Edinburgh Napier University

  Lechelt, S, Panneels, I & Helgason, I. 2022, Data-Driven Innovation for Sustainable Creative Practice. in Proceedings of the 35th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference. The 35th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference, Keele, United Kingdom, 11/07/22.

In the face of the climate crisis, there is a need for all sectors and disciplines to work to transform society toward a more sustainable and equitable future. Within HCI this work typically takes the form of investigating how platforms, services and technologies new and old can be designed to deepen people’s understanding about sustainability as well as to support individual or systemic change. A number of domains in HCI, most notably sustainable HCI (DiSalvo et al, 2010; Knowles et al., 2018), persuasive technology (Knowles et al., 2014) and participatory design (e.g., Heitlinger et al., 2018), have contributed to knowledge of how sustainability can be supported both in design (i.e., how technology can be designed to be sustainable) and through design (i.e., how technology can be designed to engender sustainable behaviour) (Mankoff, 2007). However, we argue that HCI is not alone in combining technology, data-driven methods and practices, and deep understandings of people and communities to drive environmental change; the creative industries are another place where these subjects readily fuse together, with many similar aims. To demonstrate this, we showcase a 35-minute film which exhibits eight case studies of research and development projects based in Edinburgh, Scotland, that have been led by and rooted in the creative industries. Through these case studies, the film highlights four themes of how the creative sector has been utilising technology and data to address the climate crisis: 1. Artistic responses to environmental data; 2. Efforts to change patterns of ownership and consumption; 3. Tools to support understanding of carbon footprints; and 4. Platforms for empowering sustainable and circular communities.