Our planet is becoming warmer than ever. Global social and economical issues surrounding the climate crisis are on the rise. As designers of digital products and services, we participate in the march of progress at the cost of contributing to global warming. Whilst energy usage skyrockets and technology takes over, we need to look for opportunities for sustainable growth. Or degrowth? What are our options on the verge of planetary collapse? How much of it are we responsible for, and how much of it is shaped by the attention economy and capitalism? Can we achieve digital sustainability without sacrificing convenience and changing the status quo? Join us to hear our guests discussing these topics and beyond.
Wojtek Kutyla will moderate an insightful discussion between a number of experts representing influential digital organisations.
Watch this WaysConf session, then continue with related talks or explore the current programme.
A panel on the climate crisis and the role of product, research, business, and policy in changing behavior and systems. The participants argue that sustainability conversations improve when designers understand commercial goals, make environmental impact visible, and work with people who hold operational responsibility even when their title is not sustainability-focused. Individual action matters but cannot substitute for regulation and corporate accountability. The panel closes by examining knowledge gaps, incentives, organizational bubbles, and the difficulty of turning concern into coordinated action.
Understanding commercial objectives helps practitioners propose environmental improvements that decision-makers can evaluate and support.
Watch from 8:14People need understandable feedback about the consequences of choices before products can support more responsible behavior.
Watch from 13:49Personal choices and bottom-up work are insufficient without policies that constrain the largest organizations and markets.
Watch from 19:40Operational managers and informal champions often control relevant processes even when no dedicated sustainability role exists.
Watch from 26:03Professional and social environments can make progress seem either widespread or impossible, so claims need broader evidence.
Watch from 32:25These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.
Environmental work is often dismissed when it appears disconnected from the organization’s immediate responsibilities. Practitioners can improve the conversation by understanding revenue, cost, risk, operations, and customer expectations, then showing where a sustainable alternative supports or responsibly challenges those goals. Translation creates a decision; moral urgency alone may not specify one.
Watch from 8:14Customers and teams cannot act on consequences they cannot see. Products can expose relevant measures, comparisons, and longer-term effects without turning complex climate science into a misleading score. The objective is not to transfer all responsibility to the individual, but to make the system’s tradeoffs visible enough for better personal and organizational decisions.
Watch from 13:49Design improvements and customer choices operate inside markets shaped by law and infrastructure. Large environmental effects cannot depend entirely on voluntary action, particularly when harmful options remain cheaper or easier. Regulation can establish common constraints and prevent responsible companies from carrying a competitive penalty for acting alone.
Watch from 19:40Many organizations have no dedicated sustainability manager, yet purchasing, logistics, product, facilities, and team leads make decisions with environmental consequences. Finding these owners and connecting them around shared outcomes can move work forward. A title helps visibility, but operational authority and incentives determine whether the change is implemented.
Watch from 26:03A community focused on environmental topics may create the impression that concern is universal, while another environment makes action seem absent. Both perceptions are partial. Teams should seek broader behavioral data, listen outside professional circles, and distinguish expressed support from changed practice before deciding whether an intervention is working.
Watch from 32:25
