How do data, information technologies, and algorithmic cultures contribute to shaping meaning about the environment? This is the broad question at the forefront of our research. Bringing together researchers from information studies, communication studies, ecology, and environmental social sciences as well as a group of societal partners, we examine three key domains where datafication occurs in various ways, for varying reasons, and with varying outcomes:  

• Environmental apps and scientific data in everyday life  

How is data produced, distributed and redistributed among different apps, services, individuals, organisations, and other actors? What are the consequences of our increasingly technologically mediated relationship to nature? 

• ESG (environmental, social, governance) and traceability in textile and fashion industry supply chains  

ESG and traceability in supply chains are becoming more common among corporations as pillars of their sustainability efforts. They offer practical means to monitor products and materials as they travel through the supply chain. As such, they are crucial components for verifying social and environmental claims. What challenges and opportunities do ESG and traceability present for environmental communication and governance?  

• Cross-platform transformations of environmental advocacy 

Social media, search engines and other platform services are increasingly leveraged to communicate sustainability issues. With each platform having its unique features and “logic,” different kinds of content are given visibility across different platforms. How do platform-specific characteristics and forms of engagement shape the form and content of advocacy? 

An observatory serves as a collaborative platform for monitoring trends across these three domains and as a testing ground for developing new strategies to critically examine this rapidly changing field.

People and organisations:

Jutta Haider, Professor in Information Studies at the Swedish School of Library and Information Science (SSLIS), University of Borås, Sweden

Björn Ekström, Elisa Tattersall Wallin, Emma Román, Carin Graminius, Elisa Tattersal Wallin and Camilla Lindelöw, Swedish School of Library and Information Science (SSLIS), University of Borås

Malte Rödl and René Van der Wal, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Lisa Engström, Lund University

Shiv Ganesh, University of Texas at Austin

Ossian Hall, Swedish Library Association

Wikimedia Foundation Sweden

Search Studies Group (HAW Hamburg)

Find contact details to the team members here.