Simple, Sustainable Living

:: Workshop at CHI 2012, Austin, TX, USA ::
:: Sunday May 6, 2012 ::

Home | Workshop schedule | Organizers | Accepted papers


Call For Participation

Key dates
Submission deadline: January 27, 2012 *extended*
Acceptance notification: February 10, 2012
Workshop day: Sunday May 6, 2012

The goal of this one-day CHI Sustainability Community workshop is to discuss how to design for simpler lifestyles as part of a more holistic view on sustainability. What roles do technologies play in adding complexity, feeding busyness, and inducing unsustainable lifestyles? What is the responsibility of HCI in understanding these roles and providing simpler, more sustainable ways of living?

We invite researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines interested in issues related to the relationship between technology and the ‘complexification’ of life to discuss the possibilities and tensions in designing IT to support simpler lifestyles. These issues could be examined from theoretical, empirical, and/or speculative or practical design perspectives.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:
  • Anytime, anywhere access with mobile technologies
  • Personal information management and the complication or simplification of everyday life
  • Designing for slowness, reflection, and/or minimalism
  • Technology avoidance
  • Family practices around complexity and simplicity
  • The intersection between human and environmental sustainability
  • Cultural perspectives on complex and simple lifestyles
  • Critical reflections on using IT to support simple living
To participate, please send a 2-4 page position paper by January 27, 2012 using the ACM paper format to mch267 at cornell dot edu, describing:

1. The work you have done on this topic and how is it related to this workshop.
2. One or two key issues, challenges, or opportunities you are interested in discussing in the workshop. Why are they important? How do you envision making progress in addressing them?

Please note that all workshop participants must register for both the workshop and for at least one day of the main conference. See prices here.

Download the entire workshop proposal here.

For more information, please contact Maria Håkansson (mch267 at cornell dot edu).