Presentation given at the Digital Cities 6 workshop at the 4th conference of Communities and Technologies, Penn State University.

1. Between Engagement and Information:
Experimental Urban Media in the Climate Change Debate
Digital Cities 6
Jonas Fritsch & Martin Brynskov
Communities and Technologies
Center for Digital Urban Living
Penn State University
Aarhus University
June 2009

2. Digital Urban Living
 Information & Media Studies, AU
 School of Journalism/UPDATE
 Århus Stiftstidende
 AFA JCDecaux
 Aarhus School of Business, AU
 Alexandra Institute
 Municipality of Aarhus
 Central Denmark Region
 3XNielsen
 The Animation Workshop
 Moesgaard Museum
 Skive Kunstmuseum

3. www.digitalurbanliving.dk

4. Media Facades
 CAVI
 BIG Bjarke Ingels Group
 Martin Professional A/S
 The Animation
Workshop
 Wall of Pixels

5. Civic Communication
 Berlingske Media / Midtjyske Medier (Stiften m. fl.)
 AFA JCDecaux
 DSB S-Train
 BBC Big Screens
• the integration of journalism &
participatory journalism
• municipal services
• commercial services

6. Engaging experiences

7. Interaction design

8. Communities &
social relations

9. New materials

10. Design processes

11. Aarhus by Light
http://aarhusbylight.dk
http://www.vimeo.com/1599226

12. Running Sculpture
http://www.vimeo.com/1599705

13. Colorscan
http://colorscan.dk
http://www.vimeo.com/1588093

14. Interactive Runic Stone
http://www.digitalexperience.dk/?p=410

15. Emergent Research Trajectory
User-generated content (production/reception)
Engagement
Information
How is it possible to design interactive urban media that foster initial
and sustained engagement for long-term commitment and expression?
How is it possible to design large-scale interactive urban systems that
might engage people actively on a personal level in relation to a given
content?

16. CO2030
CO2-neutrality by 2030 (Municipalities of Aarhus + Kollision)
Engaging citizens individually; changing habits to make a difference
Exhibition where you could get inspiration on how to decrease your
emission of CO2
Attract attention to the exhibition and give the citizen’s fight for a better
climate a personal face in the cityscape

17. Movie - will notify when online!

18. CO2nfession/CO2mittment
68 videos recorded (rich and diverse content)
Personal exposure (challenge and necessity)
Dialogues in and around the booth
Serendipitous encounters
Generally difficult to get people to engage with the content in the city

19. Climate on the Wall
Attention (visibility) and playful interaction (immediate engagement)
Positive and active reception
Social interaction
Richness in interaction forms, not so much in level of information/
content-production

20. Summing Up
Increased the focus on content and information in the design of the
interactive urban system
General appreciation of the installations but more related to the
immediate and playful engagement and not so much the possibility to
produce and consume information.
Openness of the setup
Relatively short-term period; maybe habits could evolve over time

21. Future projects
COP15
 Climate on the Wall  Urban Interactions
 CO2nfessions 2.0  Affective Engagement
 The Sound of CO2  Content-generation in
Urban Space
 Planetary Pledge Pyramid