| 1. |
- Björner Brauer, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Re-configuring practices in times of energy crisis : A case study of Swedish households
- 2024
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In: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 114, s. 103578-103578
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the autumn, winter and early spring of 2022/2023, Europe faced rapidly increasing energy prices and threats of power cuts. The situation was consequently labelled an “energy crisis”, and one sector that was severely affected was households. In response to the situation, European households made efforts to reduce and time-shift their energy use to mitigate the effects of the crisis. Considering that domestic energy practices are often difficult to change, particularly in the long term, we find this effect of the energy crisis on households important to understand more deeply. In this paper, we use social practice theory to investigate how Swedish households responded to the crisis and what changes they made in terms of re-configurations of their practices. The aim was to contribute knowledge on how households adapt to a changing energy system with volatile prices, limitations in electric power, and threats of energy crisis. We conducted two rounds of semi-structured interviews with 9 households in single-family houses in the middle and south of Sweden during and after the crisis, in total 18 interviews, to examine what re-configurations of practices emerged and which persisted over time. The results show that significant changes were apparent in primarily the practice domains of heating and hygiene. While some of these changes were temporary, other re-configurations of energy practices persisted beyond the months of crisis and high prices, indicating that meanings of frugality and sufficiency were strengthened. Our results demonstrate that households were reminded of certain electricity use that is otherwise typically backgrounded in homes and that the energy crisis stimulated re-configuration and re-examination of norms as well as reflection on electricity use in general. Finally, we discuss the effects of the energy crisis on household practices in comparison with other crises and disruptions, and point to the importance of communicating clearly with households about the societal effects of their efforts, in order to manage the legacy of this crisis for similar future crisis situations.
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| 2. |
- Brauer, Hanna Björner, et al.
(author)
-
Re-configuring practices in times of energy crisis – A case study of Swedish households
- 2024
-
In: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 114
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the autumn, winter and early spring of 2022/2023, Europe faced rapidly increasing energy prices and threats of power cuts. The situation was consequently labelled an “energy crisis”, and one sector that was severely affected was households. In response to the situation, European households made efforts to reduce and time-shift their energy use to mitigate the effects of the crisis. Considering that domestic energy practices are often difficult to change, particularly in the long term, we find this effect of the energy crisis on households important to understand more deeply. In this paper, we use social practice theory to investigate how Swedish households responded to the crisis and what changes they made in terms of re-configurations of their practices. The aim was to contribute knowledge on how households adapt to a changing energy system with volatile prices, limitations in electric power, and threats of energy crisis. We conducted two rounds of semi-structured interviews with 9 households in single-family houses in the middle and south of Sweden during and after the crisis, in total 18 interviews, to examine what re-configurations of practices emerged and which persisted over time. The results show that significant changes were apparent in primarily the practice domains of heating and hygiene. While some of these changes were temporary, other re-configurations of energy practices persisted beyond the months of crisis and high prices, indicating that meanings of frugality and sufficiency were strengthened. Our results demonstrate that households were reminded of certain electricity use that is otherwise typically backgrounded in homes and that the energy crisis stimulated re-configuration and re-examination of norms as well as reflection on electricity use in general. Finally, we discuss the effects of the energy crisis on household practices in comparison with other crises and disruptions, and point to the importance of communicating clearly with households about the societal effects of their efforts, in order to manage the legacy of this crisis for similar future crisis situations.
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| 3. |
- Hasselqvist, Hanna, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Household energy resilience: Shifting perspectives to reveal opportunities for renewable energy futures in affluent contexts
- 2022
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In: Energy Research and Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 88
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Energy resilience is an important focus for energy policy and research, since the energy system is increasingly facing challenges such as power shortages, e.g. due to increased renewable energy production, and risks of power outages caused by extreme weathers. Typically, energy resilience in these contexts focuses on infrastructure and securing supply of electricity despite disturbances. This paper contributes a complementary perspective on resilience, which takes households as a starting point for investigating resilience. Building on understandings of resilience from several disciplines, we suggest a definition of household energy resilience that can be used to explore how households can ensure a good life in a future with variable availability of electricity. Furthermore, we draw on current ideas of future domestic energy use in energy affluent contexts (backup energy sources, energy efficiency, flexibility, and energy sufficiency) to create a framework for exploring household energy resilience. We find a potential for diversity within and between the different ideas, that is not always present in mainstream visions of future energy use. With the perspective of household energy resilience, we wish to challenge the perception of electricity demand as non-negotiable and to reveal opportunities for supporting households in becoming more resilient in an uncertain future.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Elina, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Sustainable IT Business in the Making : An exploratory case study
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability, Lappeenranta, Finland, June 10-14, 2019..
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Businesses have historically had a negative impact on the environment by contributing to pollution, the increase of greenhouse emissions, neglection of responsible waste disposal, and deforestation among other things. In this paper we present an exploratory case study of an IT consultancy firm and their perspective and work with sustainable development. As a consultancy firm, the company does not provideservices directly to end users, but rather help clients in their business efforts. The aim with this project has been to explore how sustainability concerns can be integrated into the work processes of an IT consultancy firm, exploring both opportunities and challenges.
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| 5. |
- Eriksson, Elina, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Systems Thinking Exercises in Computing Education: : Broadening the Scope of ICT and Sustainability
- 2020
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In: ICT4S2020: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ; , s. 170-176
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Integrating sustainability in computing education entails broadening the scope of the education, but how can that be done while maintaining student engagement? Climate change and species extinction can appear far removed from data structures and algorithms to say the least. In our ongoing work of integrating sustainability in our Media Technology programme, we have addressed this gap by introducing systems thinking games and activities to broaden the scope, as well as by situating the issues addressed in the course in relation to their future profession. In this paper, we present our experiences of introducing and playing systems thinking games, how the systems thinking exercise sessions were conducted, outcomes of the sessions and finally some lessons learnt. Furthermore, we present and analyse changes we did to the exercises and that led to a richer material for discussions in the classroom.
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| 6. |
- Hasselqvist, Hanna, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Challenging the Car Norm : Opportunitites for ICT to Support Sustainable Transportation Practices
- 2016
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In: CHI '16 Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. - New York, NY, USA : ACM Digital Library. - 9781450333627 ; , s. 1300-1311
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of practices as a unit of analysis has been suggested in order to scale up efforts within sustainable HCI and to shift the focus from changing individual behaviours to supporting transitions at a societal level. In this paper, we take a practice approach to the case of sustainable transportation, and more specifically to car-free transportation. Car use is intertwined in many practices and managing life without a car is difficult, particularly for people in contexts where owning at least one car per family is the norm. We studied three families in Stockholm who replaced their cars with different combinations of light electric vehicles during one year. From the families' experiences, we identified a number of opportunities for designers of interactive technologies to support environmental pioneers in the particular case of car-free living, as well as to support transitions towards sustainable practices in general.
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| 7. |
- Hasselqvist, Hanna, 1985-, et al.
(author)
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Designing for Diverse Stakeholder Engagement in Resource-Intensive Practices
- 2018
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In: Proceedings of the 10th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. - New York, NY, USA : ACM. - 9781450364379
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite many contributions to Sustainable HCI stressing the importance of “moving beyond the individual”, a majority of HCI work is still targeted mainly at consumers or resource users. However, many stakeholders influence resource use and including such stakeholders in design work can open up new design opportunities for supporting sustainable practices. In this paper, we present results from a longitudinal study of practices related to energy improvement work in housing cooperatives. During the study, we discovered new opportunities for interactive technologies to support this work when we involved various stakeholders other than housing cooperatives. In addition, we discuss more general implications for design aiming to support diverse stakeholder engagement in practices related to resource use: which stakeholders and practices to include, temporal aspects of engagement, and opportunities for supporting shared responsibility for resource use.
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| 8. |
- Hasselqvist, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Exploring Renewable Energy Futures through Household Energy Resilience
- 2022
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In: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery. - 9781450391573
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A transition to renewable energy increases the risks of disruptions when electricity supply does not meet demand. HCI has explored how digital technologies can mitigate such problems in households through support for reducing or shifting electricity use. However, faster transitions may be possible if some disturbances can be acceptable and households are supported in adapting to them. In this paper, we present a study of 21 Swedish households and their experiences of and ideas on how to manage disruptions in electricity supply. We call this perspective household energy resilience and identify three strategies for resilience: (1) response diversity, i.e., diversity in ways of carrying out normally electricity-dependent practices, (2) creating opportunities to develop resilience, and (3) building community energy resilience. Furthermore, we suggest how HCI can support these strategies, both by providing tools to increase resilience and by carefully designing technology and services to be more resilient in themselves. © 2022 Owner/Author.
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| 9. |
- Hesselgren, Mia, 1965-, et al.
(author)
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A Car-free Year : Providing vehicles for change
- 2015
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In: Design Ecologies. - : Nordes.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper describes an interventionist design research project called a Car-free Year, where three families substitute their cars for a fleet of light electric vehicles during one year. The aim is to study how this intervention changes the families’ everyday practices, as well as suggest how design can support and sustain such a change on a larger scale. If radically new paradigms are to be shaped, changes are needed both in what is considered normalities and in people’s everyday practices. We argue that design can play an important role in the transition towards more sustainable futures and new normalities.
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| 10. |
- Hesselgren, Mia, 1965-, et al.
(author)
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Design strategies for exploring and bridging : Intersections of everyday life and decisionmaking for sustainability
- 2017
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In: Conference proceedings of the Design Management Academy. - Glasgow. - 9781912294114 ; , s. 189-205
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transitions of unsustainable everyday practices into more sustainable ones require new approaches to explore possible futures and encourage change. Trying new practices and experiencing alternative configurations of sociomaterial assemblages can increase reflexivity as well as assist in exploring potential futures. Design can assist in co-creating possible futures and bridging discussions about the preferred strategies to reach them. If sustainability is defined as an on-going process calling for dialogue, there could be potentials for using practice-based design research, and in particular co-design approaches, at the intersections of these dialogues. By analysing methods for reflexivity and collaboration in two design research projects within sustainable mobility, we here suggest design strategies for prototyping change at an individual level and communicating the experiences of such change to people with power to trigger and direct change. This may be particularly useful for addressing sustainability which both requires dealing with complex problems and extensive collaboration.
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