Exploring everyday (lack of) perception of the digital world, could be defined as the invisibility and immateriality of the internet. While end-user devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and even routers are material objects physically close to us, the internet often feels distant and abstract. At the same time, the internet seems to be limitless, and infinite. Terms like "Wi-Fi," "cloud," and "AI" have been a part of our language and lives for a while, but they still seem vague and hard to denote.
In this Hive Mind Community Podcast episode, we explore the environmental impact of our digital activities and its importance in activists’ work with Joanna Murzyn: a technological activist and hacker at heart, an expert in digital ecology. Joanna engages in sustainable digitization with care and promotes responsible digital practices.
“Digital Ecology is about harmony, it is about making sure, that the relationship between software and hardware is balanced”.
With Joanna Murzyn, we unpack hidden costs of communication and information technologies, discuss climate challenges in digital activism and resilience, and sustainability in the everyday work of NGOs and CSOs, trying to look for the answer to the following questions:
What resources are needed for us to work online, especially for those of us working on international programs and projects?
How can we measure digital pollution and the footprints of online activity?
What is “digital ecology”? Is it visible in social movements and the NGO sector?
What are the inspiring examples of digital-ecology activism around the world?
What are the first steps to include in our daily work?
Listen to this episode and reflect on the potential first steps you can take to apply a more digitally ecological approach in your or your organization's activity.
Useful resources mentioned during the episode:
Submarine Cable Map, an interactive map of the world's major submarine cable systems and landing stations: https://www.submarinecablemap.com/
Okular, the Universal Document Viewer. Resource and Energy-Efficient Software: https://okular.kde.org/
Fairphone, a modular smartphone built to last: https://www.fairphone.com/
Joanna Murzyn – A propagator of Digital Ecology philosophy. Technological activist & hacker at heart. Business consultant for sustainable digitization. Joanna is a co-founder of the Digital Ecology Institute. Designer of regenerative digital products and services. Joanna is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the physical aspects of communication and information technologies and their environmental impact. She strongly believes in the freedom and dignity of individuals, as well as software and hardware, and is an advocate and promoter of free and open-source digital solutions (FOSS). In her professional capacity, she is a business consultant with a decade of experience, specializing in sustainable digitization and digital hygiene.
🎚️ The podcast was recorded and mixed at "Podcastownia Ciekawość" (Warsaw, Poland)
🎙 Podcast host: Joanna Krukowska (TechSoup Europe)
🎵 Music by Zykovich Yauheni aka JJ
📆 Podcast recorded on June 5, 2024
ℹ️ This podcast episode was recorded as a part of TechSoup's Digital Activism Program.