Sharing that human dimension felt especially meaningful. And who knows—perhaps one of the young participants in the audience will be inspired and one day follow a similar path.
Thank you to everyone who came, watched the film, and joined the discussion. And many thanks to EPFL Sustainability Days—especially Agnès Le Tiec and Justine Tincq—for making this wonderful event possible.
Here is a short glimpse of a truly engaging and memorable event.
To see the film screened, check the link on this Mediaspace channel:
Media, montage: Athanasios Nenes.
Music: L.v.Beethoven: Piano Trio Op.97 (Archduke) - I. Allegro moderato (piano: A.Nenes; cello: N.Clement) - other pieces in film explained in the Mediaspace video page.
Acknowledgments: Funding was provided by the European Union’s Horizon Europe project “CleanCloud” (Grant agreement No. 101137639) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) projects "LipicAir" and “AAIDI”, and SNSF R'Equip funding. Finally, we acknowledge support from the ETH Domain Joint Initiative ReCLEAN.
For more information, please visit the CleanCloud project website (https://projects.au.dk/cleancloud/cleancloud-project) or contact the CleanCloud coordinators (Ulas Im; ulas@envs.au.dk; Athanasios Nenes; athanasios.nenes@epfl.ch).- Tags
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