Waag Society Sustainability Programme

Waag Society SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMME Frank Kresin frank@waag.org

WAAG SOCIETY Mission Create and Deploy Technology for Social Innovation By •  Research into Technology, Behaviour and Culture •  Developing Pilots and Prototypes •  Staging Public Interventions and Presentations •  Facilitate Incubation and Spin-off Products

CREATIVE RESEARCH Collaborations between -  Users -  Designers -  Programmers -  Artists & Scientists Publish or Perish => Demo or Die

SUSTAINABILITY Definition by Brundtland Commission “Sustainable development is development that meets the need for the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission

DEMOCRATIC PARADOX (Almost) anyone agrees that we need radical changes to foster sustainable development, but at the moment only small changes are feasible thanks to the political landscape (thank God :). Therefore we need to: •  Activate and facilitate individuals •  Expose and explain consequences of behaviour •  Accomodate differences •  Help people to discover their own relationship to the environment, as is fit to individual life styles Change itself needs to be sustainable.

KEY QUESTION How do we live in a technological culture towards a sustainable future? and What should a Media Lab do?

SOCIETAL / TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT Computers are getting smaller and ubiquitous Use of WebX.0 tools & communities Renaissance of the Generalist and the Craftsman World-wide cheap infrastructures Open Source, Open Content, Open Hardware RFID, GPS, small and cheap Sensors New materials: smart & bio (self healing, biometering) New ways of energy production Self organisation, self help, agency of groups

WHAT DO WE NEED? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs.svg

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT HEALTH AND SAFETY MEANING AND FUN CONNECTIONS AND BELONGING EFFICIENCY AND MONEY

RESEARCH QUESTIONS How can technology help to make people aware of the consequences of their energy use and pollution? How to use technology to connect people, motivate and facilitate them to act or change behaviour? Can we use technology itself to reduce pollution levels? Can we help people to determine their actual footprint and attain a footprint that they feel is reasonable? What are the drivers of change? How can a small change lead to actual transformation?

PROJECTS RAISE AWARENESS •  Level UP •  PICNIC Green Challenge •  Clean Air Challenge •  ECOMAP PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES •  FABLAB & Green City Lab •  Power Mapping •  Personal Travel Assistant •  Free Geek (Canada)

LEVEL UP HOW DRY IS YOUR NETWORK?

POWER MAPPING DIY MICROGENERATION

QURRENT: GREEN CHALLENGE WINNER OF 2007 http://www.qurrent.com/

FAB LAB Mission Fab labs are a global network of local labs, enabling invention by providing access for individuals to tools for digital fabrication. Access You can use the Fab lab to make almost anything (that doesn't hurt anyone); you must learn to do it yourself, and you must share use of the lab with other uses and users. Education Training in the fab lab is based on doing projects and learning from peers; you're expected to contribute to documentation and instruction.

Green City Lab http://fablab.waag.org/?q=project_logs/1134

Julian Priest lighting his ASCI CAKE in BANFF, E-waste August 2009

E-WASTE Thanks to Green Citizen http://www.greencitizen.com/

Courtesy of Basel Action Network http://www.ban.org/

Courtesy of Free Geek http://www.freegeek.org/

The CleanAirChallenge helps cities improve their air quality, by involving their inhabitants and local businesses in the process.

GELUIDSNET

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RATIONALE Environmental actions need to be informed Citizen measurements increase sense of control Citizen measurements increase sense of urgency Extra data can enhance existing data sets Data is localized and tailored to individuals Enhancing transparency of data use and re-use Enhancing trust in measurements Introducing local feedback loops Ideal hook-ups for local and regional events

OPEN SOURCE / OPEN DATA The sensor network targets the three parties that can make a change to the local air quality: citizens, businesses and local government. These parties will be able to: •  View the air quality of their city •  View changes in the local air quality •  Use, combine and analyse the raw data •  Integrate data in other websites •  Share best practices and great ideas •  Discuss related issues

OUTCOMES •  Open Source service for integration, sharing and visualising environmental data of any kind, e.g. –  CO2, NOx, Ozon –  Particles and dust –  Sound •  Campaigns and events to involve the public •  Cross-media, on-line and mobile visualisation tools •  Low-budget sensors that can be easily set-up and maintained

ELEMENTS 2 5 1 3 4 Grassroots On-line platform Measurement Network

SENSORS Pigeon Blog by Beatriz da Costa http://www.pigeonblog.mapyourcity.net/

LIFE STYLE Watch, artist impression, FING Handbag by Katharine Moriwaki

ECO-BUDDIES www.waag.org/scottie SCOTTIE – TACIT COMMUNICATION http://www.waag.org/scottie

MOBILE NETWORKS Nokia Eco Sensor

ECOMAP CONCEPT DRAWING - CISCO http://www.connectedurbandevelopment.org/ connected_and_sustainable_ict_infrastructure/eco_map/san_fran_ecomap/

HURDLES •  Existing organisations defending their positions –  Municipalities –  Health Care Organisations –  Commercial interests •  Apparent lack of alternatives for civilians: what to do? •  Measurement problems •  Cost and quality of sensors •  Ownership and maintenance

Partners Geluidsnet / FING / Waag Society / TNO / CISCO / AIM

EXTREMELY SHORT SUMMARY •  Increase awareness and alternatives ways of conduct •  Tap into personal motivations and the rules of engagement •  Create platforms, not one-offs •  No need to wait •  Try to team up with others to implement successful pilots

E-mail: frank@waag.org CineGrid Workshop Frank Kresin

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Waag Society Sustainability Programme

by Frank Kresin

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