The paper written together with Daniel Spikol at CeLeKT has been accepted at Mobile Human Computer Interaction 2009 in the workshop on Sharing Experiences with Social Mobile Media.

Here is the abstract:

We have a personal relationship with mobile phones, since they are closer to us than any other technological device. They are ubiquitous (60% of the world population owns one), individual, and pervasive through our lifestyle (we have them with us all the time and everywhere). These modern devices are nearly as powerful as personal computers, always connected to Internet and loaded with sensors like GPS and accelerometers. These mobile devices offer the opportunity to persuade users to change attitudes and behaviors towards personal health and environmental issues. For this paper we will focus on the design of a mobile application for reducing in carbon dioxide emissions, using the definition of “Climate Persuasive Services” that can change personal attitudes and behaviors regarding climate change for reducing greenhouse gases emissions. The paper presents design practices that have resulted in a prototype mobile application.

I will post the pdf soon.

The paper I presented at Persuasive 2009 is now available for download as PDF at ACM. Please have a look at it!

Here is the abstract:

ICT has reshaped our society, and with the current accelerating development of technology, and its wider distribution throughout the globe, they will continue doing so even more. These changes in society are important for sustainability. They affect the physical way the society and the environment interact, but they also affect the way people think, learn and behave.

We suggest that the persuasive power of ICT can be oriented towards climate change. For this purpose we define the concept of “climate persuasive services” as ICT applications that change personal attitudes regarding climate change and/or change behavior towards reducing greenhouse gases emissions. We consider mobile phones, pervasive sensors and social media as three key technological drivers for the development of climate persuasion applications.

We have analyzed the use of persuasion principles in existing web and mobile applications forming three clusters: tracking carbon footprints, sharing goals and making green behavior easier. Based on this analysis, we suggest a more planned use of persuasive principles, and propose six different opportunities for improvement.

Persuasive 2009 is now over, and it’s time for reflections.

The speakers and keynotes were really interesting, and there were three intense days getting in information.

One inspiring presentation was by B.J. Fogg where he suggested a eight step design process for persuasive applications.

The main message was to start small, to do not overdo interventions trying to do everything the first time.

Pick a simple behavior that you’re able to measure and create an application that try to change it, then if it success, grow (by repeating, replicating to another behavior, make the behavior harder, scale to more people…). Do fast iterations, a bit agile style, or getting real.

He also presented a quite simplified view of where to “attack” using persuasion: First try to trigger the behavior, if it doesn’t work look if the behavior needs to be simplified, and if not, go back to increasing the motivation.

Now I’m in San Francisco for some days, I’ll keep posting some more reflections about the conference these days.

1. Reference

Global Civil Society and Digital Communication Networks
November 28th
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

2. Why it is important for me

Manuel Castells is one of the most important communication scholar in the world, his analysis of the network society is one central pillar for the sociological discourse developing for my work.

3. Notes

Castells talked mainly about the civil society, how there has been a displacement from local civil society that was a continuation of the nation-state (trade union, churches…) towards more ad-hoc organizations made possible by ICT. This horizontal movements are based on networks of trust, the people have a personal connection with the network. This trust is used to bypass the government and it’s and embryo for something new.

Castells analyzed the Obama campaign and his use of network of trusts (remind me of Cialdini “liking” part of his persuasion techniques) and new technologies.

There was also mention to the change towards horizontal mass-self communication, and the relation with traditional mass-media.

Castells also commented that ICT allow massive urbanization and the creation of huge metropolitan areas based on sprawl, mentioning the great Los Angeles conurbation. I personally disagree with the physical possibilities of Los Angeles car-based-style sprawl, and do not think that cities will develop toward that. There could be a good discussion of Castell’s global / local paradox around that.

Panel discussion: Castells on the left, Marko Turpeinen next to him.

1. Reference

Klimatforum 2008
November 27th
Naturvårdsverket at Aula Magna, Stockholm University, Sweden

www.naturvardsverket.se/klimatforum2008

2. Why it matters for me

It has a direct connection with my research around climate change from a consumer perspective. The reports presented from Naturvårdsverket are directly useful for the Persuasive Service project.

3. Notes

Sven Hunhammar (Naturvårsverket) presented a report showing the difference from a greenhouse gas emissions calculation from a production perspective to one from a consumption perspective. The swedish carbon footprint increases 25% reaching 10tons CO2eq per capita. This is still in the lower end, only international flights that start in Sweden are counted (so not the return, neither other scales) and flights are not adjusted to the extra impact related to altitude.

Private consumption account for the 80% of the total and it’s distributed as:

• Private transportation: 30%
• Housing: 30%
• Food: 25%
• Shopping: 15%

Link to report (In swedish).

Kristian Skånberg: We should have 2 tons as aim (That means 8 tons reduction per capita)

Jessica Cederberg Wodmar presented another report from Naturvårdsverket showing the results of a big scale survey about the response of swedes to climate change. They clustered the results in six diferent personas:

• 4% Eco-elite, 18% Engaged, 26% Moderate, 25% Newly awaken, 23% Passive, 8% Skeptics
• Skeptics are mainly older men, passive mainly men, engaged mainly women.
• 100% know about what climate change is.

This report is also available in the website.

Andreas Carlgren (Swedish Environment Minister) keeping alive the myth that “Sweden is so good, China and India are the problem”, and that Sweden can be a “model” that can drive the transition to a low-carbon world. Part of the old discourse, based on biases and data out of context.

Discussion: How business handle a changed consumption? (Volvo, IKEA, Fritidsresor, LRF, Max Hamburgare)

• Lottie Knutson: Not focus on the environmental benefits, but the climate reduction comes as a by-product.
• They do not see pression from the consumers.
• They focus on efficiency.

Discussion: Who has the responsability? Consumer, Government, Business? (Statoil, Svenska Kyrkan, Respect, Banco, Coop, Svenskt Näringsliv, Anders Wijkman (EU parlament))

• Sasja Beslik: Change the business model to a sustainable one, working in the old capital model cannot produce sustainability (more or less). CEOs do not have responsabilities after increasing profits.
• Anders Wijkman: relating to ecological economics, we need business models before creating business solutions. How can it be that Exxon is still the company that makes more money in the world?
• Annika Lundius from Svenskt Näringsliv: Sweden is “klimatduktig” and it has become very effective in the last decades. This is both discussed by Sasja and then desmounted by John Holmberg presentation.

John Homberg from Chalmers argumented how most trends are going completely wrong and how the link between consuming power and carbon dioxide is so difficult to break. He presented climate change as the first real global problem, and that it can be an oportunity o create a new global ethic.

1. Reference

Nordic Cultural Commons Conference 2008
October 22th – 23th
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
http://www.hiit.fi/nccc/

2. Why it is important for me

Internet and the new media has made possible to create and distribute culture and knoweldge faster, cheaper and globally. Now it is possible to collaborate across borders and contexts, to access massive amounts of information and cultural works, to remix and recreate using almost infinitely available bits of knowledge.

This technical possibilities have created new ways of thinking around intelectual and cultural propierty rights. Creative commons licenses, open source software and content, user created content, accidental profits, the long tail, are concepts of the avantgarde of a new way of thinking. This decentralized way of working, with fairness, knowledge advance and the common good at its core (instead of profits and increased utility), can be a good applied metaphor of how a sustainable society could work. Knowledge and content freedom could also be argued to be positive for a societal and economic sustainability.

3. Notes

Mike Linksvayer:
Piracy promotes the established content and cultural hegemony. Piracy is not about creation. We should move from piracy to creative communities. Eat your own dog food, use yourself the open tools.

Victor Stone:
Remixing = creating = sampling = coping. The sampling generation.

John Buckman:
Interesting bookmooch project. Changin from a profit oriented company to generating profit “by accident”.

Nicklas lundblad:
Creativity as mutation and selection, an incremental innovation. Creativity theory looking cognitive science and artificial intelligence. Do users generate and creators create? Destroy the myth of creators as illuminated geniuses. Change the semantics from user generated to user created content, from artist created to corporate generated content.

CC Pictures from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arkiresearchgroup/