CET Lunch: Wrestling with data - investigating the role of data in supporting sustainable transitions

To make sense of the climate crisis, we collect a wealth of environmental data. A typical belief is that when we have this data, and present it (verbally/visually) to people, change will happen. However, facts seem to not easily move us, leading to little practical action in terms of curbing global greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing on research arguing for (re)creating relational engagements with environmental data and the world more generally, I will in this talk discuss the limited, but important role of data in supporting a transition to sustainable futures. I will do so through a presentation of a series of design experiments at the workplace using data physicalization and futures methodology to foster a movement from knowledge to insight and action on the climate crisis. In particular, I will show how social interactions with physical data and the use of counterfactual scenarios amongst a broad range of stakeholders can support processes of collectively questioning and challenging unsustainable practices such as academic flying. 

Seeing many synergies between CET and the KTH Sustainable Futures Lab, I will also present the research group and recent projects such as the development of a carbon budget at KTH Royal Institute of Technology using above mentioned methodology.

About the speaker

Aksel Biørn-Hansen is a designer and researcher who have recently moved back to his hometown of Bergen. He holds a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and has a background in environmental physcology, sustainability and design. In his research, Aksel investigates how to hospice unsustainable practices and support the birth of more sustainable futures through paticipatory design and futures methdology. A particular topic of interest is academic flying and the exploration of alternative publishing formats to unsettle traditional academic practices and expression.