The global environmental crises continue to worsen, approaching irreversible thresholds. While much sustainability research focuses on policy, technological solutions and behaviour change interventions, the role of professionals—the people actually doing the work—remains largely unexplored as potential actors in sustainability transitions. This thesis addresses this gap by asking: how can Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) be practiced otherwise at the end of the world as we know it, to enable liveable futures?

Rather than asking what HCI as a field should do, I centre on HCI professionals themselves—researchers, practitioners, designers, educators, students—and our potential for agency in responding to what I term the socio-environmental predicament. This predicament encompasses interconnected environmental and social crises that cannot be "solved" but require thoughtful, situated responses. I have explored this question through first-person research grounded in my own experiences as a PhD student practicing HCI otherwise.

Through six papers, this thesis makes three contributions. First, I demonstrate the value of centring HCI professionals rather than HCI as a field, shifting from abstract calls for change to concrete possibilities for individual agency and responsibility. Second, I provide two practical resources: a framework for surfacing assumptions about sustainability in our work, and an application of the Two Loops model that identifies multiple sites of agency within both dominant and emerging systems. Third, I show what action-oriented second-order transition research can look like in HCI, demonstrating how such research can support transformations towards liveable futures.

My exploration reveals that meaningful responses include: 1) learning from communities that are already living with the knowledge and/or experience of collapse; 2) using and designing speculative methods to support desirable futuring; 3) engaging in action-oriented community-led work; and 4) paying attention to, promoting and hosting emotions and care in your interactions with others, in the face of uncertainty, complexity and loss. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the transition ahead requires us as HCI professionals to engage in critical reflexivity about our assumptions, values, and practices, and to find new ways of using our skills and positions in service of life and the living.

De globala miljökriserna blir alltmer akuta, och närmar sig ett oåterkalleligt tillstånd. Hållbarhetsforskningen i stort fokuserar i huvudsak på lagstiftning, tekniska lösningar och beteendeförändringar. Förhållandevis lite uppmärksamhet har emellertid riktats mot yrkesutövare som potentiella aktörer i hållbarhetsomställningar. Denna avhandling bidrar till att öka kunskapen om deras potential genom att fråga: hur kan människa-datorinteraktion (MDI) praktiseras på andra sätt vid världens slut som vi känner den, för att möjliggöra framtider som vi kan leva i.

I stället för att fråga vad MDI som fält borde göra fokuserar denna avhandling på dem som utövar MDI som yrke–forskare, praktiker, designers, pedagoger, studenter–och vår möjlighet till konkret handling i förhållande till det sociala och miljömässiga predikamentet. Detta predikament består av sammanlänkade miljömässiga och sociala kriser som inte kan ”lösas”, utan kräver välgrundade och situationsspecifika gensvar. Jag har utforskat denna frågeställning genom vad som kallas första-person-metoder, baserat på mina egna erfarenheter som doktorand av att praktisera MDI med ett nytt förhållningssätt.

Genom sex artiklar ger denna sammanläggningsavhandling tre bidrag. För det första visar jag på värdet av att skifta fokus från MDI som fält till yrkesverksamma inom MDI, ett skifte från abstrakta upprop om förändring till konkreta möjligheter för individuell agens och ansvarstagande. För det andra bidrar jag med två praktiska resurser: ett ramverk för att synliggöra antaganden om hållbarhet i vårt arbete, och en tillämpning av Two Loops-modellen som identifierar ett stort handlingsutrymme inom både dominanta och emergenta system. För det tredje visar jag hur handlingsorienterad andra gradens omställningsforskning kan se ut i MDI, och hur sådan forskning kan stödja transformationer mot levande framtider.

Min forskning visar att meningsfulla sätt att svara an på predikamentet innefattar: 1) att lära från människor som redan lever i eller med kunskap om social eller ekologisk kollaps; 2) att använda och utforma spekulativa metoder för att stödja processer som syftar till önskvärda framtider; 3) att engagera sig i handlingsorienterade och behovsdrivna samarbeten med samhället; och 4) att uppmärksamma känslor–både våra egna och andras–i mötet med osäkerhet, komplexitet och förluster. Ytterst gör jag gällande att den omställning vi står inför kräver av oss som är yrkesverksamma inom MDI att vi kritiskt reflekterar över våra antaganden, värderingar och praktiker, och hittar nya vägar att använda våra förmågor och positioner, i tjänst av livet och det levande.

The global environmental crises continue to get worse, fast approaching various irreversible thresholds. While a vast array of approaches to solving sustainability problems are found under the umbrella of Sustainable HCI, their contributions are sometimes hard to compare. In this essay, we describe a set of assumptions that influence what is considered meaningful and important areas of sustainability research, along four dimensions of sustainability: 1) the depth and nature of the sustainability challenges; 2) the role of technological innovation in sustainability; 3) what gets defined as "externalities"to a design or system; and 4) the time perspective used to consider sustainability. We argue that what one assumes within each of these dimensions directly influences what one means by the term "sustainability", which is then reflected in the questions that are asked, the methods chosen, the proposed solutions and the developed systems. By describing these assumptions and some of their commensurate actions, we offer a framework that may enable members of the SHCI community to reflect on and better position their own work and that of others in the field. Our intention is for the framework to lead to better transparency and more constructive conversations about where we might collectively direct our efforts moving forward.

The multiple unfolding crises that threaten life on Earth keep many of us awake at night and leave us at a loss about how to meaningfully respond. Much of humanity's efforts to address the crises are ultimately aimed at upholding the current unsustainable paradigm of infinite growth and exploitation of both natural resources and humans. In this paper, we offer the Two Loops model of change as a framework for understanding the interrelated crises of our times - the meta-crisis - to help us find clues for personal agency and also hope. Notably, Two Loops asks us to face the need for hospicing and grieving what is dying, reorienting computing to work to what comes after and what must be protected and saved. We work through the model's various spaces for agency, i.e. innovating, naming, connecting, nurturing, illuminating in the emergent System; and stewarding, hospicing, composting and transitioning in the dying dominant System. We suggest examples and clues as to where computing and HCI professionals' agency might lie in and between the two Systems in terms of skills, tools, practices and projects. Moving forward, we welcome a deeper, large-scale collaborative mapping of the possible contributions of our profession, to include all the different specialisms of our field in the picture of how we can be of service to liveable futures.

This paper describes a participatory pastcasting workshop designed using action-oriented design research methods in close collaboration with practitioners from Omställningsnätverket (the Swedish Transition Network) as co-researchers. The paper deepens the theoretical understanding of how to implement pastcasting, a novel addition to futures studies methodologies aimed at societal transformation. We outline the process of designing the workshop format and insights from running the workshop in two different locations in Sweden. We propose that exploring complex problems such as climate change as if they have already been solved in an alternative, more desirable present and then imagining what we did to address them in the recent past is liberating and generative of ideas for action. We argue that this methodology is a powerful addition to other futuring techniques as it concretises urgently needed societal transformations and brings them closer to people and their communities.

Fossil fuels contribute 86% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change. These emissions must decline rapidly every year to reach Net Zero by 2050 in order to stay within internationally agreed limits for climate change. The oil and gas industry makes extensive use of information and communication technology (ICT) to run their business of supplying these fuels. In this paper, we investigate the role of ICT in the oil and gas industry, and explore how ICT professionals might reason about their involvement in this deeply unsustainable sector. Through a scoping review, we find that ICT is an essential enabler of the fossil fuel sector with ICT budgets in USD billions and tens of thousands of ICT staff. We map out case studies of collective action against unethical corporate practices and survey pragmatic and ethical bases for deciding whether to leave or stay in the oil and gas industry. Using reports from the activity of ICT professionals, we identify patterns for action. The results show that there are important gaps in the literature on the role of ICT in the oil and gas industry. To counter this, we propose a research agenda to better understand the extent to which ICT enables this damaging industry ("Tech4Bad") and how ICT professionals think about their role within it.

The widespread awareness and the sense of urgency and helplessness regarding the ongoing sustainability crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss etc.) can evoke feelings of grief, sorrow, despair and anxiety. Those emotions are seldom discussed in computing or in computing education. They can have detrimental effects on the well-being of students and others, and also lead to inaction. But concern can on the other hand also be a catalyst for learning. In this paper, we present results and reflections from a research and development project in our introductory course to sustainability and ICT focusing on emotions in sustainability education. We focus on “eco-anxiety” and ask: 1) How is eco-anxiety communicated by students and teachers?, 2) In what ways do students receive support to deal with eco-anxiety? and 3) What could be done to better address eco-anxiety in computing education? We here present an analysis of how we have responded to the phenomenon of eco-anxiety, what activities have been added to the course and an evaluation of these interventions. The results are based on joint reflections that have been guided by literature, a small-scale ethnographic study as well as a course evaluation. The paper will end with recommendations for other ICT4S educators on how they can start addressing eco-anxiety in their education.

As various global crises increasing (environmental, poverty, population aging, wellbeing), we might be facing a future that is close to some apocalyptic visions. What role can design and HCI practitioners play in the far away future and what can we learn from that experience for today is something we need to explore. In this workshop, we want to create a design fiction based game which aims to explore the different ways how the more-than-human world will need to collaborate to be able to create livable conditions for all. Throughout the workshop, the participants will co-create a game that will envision an apocalyptic future and explore what role we could play in it. Through solving different apocalyptic scenarios, we want to explore the different skills and approaches designers might need to engage with to be able to contribute to the world. We hope this playful experience will help designers, HCI practitioners and researchers to reflect over their own current practices in relation to which future they are helping to co-create. 

Circularity in how we handle resources and materials is a key ambition in many sustainability initiatives and policies. Yet, when it comes to the circularity of ICT, much research tends to focus on how raw materials are sourced and later recycled. E-waste has represented the fastest growing waste stream globally for years, and the vast majority is not handled appropriately. In a society where repair is possible, accessible and the normative response to the breakage of devices, this waste stream could be dramatically reduced. In this paper, we describe and discuss the results of a literature review of how repair of ICT has been approached in the proceedings of previous ICT4S conferences (2013–2020). The findings are then analysed in relation to a set of speculative future Repair Society scenarios, which were developed to inform policy recommendations. The paper contributes to the ICT4S community by: 1) identifying aspects of ICT repair that have been studied to date; 2) using the Repair Society scenarios to generate insights and reflect on gaps in the research; and 3) outlining insights and suggestions of areas that could fruitfully be explored by the ICT4S community in future research.

Existing IT systems are enabling company activities that are unsustainable and damaging to the environment. ‘When should we as IT professionals stop maintaining them?’ ask Ian Brooks MBCS, Minna Laurell Thorslund, Aksel Biørn-Hansen and Elena Somova.

Humanity is facing a poly-crisis that threatens life on Earth. Learning about our “troubled times” can invoke dread, i.e. emotions of fear about terrible things still to happen, and hope that these things will not happen. This study asks how dread and hope manifest in education dedicated to sustainability in the field of engineering and STEM and how educators and students navigate these emotions. We explore educators’ experiences through a theoretical framework in which we conceptualise emotions as socio-political. We conducted workshops to bring together and analyse our own experiences and views as educators and education researchers. Our data consists of diary and field notes generated during a sustainability course offered to media technology students at a technical university in 2021, as well as meta-emotion reflections from educator workshops in 2024. We demonstrate that dread can play a constructive role in learning, serving as both a means to grasp our current situation and a catalyst for action in the face of dark futures.