research

My research involves investigating our relationship with natural habitats. I practice permaculture (a sustainable design method, including principles and ethics, for 'setting the right conditions for people to empower themselves' [Graham Bell]), to explore thoughtful, co-created, grassroots design interventions that put care of the environment central to thinking and doing. I’m interested in what happens at the edges, the intricate symbiotic relationships between things, improvised and spontaneous action, deep understanding of nature, provocation of the mainstream, activism, re-design, and all their opposites. Currently this involves the growth of an imaginative, urban, interactive permaculture garden (The Lions' Gate), on-campus at Edinburgh Napier University, where I work alongside staff, students, local and international communities to co-create self-sustaining, bio-diverse habitats and concepts that benefit people and the planet. Theoretically this work is mostly anchored in phenomenology, especially around intentions, and uses digital technology; the web and local-devices, video, audio, graphics, text, sensors, displays, inputs/outputs as explorative lenses into our relationship with nature.

publications

Computing students' attitudes to environmental sustainability education (2021)
Sally Smith, Callum Egan, Kris Plum
Presented at Horizons in STEM Higher Education, Online

Hasten Slowly: Developing an interactive sustainability storytelling chair (2020)
Callum Egan, Andrew O'Dowd, Neil Fyffe
2020 ACM Workshop: Computing Within Limits, Bristol, UK
https://doi.org/10.1145/3401335.3401817

The Lions' Gate: Towards a permaculture-inspired blended space (2019)
Callum Egan, Richard Thompson, Andrew O'Dowd
2019 ACM Workshop: Computing within Limits, Lappeenranta, Finland
https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=3338103.3338110

Sustainable HCI: Blending permaculture and user-experience. (2017)
Callum Egan, David Benyon
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems Pages 39-43
ISBN: 978-1-4503-4991-8
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=3064857.3079115

Permaculture as a foundation for sustainable interaction design and UX. (2017)
Callum Egan, David Benyon, Richard Thompson
Proceedings of British HCI 2017 – Digital Make-Believe, Sunderland, UK
https://ewic.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/59221

Areas of interest

The University as an agency of change

How can universities quickly pursue practical solutions to the environmental concerns of our age?

Interdisciplinarity

Working cooperatively across schools/institutions/organisations/communities/individuals to develop ideas and actions that nourish the living planet.

Sustainable Interaction Design

How can the digital be re-made sustainable?

Environment and bio-diversity

How do we build thriving living systems that support us?

Health, well-being, society

Re-connecting with nature for physical and mental health. Support for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Artists and makers

Ecologically-inspired artworks and inventions.