Speculations in anthropology
and tech for an uncertain future
Roelof Pieters

roelof@sunshinelab.com
@graphific 

roelofpieters
@graphific 

roelofpieters
Anthropology
Computer Science 

AI

“hacking"
Mixed all the way &

[Product] Design
580 GtCO2
420 GtCO2
330* GtCO2
280* GtCO2
180* GtCO2
130* GtCO2
Data source: IPCC SR15

*: own linear projections from SR15
Remaining carbon budgets from 2018
for chance of avoiding 1.5C warming.
DOOM
HOPE
SO THERE'S
BUT THERE’S ALSO
Drawdown (“solutions")
Drinking water from sun & air graphene/perovskite solar cells

(sun & rain) (flexible/transparent) 
Multi spectral cells
Salt storage Kinetic storage
Redox flow batteries
Printed batteries
New Zealand
India
Switzerland
Ireland
Belgium United States Germany Canada
France United Kingdom
Colombia
EU
Pakistan
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
FUTURE

PROJECTIONS
to go!
6 MORE
to go!
5 MORE
1
billion
people without
access to
electricity
globally1
740
million
est. people
expected to gain
access to
electricity from
off-grid solar by
20225
~2+
billion
people without
access to
reliable
electricity
globally7
urces: 1 World Energy Outlook (IEA, 2018); 2 The Transformations of Power (Wood Mackenzie, 2017); 3 Energy Access Outlook (IEA, 2017); 4 Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape (SE4ALL, 2018); 5 O
hting Global, 2018); 6 Scaling Up Energy Access through Cross-sector Partnerships (PWC, 2013); 7Energy Poverty Factbook (AT Kearney, 2018)
400
million
people gained
access to
electricity from
off-grid solar
solutions from
2010-20173
$37
billion
USD est. annual
spend by low-
income
customers on
basic energy
needs globally6
pe
est.
new
conne
off-gr
grid so
2
$624
billion
USD est. total
capital outlay
required to
reach universal
energy access
by 20304
unequal access
expensive access
unreliable access
Results of survey of OGS companies on highest potential productive use appliances 

(Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2018, January 2018, 

International Finance Corporation, GOGLA, Lighting Global )

Results of survey of OGS companies on highest potential productive use appliances 

(Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2018, January 2018, 

International Finance Corporation, GOGLA, Lighting Global )

“market opportunities”
“investment opportunities”
“new markets”
“value stacking added services”
Results of survey of OGS companies on highest potential productive use appliances 

(Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2018, January 2018, 

International Finance Corporation, GOGLA, Lighting Global )

Results of survey of OGS companies on highest potential productive use appliances 

(Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2018, January 2018, 

International Finance Corporation, GOGLA, Lighting Global )

If no one will…
DIY!
ref: IDEO
no more
SUSTAINABLE
https://www.designlife-cycle.com/apple-earpods
REAL
designing for?
SUSTAINABILITY
OPEN?
is it
#1
“Mesh Potato”, rowetel.com
https://wiki.opensourceecology.de
https://wiki.opensourceecology.de
https://openenergymonitor.org
https://www.opensourceecology.org/
https://www.sci-hub.tw
EASY?
can we make it
#2
to start?
SIMPLE?
can we keep it
#3
Ernst Friedrich Schumacher 1973
Joshua Pearce 2011
TOGETHER?
can we make it
#4
(images: courtesy of Waag FabLab)
THOUGHTFUL?
can we be
#5
WHOLE
EARTH
designing for the
“Life-centric”
Life Centred Design: contributing to all living systems in a
way that not only “does no harm” but actively helps them
survive and thrive.

— Cassie Robinson, Beyond human-centred design, to?

More-than-human centred Design: “growing in a new way
where we add health and vitality to the places that we all
share.”

— John Thackara, Good Growth
Life I claim that this quality is not merely the
basis for a distinction between beautiful things
and ugly things. It is something which is
detectable as a subtle distinction, in every
corner of the world, as we walk about, in the
most ordinary places, during the most ordinary
events. It is a quality which changes from place
to place and from moment to moment, and
which marks, in varying degrees, every
moment, every event, every point in space.



— Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order
vol I: The Phenomenon of Life
fairphone.com
https://www.fairphone.com/en/impact/source-map-transparency/
MODULAR?
Is it
#6
Cardboard CNC, James Coleman, Nadya Peek
, https://archive.monograph.io/james/m-mtm,
Universal Construction Kit, 2012, Golan Levin and Shawn Sims

http://flong.com/projects/free-universal-construction-kit/
LOCALLY?
can we produce it
#7
(left image: courtesy of OpenDesk)
Open Fabrication
(left image: courtesy of OpenDesk)
Open Fabrication
Fablab Iceland Fablab Aalto
Fablab Kenya Fablab India
REUSE
Can we
#8
it?
RepRapable Recyclebot,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067218300208
Solar powered 3d printer

https://www.academia.edu/20326034/

High-Efficiency_Solar-Powered_3-D_Printers_for_Sustainable_Development
AFFORDABLE?
Is it
#9
http://opensourcelowtech.org/wind_turbine.html
$300 $30 $2-5
SUSTAINABILITY
COST
EMPOWER
Does it
#10
the community?
https://freifunk.net/
https://www.muv2020.eu/
https://waag.org/en/project/making-sense
AI?
does it do
(#11)
No it doesn’t…
“There are no computer models, no satellites,
no radars, no hockey stick graphs that can
help us chart our way toward the kind of
civilisations we urgently need to build.
We have to do that work together.”


 — @EricHolthaus
A manifesto for open making
1. open (“free")
2. easy to start (low barriers)
3. simple (low-tech!)
4. together / collective / playful
5. thoughtful / life-centric
6. modular / remixable
7. locally producible
8. reusable / circular / recyclable / sustainable
9. affordable / appropriate
10.community oriented empowerment
Design should be:
SOME
EXPERIMENTS
A manifesto for open making
1. open
2. easy to start
3. simple / “low tech"
4. together
5. thoughtful / “life-full”
6. modular & remixable
7. locally producible
8. reusable and recyclable
9. affordable & appropriate
10.community & empowerment
Design should be:
√
√
?
√
√
√
√
?
?
?
√√
√
√
GreenSolutions
• Open Source
• Collaborative
• Decentralised Design
• Local Manufacturing
A Public Repository and Community

For Open Sustainable Design
http://greensolutions.cc 

Sign up for the mailing list for updates / help out!
Roelof Pieters

roelof@sunshinelab.com
When: Tomorrow 4 Oct
Time: 9:00-15:00*

Where: TBD

Who: anyone who wants 

to come, meet, talk, 

mingle
unconference = participant-driven meetings, sessions, workshops: creates
space for peer-to-peer learning, collaboration and creativity.
A Get-together for

Climate Unconference
Sign up at greensolutions.cc and we’ll send you
the address this evening :)
Tnx for listening!

Speculations in anthropology and tech for an uncertain future