The CHI’26 sustainability committee is excited to announce the return of the Special Recognition for papers that take exceptional measures toward sustainable research practices. This initiative aims to draw attention to sustainable research and celebrate authors’ dedication to sustainability. This honor is open to any project that has taken steps to be more sustainable, not only projects that directly address sustainable topics. Thus, we will again consider two tracks for this recognition: i) research with potential for sustainable impact and ii) research teams with inspirational research practices.
There are many creative ways that HCI researchers could consider to make their work more sustainable and potentially earn a Special Recognition for Sustainable Practices, including:
- Offsetting carbon costs (e.g., of training machine learning models)
- Hosting a no-waste workshop
- Purchasing recycled materials
- Minimizing project-related travel (e.g., holding hybrid and virtual meetings)
- Incorporating community leaders in project funding
- Advocating for sustainable policy
- Public outreach or education on sustainable topics or practices
- Reducing electronic waste (e.g., through sustainable purchasing practices, reusing and recycling parts)
Any of these actions or similar could earn your project a Special Recognition for Sustainable Practices. We look forward to hearing many other creative ideas! To see examples of past awardees, read more about last year’s winners and runners-up
How to Apply
The submission portal in PCS will include a new field where authors of accepted papers can describe the steps they have taken to make their work/projects more sustainable. In 2-3 paragraphs (300 words or fewer), tell us what actions you’ve taken to make your project more sustainable, your reasoning for taking those actions, and what impact you’ve seen. Note: What you enter there is separate from the review process. Additionally, this is a relatively new effort to promote sustainability; therefore, we are still experimenting with various approaches. If you have comments or feedback, please email the CHI’26 Sustainability Committee.
Special recognitions will be announced before the first day of the conference on April 13th. Papers receiving special recognition will be highlighted in a future CHI2026 Blog Post and mentioned on Twitter/X and in the closing keynote during the conference. A badge will also appear in the conference program.