Promoting International Student Mobility for Sustainability? Navigating Conflicting Realities and Emotions of International Educators

In international education, climate change is an increasingly prominent consideration. International mobility contributes to global carbon emissions yet provides students with skills and knowledge to address climate change. Based on interviews with 17 individuals working in international education, this qualitative study illuminates how international educators view climate change: both as a threat and an opportunity for the field. When considering and mitigating international education's carbon emissions, interviewees reported mostly negative emotions: feeling stuck, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Interviewees also noted difficulties in logically and ethically reconciling the relationship, especially with student mobility as a key component of international education, providing several rationales for expanding international education to promote social and environmental justice. Notably, interviewees called for a reimagining of the field with more virtual exchanges and less air travel. Findings aim to inform higher education internationalization efforts – and student mobility specifically – in a time of climate crisis.


Introduction
With increased awareness of climate change and the interruptive nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education internationalization staff has had to pause and examine its values, practices, and strategies. Before the pandemic in 2019, 5.6 million students pursued tertiary education outside their country of citizenship (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD], 2020). In the United States (U.S.), over 350,000 university students studied abroad in 2018-2019 (Institute of International Education [IIE], 2020). These statistics demonstrated that before the pandemic, international student mobility, be it full-degree or short-term, was in high demand. Students, staff, and faculty travel extensively to study and work abroad, attend conferences, and complete field research. Much of this mobility was facilitated by airplanes. When this rate of international education ceased in early 2020, alternatives to international student mobility, like collaborative online international learning (COIL) or other forms of virtual exchanges, became increasingly attractive.
At this time of constructing the meaning of international student mobility, international education, as a field, is also increasingly examining its impact on the environment. Pre-pandemic levels of air travel translated into an amount of carbon output accounting for approximately two percent of the world's total (Terrenoire et al., 2019). It is estimated that internationally mobile students who seek full degrees abroad put out as much carbon through plane travel as the country of Jamaica, Tunisia, or Croatia (Shields, 2019). Rumbley (2020) calls student mobility "internationalization's dirty little (climate) secret" (p. 33).
This acknowledgement is paired with the increasing concern about climate change, and those who work in international education are no exception. Understanding the ways that international education professionals view climate change, and their role in addressing it, is increasingly on the minds of international education scholars and practitioners. As evidence, major international education associations have selected conference themes related to sustainability, countless public opinion pieces have been written about these concerns, and this special issue is dedicated to exploring both theoretical and practical understandings of the complex relationship between internationalization and environmental sustainability. To date, very little empirical knowledge about how those who work in international education consider climate change, or respond to it, has been published.
The concept of international education is broad, as are the terms climate change and sustainability. For example, sustainability has numerous definitions and focal areas in international education, including education for sustainable development (ESD), the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "going green" practices, sustainable programming and funding, and long-lasting effect of education on participating students, among others (Campbell, 2021;Weisser, 2017). For this paper, we use the following definitions: International education is defined as a field involved in facilitating and supporting the migration of students and scholars across geopolitical borders, or the knowledge and skills resulting from conducting a portion of one's education in another country (The Forum for Education Abroad [FEA], 2011, p. 11). International education includes many components, including student mobility, intercultural and language learning, and COIL. In this paper, the term international educator is used to describe anyone who works in this field. Climate change is the ongoing, rapid rise of Earth's average temperature that is induced mostly by carbon-intensive human activities. According to the UN (n.d.), the most egregious drivers of climate change are due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.
As international travel and in-person educational activities presumably rebound following the Covid-19 pandemic, so will carbon emissions. This paper aims to illuminate the way those who work in the field of international education view and respond to climate change, examining both their perceptions on the relationship and emotions about working in the field. This research also calls attention to the level of awareness and engagement of international educators; their perspective is essential as they set program agendas and provide input on strategies, advise students, and lead and educate groups overseas. By understanding the ways that international educators perceive climate change, we can take steps forward to reduce the sector's carbon emissions, craft meaningful strategies and communications, and advance the conversation among scholars and practitioners on the role of international education in an era of climate change.

Literature Review
The benefits of international education are numerous and well-documented. For example, Roy et al. (2019) cataloged the cultural, personal, and employment or career outcomes of international education. Knight (2012) has noted associated positive aspects of international education on participants' families, peers, universities, and communities. The advancement of technology, transportation, and the use of English as a working and teaching language in the twenty-first century have also contributed to the popularity of learning across borders (OECD, 2020). With this overwhelming positive evidence in hand, international education has made steady increases in participants over the previous two decades.
Increasingly, with growing awareness of climate change, international education is examining its sustainability practices and contributions to sustainable viewpoints and lifestyles worldwide. A significant project is to align higher education internationalization efforts with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, SDG Target 4.7 aims to provide "all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development" with a specific mention of education for global citizenship (UN, 2015). In addition, SDG Target 4.b explicitly mentions international student mobility through scholarships, "with recipients serving as 'change agents' with a wider worldview, deep understanding of interconnectedness and solidarity among peoples across borders, and the capabilities to address the dynamic and complex nature of current and future global challenges," like climate change (Campbell & Mawer, 2019, p. 180). SDG 13.3 strengthens this point by highlighting the importance of education, awareness-raising, and institutional capacity in climate change mitigation (UN, 2015). As universities and their constituent programs respond to the SDGs, there remains an opportunity to reimagine international education efforts. In terms of advancing the SDGs and environmentally-friendly practices in international student mobility programs, there is mounting evidence and guidance that international education can teach about global citizenship, environmental practices, and sustainable lifestyles. For example, Wynveen et al. (2012) found that students often learn about global citizenship and their responsibilities to the planet while pursuing education abroad, thereby increasing their understanding of the globe's interconnectedness and the unequal impact of climate change. Han and Hyun (2018) noted that students improved their pro-environmental behavior while abroad, including recycling and considering eco-friendly purchase behavior. Moreover, there is an increasing effort to include sustainability lessons in education abroad courses and pre-departure materials (Bound International, LLC & Earth Deeds, 2021). In terms of advising the field on ways forward, the FEA published Advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad (2021) and CISAustralia published Green Book: Tips and Resources for Sustainable Learning Abroad (2020).
A comprehensive picture of whether international education as a professional field is aware of the field's environmental impactor the extent to which it is in mitigating their carbon footprintremains murky. First, Shields (2019) showed that international student mobility contributes to gas emissions, with globally mobile students emitting more than the average traveler, and the total carbon production of internationallymobile students through flight travel is on par with the total carbon emissions of a small country. This work does not take into account short-term study abroad programs, staff or faculty travel, or domestic travel as part of international education programs.
Moreover, completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, Shields' work also doesn't account for the COVID-related rise of online or virtual education in general, and virtual exchange, specifically. COIL and other forms of virtual learning show promise to enhance intercultural and global citizenship education in "third spaces" and without physically crossing borders (Guimarães & Finardi, 2021). Yet Bruhn-Zass (2021) points out that hybrid virtual exchanges have been present in many aspects of international education before the pandemic, suggesting not a "new normal" but a continuation and growth of current practice; yet the paper stops short of suggesting COIL would be a likely replacement for physically crossing borders.
Given these estimates, it is challenging to know the level of concern among international educators, the type of responses made across the field, or the exact carbon outlay of international education today, yet scholars and practitioners are building a more nuanced picture. For example, a recent survey on sustainability practices in international education noted that "the field of study abroad has much room for improvement" in terms of sustainability practices, with "39% of respondents are implementing climate change and carbon consciousness into their pre-departure orientations and materials" (Bound International, LLC & Earth Deeds, 2021, p. 7). Moreover, a recent qualitative study showed that individuals working in international education care about climate change and work to actively reduce their carbon footprint in their personal lives, yet face challenges in their professional settings to carry out equivalent "green" practices, calling for greater leadership, accountability, and action in their offices and professional organizations (Campbell & Nguyen, 2022). Arguably, the field of international education is increasingly turning its attention to climate change.
At the same time, students who participate in international education are showing significant concern about climate change, greater pro-environmental behaviors while traveling, and increased anxiety and worry about the planet's future, raising questions about students' wellbeing and the ethics of international travel (El Zoghbi & El Ansari, 2014). Reports of climate anxiety and eco-paralysis are being reported by younger generations, with these concerns potentially influencing students' desire to pursue education abroad or shaping their program of choice (Kelly, 2017). However, Verlie (2019) suggests that students and educators should accept a perspective of "living with" climate change, as opposed to ignoring it or to being paralyzed due to its immensity. This view aligns with others, like Dvorak et al. (2011), who wrote that international student mobility is not likely to discontinue and that international student exchange and environmental preservation are a necessary partnership.
Sustainability-related research is still a nascent subfield within internationalization and international education literature, although several scholars have investigated how the field is responding, calling for more critical scholarship (Whitsed et al., 2021) and additional and considerate investigation on how it should be designed to be more sustainable and reduce its impact on the environment (Rumbley, 2020). To add to the complexity of these tasks, COVID-19, social justice movements, forced migration, and mounting financial pressures continue to influence the international higher education landscape, leading to shifting priorities and seemingly-constant emergencies. This paper assumes that international education in general, and international student mobility in particular, will continue to grow and provide students and communities with numerous benefits, emphasizing the interconnectedness of people on the planet and the potential for international partnerships and diplomacy to solve global problems. At the same time, it is open to critique of how and whether international educators view the relationship between international student mobility and respect and advocacy of environmental conservation effortsin short, the compliments and contradictions between "going global" and "going green." Specifically, the research question which guides this paper is: How do international education professionals perceive the relationship between international student mobility and climate change?

Methodology
This qualitative exploratory research is rooted in social phenomenology (Schutz, 1967), examining how international educators make meaning and judgements about their own worldviews and experiencesand those of their colleagues and peers.
Additionally, the work looks to contributions from O'Brien (2018), who argues that responses to climate change require deliberate social transformation, across three levels of practical, political, and personal engagement. Our analysis is also informed by Heifetz et al. (2009) who separated change into two categories: technical changethat which can be solved with additional knowledge, expertise, and informationand adaptive changewhich requires new ways of looking at problems, taking into account individual perceptions and belief systems. With these frames in mind, interview participants were asked to reflect on their own perceptions and activities regarding international education and their responses, if any, to the climate crisis. This approach allows for exploring both points of conflict and synergies across levels of transformation, as well as technical and adaptive challenges.
To collect data for this study, our team conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 international educators. This population was selected to better understand the perspective of those who are engaged in the daily work of designing programs and advising students; international educators often communicate with and influence both leaders who set policies and students who participate in international education programs. All interviewees had received a Master's degree in international education managementfocusing on the theory and practice of international education as a professional fieldand most were working in international education as study abroad or international student advisors, overseas program leaders, or program managers. They were located in the U.S. and abroad at the time of interview, although several had just left the field of international education or been let go from their positions, due to the downturn in student mobility as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Each interviewee was assigned a number, which is referenced in the findings.
Semi-structured interviews focused on individual's perspective on climate change in international education, their and their colleagues' behaviors in response to climate change in their personal and professional lives, and how they saw the field of international education addressing the climate crisis. Interviews lasted 60-90 min, were held over Zoom, and were recorded and transcribed. Our team used Dedoose for thematic analysis to identify the major themes in response to the research question.
The study has several methodological considerations and limitations. First, interviewees hold degrees in international education management and work as practitioners, likely bringing educational frameworks to their perceptions; they are not experts in climate change or climate education, which limits some nuance in our findings. However, this choice was intentional as the goal of the study was to understand perspectives and responses to climate change of those working in the field, not to uncover technical ways forward. Second, the participants were not selected to be representative of the field, and therefore, findings cannot be taken as representative. However, given the exploratory nature of this study, results can provide additional insight into the perceptions of a small group from which larger representative surveys might be constructed. Third, we found that a majority of the participants spoke frequently about their experiences with study abroad as either students or employees, which may skew the findings toward the perspectives of non-degree mobile students from the U.S. Nevertheless, their viewpoints remain valuable in the larger context of international education, especially when the short-term nature of most U.S. education abroad programs raises questions about their overall value when compared to their environmental cost (Campbell & Nguyen, 2022). Finally, these data were collected in the U.S. during the summer and fall of 2020a time when Covid-19 pandemic and social justice movements in the U.S. were very active. These events, along with severe forest fires in the U.S., were mentioned by many interviewees although they were not asked about as part of the protocol. While these topics don't feature as prominently in this paper, these events likely provided an influential backdrop to these findings.
Before the findings are presented, we would like to include a note of positionality: Our research team is concerned about climate change and its impact on the planet. We also believe in the transformational experience of international educationthat each of us has benefited fromand a commitment to expand international education more broadly to diverse populations and generations of future students worldwide. As motivation to conduct this research, we are increasingly worried about the "business as usual" approach to international mobility for educational purposes and sought to explore others' perceptions and experiences.

Findings
In response to the research question of how international educators view the relationship between international education and climate change, findings will be presented in five categories, outlined below. Each category will provide both a summary of the findings and few quotes from interviewees to illuminate the qualitative data. Quotes of eight or more words will include the interviewee's assigned number. If interviewees' pronouns are used, they are aligned with the gender reported in their demographics form.

International Education as an Effective Tool to Address Climate Change
All 17 interviewees noted that they had benefited by participating in international education, which drove them to study international education management and work in the field themselves. Interviewees spoke of the benefits of global partnerships, gaining intercultural skills, improving language skills, and growing as individuals. Some participants had significant overseas experience, while others had only been abroad through sponsored or full scholarship programs, and most acknowledged their sense of privilege in getting to participate in international education. Moreover, they spoke about extending these opportunities more widely available for students worldwide by reducing the costs and other barriers to participation.
Interviewees noted that international student mobility is one solution to climate change as international education can provide students with additional and diverse views, skills, and experiences that allow them to understand climate change and to build skills required to address its impacts. Interviewee 4 summarized it by saying, We desperately need more people who understand what it is to understand other cultures and to learn from people who think and live differently. And to, you know, to have more collaboration across cultures, countries across the world, coming up with solutions to the big problems in our world, including the climate crisis.
As highlighted in this quote, interviewees also noted that relationships and a sense of global citizenship were key to addressing climate change. One interviewee said international educators must be and must work with students to be "responsible global citizens," to "take care of the earth," to appreciate "Indigenous ways of living with our planet," and to understand how "other countries have been facing climate impact"all values which can be cultivated through international exchange.
In addition, many interviewees spoke about their own transformational experiences abroad and what they learned about climate change and sustainable or low-carbon lifestyles. As an example, Interviewee 2 said, "I have very little experience in climate studies and environmental studies. But everything that I've learned about it came from my time living in Japan." She continued that she learned about recycling and from watching the Japanese example of being "very eco friendly and eco conscious. Like they try not to use cars, they try not to use air conditioning, or they always turn off all the lights, anything to reduce their emissions." Another interviewee noted that due to their education, they have a broader sense of how their actions influence the planet, providing this example of a local population: [People have] seen increased health in their, like coral, and even the cleanliness, cleanliness of the water [in the bay]. So I think even if you use improper sunscreen that could have an impact on the water or the health of the coral reefs too. So because there has been [increased awareness], they've definitely seen that area, like the reef in general, have more improved health. [This is] putting the awareness into action. (Interviewee 9) Moreover, interviewees highlighted the benefits of intercultural learning without crossing borders. They noted the possibilities of COIL or other virtual exchanges and working with local organizations, immigrants, and social justice movements allowed students to develop relationships, gain new perspectives, and build intercultural skills without physically crossing borders. As evidence, one interviewee noted that international education could take place locally, asking "Why does it have to take place in another location? And why can't it be done virtually, with maybe partners who are in different parts of the world?" (Interviewee 7).

International Education Contributes to Climate Change
On the other hand, interviewees also saw international education as inextricably linked with producing carbon and waste by travelers consuming more resources. In response to international education and conservation efforts, one interviewee said, "of course, they're in conflict, and how could they ever not be?" (Interviewee 15) and another noted, "the trajectory that international education has been on before COVID is not super compatible [with conservation]" (Interviewee 17). While 13 interviewees stated they were familiar with the relationship between international education and climate change and had given it some consideration, four interviewees noted that they had not given the topic much thought. Yet, at the time of interview, these four individuals agreed that international education led to negative consequences for the planet. Interviewee 10 said that when she was a study abroad student, "It was not something that ever really came up. It wasn't, it just wasn't something that I made a connection between." She continued, "But now it makes perfect sense to me" given the increased focus on environmental preservation in her professional community.
In terms of specific behaviors that harm the environment, most interviewees named long-haul international flights first and as the most prominent factor. They noted that recent efforts to examine and compare carbon output of different flights or to pay carbon offsets were steps forward, yet noted they were unclear on the options or efficacy. In one example, Interviewee 6 said she was confused by the number of ways to offset carbon emissions for herself and her students and said: This brings me back a little to the eco-paralysis that I was mentioning. I myself don't even know, as a professional or personally, where I want to do my own offset. What's the best place to do it? I don't think international education professionals are fully […] understanding the way we do it at our institutions. This is something handled by the sustainability office.
[…] If we were asking students to do it, and you know, we're not? And then [we ask students to] do your own carbon offset and figure out where to get it yourself.
Several other interviewees noted that carbon offset fees would also increase the cost of international education and be prohibitive for some students, and most advocated against making them a required part of overseas education.
In addition to flights, interviewees also noted other activities of wasteful travel by "transporting our bad habits" and larger carbon footprints overseas and this behavior having a negative impact on host communities. Reflecting on international education programs in which they participated, Interviewee 1 asked: Why do I need to go to other parts of the world and insert myself? There's a lot of, you know, colonialist kind of feelings around some of the programming we do and some of the mentality of discovering new places.
Another interviewee stated that many of the students he led in international education programs are "not aware of any of the impact that [they] might do or say, that [they] could ever have on somebody else or on the environment" (Interviewee 17). Interviewees noted specific examples of this "bad behavior" including in-country flights, using private coaches instead of local transit, buying food in single-use plastic, and not understanding local sustainability or recycling programs.

Navigating and Rationalizing Conflicting Perspectives
While a few interviewees had perspectives that fit squarely in one of the two categories above, the majority attempted to balance these two views through various rationales, or altogether ignore the tension at hand. When asked how they managed thinking about the relationship between climate change and international education, Interviewee 14 stated that he hadn't thought of it often, but "Now, it's kind of easy to connect the dots, but I don't think it was ever really discussed seriously. It was never really talked about." When discussing this tension in the interview, participants noted that it is challenging to navigate these two perspectives, leading to inherent conflicts and a range of emotions.
One common perspective was that international education would always have a mobility component. Therefore, the task was not to remove long-haul flights and crossing international borders from international education but to reduce the overall impact of this travel through careful program design and responsible choices. Interviewee 15 stated that international education "mobility is never going to completely go away, I don't believe. I also don't believe that it should completely go away. But [it is important to be] really creative and intentional on how you incorporate the mobility piece." Others noted that seeking international exchange closer to home, that which can be reached by train or car, or augmenting programs with virtual programming, are good models.
Others reconciled international education's negative impact on the planet by noting that environmental cost was justified. This idea was linked to the notion of return on investment, arguing that students' learning-and the transformation that was made possible-was worth the environmental impact. This notion was tied to the idea that international education cultivates a long term "critical awareness of the globe we're living on" (Interviewee 12) and is an investment in their future. To further this point, one interviewee argued that student travelers had a higher return on the investment on the carbon used compared to vacation or business travelers. Relatedly, several international educators did not view their field as chiefly responsible for climate change or taking a leadership role in the problem, suggesting that corporations or policymakers are more responsible. Therefore, they argued, any changes to reduce international education's carbon footprint were minor blips in the large-scale carbon emission industries of fossil fuels and agriculture.
Most interviewees spoke about the experiences of being abroad, either as participants or as leading groups of students, noting the sustainability choices they had made on behalf of their own travels and for student programs. However, several also highlighted the benefits of facilitating international education as an important way to bring international students and scholarsand their diverse viewsto internationalize their campuses. Interviewee 14 suggested investing more in international and diverse students to attend universities as a way to enhance international education without a large increase in carbon, noted: There is a lot of opportunity for collaborations [and] creating new ideas by bringing international students to the campus. It's a good way to learn from other countries or cultures […] so eliminating student mobility [won't] make a good outcome and won't much affect the environment.
Others also talked about the calculations of having more people travelresulting in greater amounts of carboncompared to other forms of internationalization, including virtual exchanges, hosting international students, and local engagement. However, most qualified their responses with concern that making international education more exclusive was not in line with other core values, such as promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity in international education.

Managing Complex Emotions
Given these ways of rationally considering the opposing views of international education as an asset, and a harm, to the environment, 15 of the 17 interviewees also spoke of the negative emotions related to these inconsistencies and tensions. One interviewee spoke of her belief in the transformational power of international education and wanting to promote it for other students, yet realized that the environmental impacts made her feel "ethically icky." Participants expressed concerns over the perceived reality that their profession, which promoted international travel, was in conflict with their personal values to reduce carbon emissions, support environmental justice, and educate students.
Overwhelmingly, interviewees had many questions about how to understand the impact of international education, stating they didn't know where to go for information to answer their questions. This inability to take action or get more information left them feeling "paralyzed," "disillusioned," "frustrated," and "overwhelmed." Interviewee 4 noted these feelings by saying, What should I be doing to change to lessen my personal carbon footprint? You know, it's, it's hard to feel like I have ever had enough information. So I've learned something important about, say, eating less red meat and that's better for the environment. And then, you know, I read some think pieces about how just being vegetarian doesn't mean that you're supporting sustainable practices automatically. And oh my god, there's so much to know! Yeah, I don't ever gonna feel like I have a grasp on this and like what I'm supposed to do. […] So yeah, eco-paralysis speaks to me very deeply.
Moreover, interviewees felt defeated, noting that "it's hard to keep up with everything" in terms of sustainability practices in international education, especially at a time when there are so many other demands on the field. Therefore, interviewees perceived, the absence of action within the field was not a lack of awareness of the problem, or disinterest; in fact, many explained extensive personal engagement in environmentally-responsible activities. Instead, it was simply not knowing where to find reliable evidence and what would be the right course of action to promote both education and the environment.
In addition, many noted a feeling similar to guilt or grief for having benefited from their own international education experiences, calling it transformative yet acknowledging that it was likely due to economic and racial privilege that they had these experiences. Interviewees noted that they feared the harm they had previously caused the planet or worried that they were promoting fewer international education experiences for others, while they firmly believed that more diverse and low-income students should have access to international education. To this point, Interviewee 1 said, "I feel like I had these really powerful, you know, growth experiences as a young person" noting the role of international education. She continues, "So it's really hard to advocate for people not to go do those things, and that's kind of hard to carry both at the same time." Overall, when asked how they explored the ideas of working in international education and also addressing climate change, most interviewees stated that their emotions were negative.

Opportunity to Imagine International Education for the Future
Alongside these rationales and emotions, 13 of the 17 interviewees did not resign themselves to their feelings of being overwhelmed yet identified these complexities as an opportunity to reconsider international education and shape it for the future. This vision for the future was influenced both by climate change concerns and also by social and climate justice values, with the majority of interviewees stating that international educationand the experiences, relationships, skills, and benefits it affordscan and should be accessible to more people.
Overwhelmingly, online activities were most commonly mentioned as ways to increase international partnerships and learning without travel, through programs like COIL, which as Interviewee 15 put it, virtual exchanges have "been around for a long time, but it's now become a lot more popular." Interviewees also suggested new approaches to reduce the amount of travel, travel distance, or length of stay, such as using online programming at the beginning and end of overseas experiences. Seeking new partnerships, and building on existing ones, in the local community for exchanges were also mentioned as ways to enhance intercultural exchange without traveling long distances. Interviewees noted that they, and the field in general, need to think more of creative alternatives to study abroad programsmany of those strategies are being designed or are in pilot stages now. Interviewee 7 stated "going abroad is maybe like the fastest way to learn new perspectives and new mentalities and new ideas and, and, you know, it's really like a rapid change, I think, but it's not the only way." They went on to say that in the future, the default mode for international education should be virtual first, having to justify why plane travel is necessary for student learning.
With more information, guidelines, and examples on how to "green" international education, interviewees agreed that action would be taken, it was just a question of what types and when. As evidence, one interviewee said: [International education is] a field with professionals who are really passionate and want to have a positive impact. And I feel like it would be a field that's really open to learning more about this and trying to make programs more environmentally sustainable. (Interviewee 11) Moreover, Interviewee 10 made the point that it is important to share the environmental knowledge and practices with students and then see what students do over time, since they are "the next generation [and] they're going to end up making more change." Overall, interviewees were keen to make changes towards preserving the environment, yet were unclear on best strategies or plans to reimagine international for the future.

Discussion
When asked how they perceive the relationship between international education and preserving the planet, interviewees reported that these two values both complemented each other and were in conflict. They noted challenges in logically reconciling the relationship between international education and climate change, citing several rationales for why international education should be expanded to more diverse populations despite its contribution to greenhouse gasses. However, this tension of being aware of their field's role in heating the planet spurred mostly negative emotions about feeling stuck, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Interviewees reported they wanted a way forward to promote and support international education while decreasing the field's negative impact on the planet, calling for an opportunity to reimagine the field. Additionally, some interviewees spoke of the lack of organizational and institutional support to act on climate change, recognizing the difficulty of promoting change without system-wide support and planning.
This study aligns with other scholars' contributions on how international education can teach students about global citizenship and their responsibilities to the planet while studying abroad (Wynveen et al., 2012) and learn about sustainable development and lifestyles (Han & Hyun, 2018). At the same time, interviewees recognized points made by Shields (2019) about the contribution of greenhouse gasses by internationally mobile students. Given this, this paper also illuminates this conundrum in international education: that one type of education can both prepare students for the future of a warming planet, while its predominant delivery mechanism of international travel contributes to the problem itself. By examining both sides of this debateand the rationales and emotional reactions thereinthis study tries to tease apart these two realities to contribute to a greater understanding of international education.
Noticeably, by acknowledging that both realities are true, international educators felt confused and overwhelmed. Many of their emotions aligned with what other scholars like El Zoghbi and El Ansari (2014) and Kelly (2017) have noticed in university students who participate in international education: feelings of concern, anxiety, and worry. Much like responsible program design and educating about sustainability and climate change, international education must also include recognition of these emotions in students and staff. This also includes ways to understand and educate people to live with climate change (Verlie, 2019) and managing the related anxiety. Without these approaches, negative feelings could easily dominate instead of innovations and new approaches in the field.
On this note, interviewees also stated a dedication to find meaningful ways to tip the balance so that international education can find solutions to climate changewhat Heifitz calls both technical and adaptive solutionsto reduce its impact on the environment while still promoting sustainability and environmental preservation.
International education is, and should continue to, make better, "greener" choices in existing programs and further develop meaningful alternatives to long-haul plane travel; these efforts include building new and enhancing current local partnerships, COIL, and other virtual programs. As one interviewee suggested, the default for international education could be virtual exchanges and partnershipsand any international travel must be justified. Notably, these resources are not equally possible and practical for students across the world, especially in the context of unequal technology, financial resources, and power relationships, so they are not automatic or easy alternatives.

Implications and Conclusion
This research points out that international education as a field is still in the nascent stages of reconciling its impact on the planet, creating pathways forward to improve, and considering both adaptive and technical approaches in this era of climate change. As scholars, practitioners, and students all put forward new ideas and practices to ethically promote international education on a warming planet, this paper points to a few implications for future research and practice.
In terms of practice, additional work is needed to acknowledge the impact of international education on the planet and on the emotions of those who pursue study abroad and lead these programs. This will include a multitude of technical solutions to mitigating the impact of current programs (often referred to as "greening" efforts) and considering ways to have a positive impact on the hosting environment (often referred to as "regenerative" efforts). This could also include support for additional local partnerships, increase in service-learning and study away programs. New thinking is neededperhaps from those deeply immersed in climate change mitigation strategies and practicefor adaptive solutions to reimagine international education without frequent long-haul flights and high rates of waste. This effort includes designing programs that do not require international travel yet have equivalent learning and social impact, while reducing carbon emissions and typical Global North student exchanges. For example, study away, service-learning, and online co-curricular programs that partner with agencies serving underprivileged populations can encourage students to think globally in local situations. As noted elsewhere, these programs also must be considered within larger institutional strategies, priorities, and policies (Campbell & Nguyen, 2022;Shields, 2019).
Importantly, these programs may also extend opportunities for students worldwide, enhancing inclusion and social justice outcomes of international education. Similarly, for many interviewees, this adaptive work of reimagining the field had benefits of more than just climate change: it included prioritizing environmental practices in line with social justice, climate justice, and human rights. Interviewees noted that these challenges were intermingled and bound together across borders and central to the education needed for the future, with more students experiencing international education.
Future research can bring greater insight into international education efforts on campuses worldwide (not just for wealthy English-speaking universities), in partnership with local communities, and through online learning and virtual exchanges, where possibleincluding comparative studies to better understand learning objectives and sustainability outcomes with and without travel. Similarly, research can help to illuminate ethical and responsible ways forward for the field, including how to best incorporate sustainability into existing programs, augmenting virtual internationalization practices, and exploring new ways of intercultural learning. Finally, additional research can be paired with this study to acknowledge the emotional tax of working in international education on a warming planet, thereby providing additional insights and support for international educators, faculty, and students who are involved in these efforts.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported the Middlebury Institute's Academic Excellence Fund, made possible by an anonymous donor, and the Joseph and Sheila Mark Faculty Development Fund.