GreenTech 2013 - International Workshop on Green Food Technology: Ubicomp opportunities for reducing the environmental impacts of food

Organizers: Adrian Clear, Rob Comber, Adrian Friday, Eva Ganglbauer, Mike Hazas, and Yvonne Rogers
Workshop website: http://www.scc.lancs.ac.uk/greenfoodtechworkshop/
Food production, distribution, consumption and waste accounts for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions. There is potential to substantially reduce the environmental impacts of food with the support of digital technologies, but first a deeper understanding of the domain is necessary: sustainable food consumption presents interesting challenges for Ubicomp and HCI, given both the complexity of environmental impacts of foods (direct and embodied emissions spread across production, distribution, consumption and waste), and of everyday food practices that are e.g. socially, culturally, economically and practically defined. This complexity presents challenges, but it also offers many opportunities for technological intervention spanning the whole food consumption process. This workshop provides a forum researchers and practitioners from a diverse set of disciplines to come together to provide breadth of perspectives on food and sustainability; share understandings of existing food consumption practices and their carbon impacts; and to consider the challenges and opportunities for Ubicomp in supporting the emergence of more sustainable alternatives.