Time and date: May 2018. Exact date and time will be announced “soon”.
Duration: ~3 hours
Nic-nacs: post-it notes, markers, scissors, glue, tape, large paper sheets, color printer, 3D printer… add stuff here
Refreshments: Coffee, tea, water, organic snacks
Workshop Schedule
09:00 – 09:05 Welcome and introduction
09:05 – 09:25 Presentation: water challenges in the future and need for innovations
09:25 – 11:30 Co-creation workshop session
11:30 – 12:00 Presentations
12:00 – 12:30 Presentation of research opportunities and closing of the workshop
Expected output
The output of the workshop should consist a solution (product or service) that aim to raise awareness of the own (and/or community) water consumption and it can be either of the following form:
- A design proposal
- A simple prototype
- A conceptual outline
Introduction and background
Fresh water is a renewable but limited resource. Its extraction, treatment and distribution for drinking water require considerable resources in terms of energy and infrastructure. In the other end of the pipe, collection and treatment of waste water adds to the overall burden. In 2015 households in Sweden consumed 565 million cubic meters of water . Since drinking water production generates approximately 40 g CO2/m3 which corresponds to 22600 ton of CO2 per year. However, the largest contributing factor to CO2 emissions are the energy used to produce hot tap water. Considering the Swedish energy mix this equal roughly 2.6 kg eCO2 / m3, or 730 000 ton of eCO2 per year, assuming 50% of water consumption is heated to produce hot tap water.
Figure 1
There are of course other aspects of water preservation as well, such as local renewable fresh water scarcity and infrastructure capacity.
Several reports estimate household water consumption in Sweden to 180-200 liter per person and day, of which roughly 50% is heated and consumed as hot tap water. Thus, there seem to be considerable savings potential.
Workshop structure
After the presentation it is time to start working. Participants can select to work in one or more of the following themes. The themes are not intended as restrictions, but rather intended to spark the creative engine. The direction of the outcome proposal or prototype is not limited to the theme outlines.
Theme 1 –intervention by feedback
What kind of feedback could motivate users to curb their water usage? Can we employ detailed consumption data to generate meaningful and engaging feedback?
Theme 2 – intervention by design
How could we design interfaces and systems to facilitate water savings? Could be appliances, installations or other aspects.
Theme 3 – intervention by restriction
How do we react when access is restricted? Can you come up with acceptable restrictions that could limit usage without compromising too much on comfort and wellbeing?
Handin
We kindly ask participants to document the workshop creative process. You can use anything available. Take photos, make sketches, create models, presentation slides or anything you can think of. All we ask is that you hand it in when the workshop is over so that we can document and tell a story about the workshop to the rest of the world!