Video: Three Key Climate Initiatives and How You Can Help

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Three Key Climate Initiatives and How You Can Help

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 • Climate UX Interest Group (Rosenfeld Community)

Aiyana Bodi

Manager, Employee Engagement, Project Drawdown

James Christie

Consultant Experience Designer, SustainableUX

Marc O'Brien

Co-founder / Strategist, Climate Designers

Louis Rosenfeld

Principal, Rosenfeld Media

Summary

This session will showcase three essential initiatives—Project Drawdown, SustainableUX, and Climate Designers—that UX designers, researchers, and writers interested in addressing the climate crisis absolutely should know about. We won't just inform you; each panelist will offer you a small yet concrete way you can help them achieve their missions. Join us for this hour-long session and discover how your participation can drive meaningful change in the fight against climate change. Learn more about SustainableUX, ClimateDesigners, and Project Drawdown in the resources linked on this page!

Key Insights

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Climate Designers aims to fundamentally redesign the design industry with climate at its core, supporting both emerging and mid-career professionals.
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Many companies focus narrowly on emissions reduction, but holistic climate action requires addressing products, partnerships, finances, and political engagement.
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Every job must become a climate job; employees outside sustainability teams are critical to embedding climate action in organizations.
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UX designers have unique skills to influence user behavior towards environmentally friendly actions through design and communication.
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Community and peer support inside organizations increase employees' confidence to take climate-related initiatives.
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The Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG) offer a detailed, emerging standard for sustainable digital design but remain complex and in early stages.
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Many designers already meet elements of these sustainability guidelines through accessibility and UX research, which can be leveraged to further climate goals.
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Small, incremental projects and community events foster engagement and help overcome barriers to climate action among UX professionals.
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There is a growing need for a dedicated UX-specific climate action guide to complement existing product and engineering resources.
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Strategic UX involvement early in product development can vastly increase downstream positive environmental impact through stakeholder influence.

Notable Quotes

"Climate Designers is a hub for creative professionals committed to using their talents for climate action."

"Every job has to be a climate job, no matter what role you have in a company."

"Companies have political, financial, and cultural power they are not fully using for climate action."

"UX designers hold power to change behavior, and create engaging, usable, and motivating designs that can encourage climate-friendly actions."

"Small bets and breaking down big ideas into smaller actions help test and iterate climate solutions effectively."

"Joining employee resource groups and finding allies at work is a great first step to driving climate action internally."

"The Web Sustainability Guidelines are huge and comprehensive, but we shouldn’t be scared of that complexity."

"Most people in UX are already doing many things the sustainability guidelines call for like accessibility and user research."

"Strategically spotting opportunities to integrate environmental impact considerations early in design decisions creates significant downstream effects."

"We must move beyond sustaining current conditions towards actually healing and regenerating our damaged world."

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