The following is a list of material designed to support those in design roles to reach a level of Practitioner. Completing the optional material will put you on the path towards Expert level.
These two courses are essential for understanding the basics of Green Software and should only take a couple of hours to complete. They are free and open to all.
Sustainable software engineering overview Great into video series by Asim Hussain (Green Software Foundation). Very digestible, only takes about 30 minutes to complete. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/sustainable-software-engineering-overview/
Green Software Practitioner Slightly more in-depth online course. Takes 2-3 hours to complete. Recommended. Take the short exam with the Linux Foundation to get certified. https://learn.greensoftware.foundation/ and https://training.linuxfoundation.org/training/green-software-for-practitioners-lfc131/
Tom Greenwood: A sustainable web for everyone Tom Greenwood was the lead author of the Sustainable Web Manifesto, edits the monthly green web newsletter, Curiously Green, and is author of the book, Sustainable Web Design. This 36 minute presentation by Tom is divided up into small, digestible chunks and covers all the key topics in a non-technical way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebxeXqjesOo
Beth yw cynaliadwyedd digidol? / What is digital sustainability? Panel discussion by the Centre for Digital Public Services in Wales. Covers all the main topics related to digital sustainability, especially from a UK government perspective. Panellists include Hannah Smith from the Green Web Foundation as well experts from Defra, Wholegrain Digital and the Centre for Sustainability. Despite the title, the content is all in English. The first 25 minutes are devoted to each panelist speaking for 5 minutes, followed by a wider discusson. It’s generally a non-technical discusson, so suitable for all. 1 hour 12 minutes, but broken up into clear chapters. https://youtu.be/Wn5urKcquFE?si=84Th0OkXNlEPjvGd
What does it all mean: Net-zero, carbon neutral, climate positive, carbon negative? by Asim Hussain Good breakdown of some of the crucial terminology, focussed speficically on digital emissions. 20 minutes, broken into clear chapters. https://youtu.be/HXEnbi64TdQ?si=Ff4eGg2uo4OUxsQm
W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines, 1.0. A new initiative, covers business, design and technology aspects of digital services. See https://w3c.github.io/sustyweb/. Condensed version: https://w3c.github.io/sustyweb/glance.html and quick reference: https://w3c.github.io/sustyweb/quickref.html
Web Sustainability Guidelines. Now in their sixth draft, the Web Sustainability Guidelines consist of 94 recommendations to help teams create more sustainable digital products and services. https://sustainablewebdesign.org/guidelines/
The intro guide to digital eco-design. French-led project for designers, developed in part by the team which helped write the W3C Web Sustainability Guidelines. See The intro guide to digital eco-design. In French, but can be made accessible using auto-translate tools. See https://eco-conception.designersethiques.org/guide/en/
Planet Centred Design. A proposal by Defra to support those designing and building digital services. See https://greenerservices.github.io/
A few examples of carbon-aware web design and guidance.
Sustainable Web Design - Includes and manifesto and some useful guidelines. https://sustainablewebdesign.org/
UX/UI Design Resources from the Climate Designers Resource Library - Repository of useful resources related to UX and low carbon design. https://climatedesigners.notion.site/Climate-Designers-Resource-Library-81afbbb5e34f48faacb24d8dcc84535e?p=72340f013830407bb6060e48a5a93f2c&pm=c
Branch Magazine - online magazine for green digital enthusiasts. The website design responds to the carbon intensity of the UK grid, which is pretty cool. https://branch.climateaction.tech/
CarbonAware - another very good example of a carbon aware website, with the site responding to the grid intensity from a wide range of countries. https://carbon-aware-website.fly.dev/
Fershad Irani (personal site). Good example of a carbon-aware website. https://fershad.com/carbon-aware-site/
Understanding carbon intensity, or the ‘cleanness’ of your electricity is an important component of a less environmentally damaging Internet. These interactive, map-based sites bring an abstract concept to life.
Electricity Maps: emissions factors worldwide. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map
UK National Grid maps - there are many sites and APIs offering this, here are some good ones. https://www.carbonintensity.org.uk/, , https://electricityproduction.uk/, https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/map
Web-based tools to rate web pages in terms of sustainability. Only useful for analysis of the front end.
Ecograder - online tool (one of many) which creates a report on how well a web page performs from an environmental perspective. There are many similar tools out there, but Ecograder produces some of the clearest and most actionable reports. https://ecograder.com/
Beacon - Similar to Ecograder. https://digitalbeacon.co/
Globemallow - Similar to Ecograder. https://globemallow.io/#api
Sustainable Web Design by Tom Greenwood. As the title suggests, this is more design than engineering focussed. It’s a good introduction to the area of Green Software, but is a little lacking in terms of detail or real-world examples. But it’s a fairly easy read. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/sustainable-web-design/9781098128807/
Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered by Don Norman. New book by one of the world’s leading design thinkers. Don Norman has recently abandoned the notion of being ‘user centred’ in favour of ‘humanity centred’. This is an accessible read and one for anyone concerned about how best to design for a sustainable future. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Better-World-Meaningful-Sustainable-ebook/dp/B0B4R7Z4ZH
The Life-centred Design Guide by Damian Lutz. Lots of interesting and sometimes practical ways to bring non-human needs into the design process. Thought-provoking. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-centred-Design-Guide-Damien-Lutz/dp/0645326658
Humanity-Centered Design by Don Norman. The renowned design thinker has adapted his approach in the face of the environmental crisis. Gone are the terms ‘user centred’ and even ‘human centred’. Don now asks us to instead be ‘humanity centred’. Read and learn more here: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/humanity-centered-design
Responsible tech playbook by Thoughtworks. This covers much for than sustainability, with a real focus on ethics in the design process. Filled with useful ideas and activities. https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-gb/about-us/social-change/responsible-tech-playbook and https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-gb/insights/topic/responsible-tech
How to become a Climate-Conscious Product Manager by François Burra. Excellent downloadable resource pack. http://climateproductleaders.org/
Curiously Green by Wholegrain Digital. Digital sustainability newsletter with a focus on design. https://www.wholegraindigital.com/curiously-green/
Life-centred design: free resources: frameworks, personas and more. https://lifecentred.design/free-resources/
Sustainability infused User Journey Mapping: journey maps in Figma. https://www.figma.com/community/file/1207376705533494920/sustainability-infused-user-journey-mapping
Non-human Personas: Figma-based personas to help let nature and the planet inform your design choices. https://www.figma.com/community/file/1174367968861093309/non-human-personas
Green IO: weekly podcast hosted by Gaël Duez on green software and ICT, with frequent interviews looking at sustainable design practices. Recommended. https://greenio.gaelduez.com/
SUX: The Sustainable UX Network organises training and events, but most of these are in continental Europe. They do put out a fairly regular podcast, and have interviewed digital design sustainability experts such as Tom Greenwood, Hannah Smith and Tim Frick as well as stalwarts such as Don Norman. https://sustainableuxnetwork.com/#podcast and https://open.spotify.com/show/4PzK5bq6Q8x7NOcEPl4I6j
The Green the Web podcast: solo effort by Sandy Dähnert with some good introductory material. There is also a newsletter and some other useful resources. https://greentheweb.com/podcast/
There are hundreds of recent articles on these topics, here is a sampling of a few which are of interest.
The Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud - https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-staggering-ecological-impacts-of-computation-and-the-cloud/
The UK government’s IT carbon footprint has got worse - the transparency is welcome - https://www.csofutures.com/news/the-uk-governments-it-carbon-footprint-has-got-worse-and-thats-not-all-bad-news/
Social Impact and Sustainability on Corporate Websites - some basic guidance. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/corporate-social-responsibility/
Digital Sustainability (Unilever) - a good example of a digital sustainability statement. https://www.unilever.com/digital-sustainability/
Sustainability statement (Support for Education) - another great example of a digital sustainability statement from DfE. https://www.sustainabilitysupportforeducation.org.uk/sustainability-statement
Digital sustainability at the RCGP (Royal College of General Practitioners) - as above. https://www.rcgp.org.uk/terms-conditions/digital-sustainability
Our Digital Greenwashing Guide - good summary of issues related to digital greenwashing. https://www.mightybytes.com/blog/digital-greenwashing-guide/
How to Prioritize Digital Accessibility and Sustainability - high level summary of some of the key areas where these overlap. https://www.mightybytes.com/blog/digital-accessibility-web-sustainability/
What can digital sustainability learn from accessibility? - If you are familiar with web accessibility but new to web sustainability, this article should help you see some of the overlaps and how you can use your existing skills to improve the sustainability of your design work. https://branch.climateaction.tech/issues/issue-8/what-can-digital-sustainability-learn-from-accessibility/
Are you new to terms like Scope 3, GHGs, the Rebound Effect SDGs? If so, please make use of the glossary to get familiar with the relevant concepts and terminology. Digital sustainability glossary.