Climate and Sustainability

 

 

The climate crisis reveals our deep entanglements with the more-than-human world, including ecosystems, species, rivers, atmospheres, and the living systems we depend on. Yet AI development remains stubbornly human-centred, optimising for efficiency whilst consuming enormous resources and concentrating power. Your research could help reimagine AI as part of broader socio-ecological systems, designed with rather than merely for the communities and ecosystems it affects. 

You might explore how AI can amplify non-human perspectives in environmental governance, develop frameworks that account for impacts alongside human needs, or pioneer participatory approaches that honour the agency of rivers, forests, and soil alongside citizen voices. Potential directions include investigating how technologies can support extreme climate mitigation, ecological restoration and regeneration, examining how indigenous cosmologies challenge Western notions of intelligence and agency, or developing methods that make visible the entanglements between data centres, energy grids, water systems, and biodiversity. 

This theme asks: What does justice look like when we expand our circle of concern beyond humans? How can AI support climate mitigation or thriving ecologies rather than just efficient systems? Your doctoral research could influence how we design technologies that recognise our interdependence with the living world. 

Place-based Context: North East England 

The North East offers rich opportunities for exploring more-than-human approaches to climate AI. The region's rivers, estuaries, and North Sea coast face rising seas and changing ecosystems. Former industrial landscapes are sites of ecological regeneration where post-mining communities navigate relationships with recovering nature. Urban wildlife corridors intersect with smart city infrastructures, raising questions about whose needs technologies serve.

Your research could work with communities stewarding the Northumberland coast's unique biodiversity, examine how Northumbrian Water's climate adaptation affects river ecosystems and the species they support, or explore how Newcastle's urban forests and green networks might inform AI-supported ecological monitoring. The region's agricultural landscapes, peatlands, and coastal habitats provide contexts for investigating how technologies can support the flourishing of multispecies communities alongside human livelihoods. 

The North East AI Growth Zone represents £30 billion in investment connecting data centres, energy infrastructure, and regional transformation. Your research could critically examine these entanglements: where does the electricity come from? What water resources do data centres require? How do these infrastructures affect local ecologies, and how might communities shape more regenerative alternatives? 

Relevant Partner Organisations 

Your research could engage partners addressing socio-ecological challenges across scales. Northumberland County Council, Newcastle City Council and the North of Tyne Combined Authority are implementing climate strategies affecting urban ecosystems, green infrastructure, and community access to nature. Northumbrian Water manages water systems connecting upstream peatlands, urban rivers, treatment infrastructure, and coastal estuaries in complex ecological relationships. 

The International Centre for Life Trust explores connections between biological sciences, public engagement, and environmental futures. Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums hold collections documenting the region's industrial past and ecological transformations. VONNE connects community organisations working on environmental justice and place-based stewardship. 

These partnerships enable research moving between scientific monitoring, indigenous and local knowledge systems, community land management practices, and policy frameworks, recognising that understanding socio-ecological systems requires multiple ways of knowing. 

Related Articles and Reading 

More-than-Human HCI

• Knowles et al. (2018) - This Changes Sustainable HCI 
• Sharma & Kumar (2025) - Sustainability, Development, and Human-Computer Interaction 
• Dogan et al. (2025) - 'Down to Earth': Design Considerations for AI for Sustainability 
• Giacobone et al. (2024) - Participatory design methods for sustainable interaction design 
• Hirsch et al. (2025) - HCI for Climate Resilience 
• Doggett et al. (2023) - HCI Research on Agriculture: Competing Sociotechnical Imaginaries 

Ecological Perspectives 

• Nardi et al. (2018) - Computing within limits 
• Widdicks et al. (2024) - How Viable are Energy Savings in Smart Homes? 
• Hansson et al. (2021) - A Decade of Sustainable HCI 
• Bremer et al. (2022) - Have We Taken On Too Much? A Critical Review 
• LIMITS Workshop on Computing within Limits (annual) 
• ACM COMPASS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies 

Situated Knowledges 

• Soden et al. (2024) - Climate Data Practices: A Research Approach for HCI and Climate Justice 
• Soden et al. (2025) - Place-based Climate Data Practices 
• Ferreira et al. (2024) - Connecting audiences with climate change 
• Chanen & Soden (2025) - Data Practices and Double-Binds of Toronto's Climate Governance 
• Berns et al. (2025) - What Do We Already Know? Towards Mindful AI 

Material Entanglements 

• MIT Climate Consortium (2025) - Understanding the environmental impact of generative AI 
• arXiv (2024) - AI, Climate, and Regulation: From Data Centers to the AI Act 
• Capgemini (2024) - Generative AI and Environmental Impact 
• Biggs et al. (2023) - Redlining maps and terrains of sustainability

Multispecies Flourishing 

• McClure et al. (2020) - Artificial Intelligence Meets Citizen Science 
• Ponti & Seredko (2022) - Human-machine-learning integration in citizen science 
• Norton et al. (2017) - A grand challenge for HCI: food + sustainability 
• Soden et al. (2025) - Climate for Change: New HCI Research for Climate Action 

UK Government Policy 

• National AI Strategy (2021) 
• AI Opportunities Action Plan (2025) 
• Clean Energy Superpower Mission: Areas of Research Interest (2024) 
• UKRI - Artificial Intelligence Research to Enable UK's Net Zero Target (2023) 

European Union Policy 

• The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the European Green Deal (2021) 
• EU AI Act - Regulation 2024/1689 on Artificial Intelligence 
• Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027 
• The European Green Deal (2019)