Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions

Lenneke Kuijer; Kirsikka Kaipainen; Nicola J. Bidwell; Markus Fiedler; Adrian Friday; Marc Hassenzahl; Carine Lallemand; Matthias Laschke; Dan Lockton; Thomas Olsson; Alexander Raake; Kaisa Väänänen; Eunice Sari; Gözel Shakeri

doi:10.1145/3706599.3716223

Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions

Lenneke Kuijer
, Kirsikka Kaipainen
, Nicola J. Bidwell
, Markus Fiedler
, Adrian Friday
, Marc Hassenzahl
, Carine Lallemand
, Matthias Laschke
, Dan Lockton
, Thomas Olsson
, Alexander Raake
, Kaisa Väänänen
, Eunice Sari
, Gözel Shakeri

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

218 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper reflects on the role of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research and practice both in addressing and exacerbating current environmental crises. Observing a discrepancy between the urgency of these crises and the attention they receive in HCI, we generated and analysed twelve fictional narratives that speculate about what it could mean if HCI prioritized environmental sustainability. This exercise helped us identify possible strategies towards this aim through addressing HCI practices such as conferencing, teaching and research. These strategies include building on existing meso-level initiatives in the community, reorienting reviewing processes, practising prefiguration, being mindful of diverse perspectives, and adding a touch of humour. Publishing our set of narratives in the form of a book of fairy tales alongside this paper is one step in that direction. We hope the book and the paper contribute to raising and nuancing the topic of (un)sustainability in HCI.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI EA '25
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Naomi Yamashita, Vanessa Evers, Koji Yatani, Xianghua (Sharon) Ding
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400713958
ISBN (Print)	979-8-4007-1395-8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3716223
Publication status	Published - 25 Apr 2025
Event	2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025 - Yokohama, Japan Duration: 26 Apr 2025 → 1 May 2025 https://chi2025.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025
Abbreviated title	CHI 2025
Country/Territory	Japan
City	Yokohama
Period	26/04/25 → 1/05/25
Internet address	https://chi2025.acm.org/

Funding

We would like to extend our gratitude to the organisers of Dagstuhl Perspectives workshop 23092 and Schloss Dagstuhl for bringing us together, the other Dagstuhl participants for inspiring the initiation of this work; in particularly Katta Spiel and Daniel Pargman for participating in earlier iterations. We also want to warmly thank Elsa van Dam for the design and production of the book of fairy tales and Daisy O’Neill for connecting us to Elsa. Finally, this paper would not have materialised without financial support from the Dutch Research Council under grant number VENI17343.

Funders	Funder number
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	VENI17343

Keywords

Environmental sustainability
Fiction writing
Research practices
Unsustainability

Access to Document

10.1145/3706599.3716223

pdfFinal published version, 2.8 MBLicence: TAVERNE

Cite this

Kuijer, L., Kaipainen, K., Bidwell, N. J., Fiedler, M., Friday, A., Hassenzahl, M., Lallemand, C., Laschke, M., Lockton, D., Olsson, T., Raake, A., Väänänen, K., Sari, E., & Shakeri, G. (2025). Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions. In N. Yamashita, V. Evers, K. Yatani, & X. Ding (Eds.), CHI EA '25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 641 Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3716223

Kuijer, Lenneke ; Kaipainen, Kirsikka ; Bidwell, Nicola J. et al. / Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability : Reflections on a Collection of Fictions. CHI EA '25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Naomi Yamashita ; Vanessa Evers ; Koji Yatani ; Xianghua (Sharon) Ding. New York : Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., 2025.

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abstract = "This paper reflects on the role of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research and practice both in addressing and exacerbating current environmental crises. Observing a discrepancy between the urgency of these crises and the attention they receive in HCI, we generated and analysed twelve fictional narratives that speculate about what it could mean if HCI prioritized environmental sustainability. This exercise helped us identify possible strategies towards this aim through addressing HCI practices such as conferencing, teaching and research. These strategies include building on existing meso-level initiatives in the community, reorienting reviewing processes, practising prefiguration, being mindful of diverse perspectives, and adding a touch of humour. Publishing our set of narratives in the form of a book of fairy tales alongside this paper is one step in that direction. We hope the book and the paper contribute to raising and nuancing the topic of (un)sustainability in HCI.",

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author = "Lenneke Kuijer and Kirsikka Kaipainen and Bidwell, \{Nicola J.\} and Markus Fiedler and Adrian Friday and Marc Hassenzahl and Carine Lallemand and Matthias Laschke and Dan Lockton and Thomas Olsson and Alexander Raake and Kaisa V{\"a}{\"a}n{\"a}nen and Eunice Sari and G{\"o}zel Shakeri",

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publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.",

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note = "2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025, CHI 2025 ; Conference date: 26-04-2025 Through 01-05-2025",

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Kuijer, L, Kaipainen, K, Bidwell, NJ, Fiedler, M, Friday, A, Hassenzahl, M, Lallemand, C, Laschke, M, Lockton, D, Olsson, T, Raake, A, Väänänen, K, Sari, E & Shakeri, G 2025, Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions. in N Yamashita, V Evers, K Yatani & X Ding (eds), CHI EA '25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 641, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., New York, 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025, Yokohama, Japan, 26/04/25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3716223

Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions. / Kuijer, Lenneke; Kaipainen, Kirsikka; Bidwell, Nicola J. et al.
CHI EA '25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Naomi Yamashita; Vanessa Evers; Koji Yatani; Xianghua (Sharon) Ding. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., 2025. 641.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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AU - Kuijer, Lenneke

AU - Kaipainen, Kirsikka

AU - Bidwell, Nicola J.

AU - Fiedler, Markus

AU - Friday, Adrian

AU - Hassenzahl, Marc

AU - Lallemand, Carine

AU - Laschke, Matthias

AU - Lockton, Dan

AU - Olsson, Thomas

AU - Raake, Alexander

AU - Väänänen, Kaisa

AU - Sari, Eunice

AU - Shakeri, Gözel

PY - 2025/4/25

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N2 - This paper reflects on the role of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research and practice both in addressing and exacerbating current environmental crises. Observing a discrepancy between the urgency of these crises and the attention they receive in HCI, we generated and analysed twelve fictional narratives that speculate about what it could mean if HCI prioritized environmental sustainability. This exercise helped us identify possible strategies towards this aim through addressing HCI practices such as conferencing, teaching and research. These strategies include building on existing meso-level initiatives in the community, reorienting reviewing processes, practising prefiguration, being mindful of diverse perspectives, and adding a touch of humour. Publishing our set of narratives in the form of a book of fairy tales alongside this paper is one step in that direction. We hope the book and the paper contribute to raising and nuancing the topic of (un)sustainability in HCI.

AB - This paper reflects on the role of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research and practice both in addressing and exacerbating current environmental crises. Observing a discrepancy between the urgency of these crises and the attention they receive in HCI, we generated and analysed twelve fictional narratives that speculate about what it could mean if HCI prioritized environmental sustainability. This exercise helped us identify possible strategies towards this aim through addressing HCI practices such as conferencing, teaching and research. These strategies include building on existing meso-level initiatives in the community, reorienting reviewing processes, practising prefiguration, being mindful of diverse perspectives, and adding a touch of humour. Publishing our set of narratives in the form of a book of fairy tales alongside this paper is one step in that direction. We hope the book and the paper contribute to raising and nuancing the topic of (un)sustainability in HCI.

KW - Environmental sustainability

KW - Fiction writing

KW - Research practices

KW - Unsustainability

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005731744

U2 - 10.1145/3706599.3716223

DO - 10.1145/3706599.3716223

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 979-8-4007-1395-8

BT - CHI EA '25

A2 - Yamashita, Naomi

A2 - Evers, Vanessa

A2 - Yatani, Koji

A2 - Ding, Xianghua (Sharon)

PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.

CY - New York

Y2 - 26 April 2025 through 1 May 2025

ER -

Kuijer L, Kaipainen K, Bidwell NJ, Fiedler M, Friday A, Hassenzahl M et al. Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions. In Yamashita N, Evers V, Yatani K, Ding X, editors, CHI EA '25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. 2025. 641 doi: 10.1145/3706599.3716223

Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions

Abstract

Conference

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

VENI - Anticipating the role of smart technologies in the dynamics of everyday life

Cite this

Once Upon a Time When HCI Prioritised Environmental Sustainability: Reflections on a Collection of Fictions

Abstract

Conference

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

VENI - Anticipating the role of smart technologies in the dynamics of everyday life

Cite this