Land, Water and Sun: Tuning into Socio-Ecological Relations in Radio Design

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingsChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Recent HCI scholarship has critiqued anthropocentrism in design as contributing to the ecological crisis. The current paper contributes theoretically and empirically to this area, adopting the lens of Socio-Ecological Relations, inspired by Environmental History and STS. We argue that a socio-ecological lens can offer practical tools to HCI and Interaction Design to overcome the separation between humanity and nature-as-a-resource. For this reason, our unit of analysis is humanity-in-nature and nature-in-humanity, and we show how this double internality becomes visible using an historical and geographical approach in the design process. Methodologically, using Situational Analysis, we analyse an Action Research project that introduced a digital platform for community radio in rural contexts. We find that Socio-Ecological Relations, performed in specific places, shape the design process and are themselves transformed by becoming part of it. We provide a set of sensitivities for operationalizing this approach for design researchers.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDIS 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference
Subtitle of host publicationNowhere and Everywhere
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages1954-1969
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781450384766
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jun 2021
Event2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference: Nowhere and Everywhere, DIS 2021 - Virtual, Online, United States
Duration: 28 Jun 20212 Jul 2021

Publication series

NameDIS 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference: Nowhere and Everywhere

Conference

Conference2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference: Nowhere and Everywhere, DIS 2021
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityVirtual, Online
Period28/06/212/07/21

Keywords

  • Anthropocene
  • Design
  • Geography
  • History
  • Nature
  • Sustainability

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