Sustainable consumption: towards action and impact. : International scientific conference November 6th-8th 2011, Hamburg - European Green Capital 2011, Germany: abstract volume

This volume contains the abstracts of all oral and poster presentations of the international scientific conference „Sustainable Consumption – Towards Action and Impact“ held in Hamburg (Germany) on November 6th-8th 2011. This unique conference aims to promote a comprehensive academic discourse on issues concerning sustainable consumption and brings together scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines. In modern societies, private consumption is a multifaceted and ambivalent phenomenon: it is a ubiquitous social practice and an economic driving force, yet at the same time, its consequences are in conflict with important social and environmental sustainability goals. Finding paths towards “sustainable consumption” has therefore become a major political issue. In order to properly understand the challenge of “sustainable consumption”, identify unsustainable patterns of consumption and bring forward the necessary innovations, a collaborative effort of researchers from different disciplines is needed

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

Usability and Design of Personal Wearable and Portable Devices for Thermal Comfort

Conference paperPersonal comfort is important in the design of objects and environments. However, as comfort is a subjective experience, it is a very difficult aspect to design for. This paper presents an interrogation into the design for human thermal comfort, in particular the design of personal devices for use in shared work environments. The findings of two user studies are presented, in which wearable and portable, off-the-shelf personal heating and cooling devices were deployed in the field to explore the interaction with and use of these devices in everyday settings with the aim to uncover key aspects and requirements for the design of such devices. We found that functionality and affordances, i.e. the design for versatility, appropriation and mobility, as well as control, availability, effectiveness and efficiency of use were most important. Furthermore, individual preferences, foremost the preference for on-body versus off-body heating and cooling, and aspects related to wearable design of the devices, such as aesthetics, materiality, comfort of wear, mobility and unobtrusiveness, also need to be taken into account.This research was supported by the Media & Arts Technology Programme at the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/G03723X/1)

Social Sustainability: A design research approach to sustainable development

While issues such as clean production and energy efficiency are still central in sustainable development discourse, attention is increasingly on patterns of consumption at multiple levels in society. This opens new opportunities and responsibilities for design research, as we shift from a focus on product lifecycles to people’s lifestyles. It also requires further understanding the ‘social sustainability’ aspects of the environment and development, including the complexity of problematics characterized by uncertainties, contradictions and controversies. In response, we propose a programmatic approach, in which a tentative assemblage of theoretical and experimental strategies frame a common ground for a collaborative and practice-led inquiry. We present a design research program based on two propositions: socio-cultural practices are the basic unit for design, and; transitions, and transition management, are the basic points of design intervention. Rather than affirming the status quo or the prevailing discourse, we argue for design research as a ‘critical practice’, in which cultural diversity, non-humans and multiple futures are considered

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

Playing outside the box:transformative works and computer games as participatory culture

The main purpose of this study is to examine the creative fan community as a paradigm of participatory culture, from a computer games perspective. A review of relevant literature is used to examine transformative works and the related subculture in its many diverse forms. The produced discussion seeks to respond to a number of questions, such as: What exactly constitutes transformative work, what is the legal status of such work, and how can it be improved? To what extent do transformative works constitute a part of the play experience and enjoyment of games? Does participation in associated creative activities influence, shape or redefine the aforementioned experience? Can transformative works be appreciated as valuable artistic pieces on their own merits, outside the communities in which they are produced? Does the existence of the transformative work benefit the wider gaming culture from an artistic, financial or other point of view

An aesthetics of touch: investigating the language of design relating to form

How well can designers communicate qualities of touch? This paper presents evidence that they have some capability to do so, much of which appears to have been learned, but at present make limited use of such language. Interviews with graduate designer-makers suggest that they are aware of and value the importance of touch and materiality in their work, but lack a vocabulary to fully relate to their detailed explanations of other aspects such as their intent or selection of materials. We believe that more attention should be paid to the verbal dialogue that happens in the design process, particularly as other researchers show that even making-based learning also has a strong verbal element to it. However, verbal language alone does not appear to be adequate for a comprehensive language of touch. Graduate designers-makers’ descriptive practices combined non-verbal manipulation within verbal accounts. We thus argue that haptic vocabularies do not simply describe material qualities, but rather are situated competences that physically demonstrate the presence of haptic qualities. Such competencies are more important than groups of verbal vocabularies in isolation. Design support for developing and extending haptic competences must take this wide range of considerations into account to comprehensively improve designers’ capabilities

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING ‘SMART’?

In this paper, we argue that the electrification of cars is not simply a move from fossil fuel to electric energy. It also integrates the car into the household energy system in ways that challenge assumptions that car charging is made ‘smart’ primarily through AI-powered app-based digital services that help the user to make energy-, and cost-efficient decisions in terms of when to charge the car. As we will demonstrate in this paper, our design ethnographic study of how nine households learn to charge their cars according to their family routines and values shows how smart charging is not merely due to specific technological features. Instead, charging habits evolve through anticipatory experiences of what smart technologies come to mean to family members through their use. Based on our research, we recommend a smart charging service design that affords multi-operation ability, co-learning ability and social accessibility