How information solutions are sustainability’s secret weapons

When you hear the word ‘Sustainability’, what comes to mind? Electric cars? Renewables? Although they’re the most well-known tools propelling us towards a greener future, there’s another quiet contender with great potential: Information.

Knowledge is powerful. It can bring joy, break hearts, unite, divide and empower global movements. What is its vehicle? The information ecosystem – specifically, the channels, technologies, practices and people involved.?

We were excited to sit down with Dr Md. Khalid Hossain from our Information Empowered Communities Lab to discover real examples of how information systems and knowledge management can be harnessed to advance sustainability on different fronts.?

Now we’re sharing the insights with you.

The fisherfolk instinct for natural resources

Fisherfolk in Bangladesh are one of the most vulnerable, low socio-economic communities. However, their work is integral to sustaining an industry that contributes to overall food security.

But a lack of government support and literacy skills means their livelihoods depend on their daily catch – making them particularly susceptible to both the impacts of climate change and the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources.?

In order to be resilient, fisherfolk need access to vital environmental information, connections and aid, which are barred by many factors perpetuating their cycle of disadvantage:

• Exclusion from policy-making processes.
• No platform to voice their concerns and advocate for climate actions collectively.
• Limited access to natural resources and insight into their availability.?
• Continual exploitation and competition from more powerful parties.

This community also possesses in-depth knowledge that can help Bangladesh, one of the top 20 most climate-vulnerable countries, cope with natural disasters and better manage its natural resources.?

However this expertise – spanning weather patterns, fish availability, sustainable practices and more – is difficult to articulate and often gained through experience or direct observation. That is, it’s tacit in nature.

This combined with their digital exclusion and unawareness of technology’s potential, as identified in studies with 500 fisherfolk by Dr Hossain and his team, prevent them from sharing this life-saving knowledge.

In the Participatory Research and Ownership with Technology, Information and Change (PROTIC) II project with Oxfam Bangladesh, Dr Hossain and his team are co-designing an app and social media tool that will allow this community to both share and receive accurate information about the weather, fish availability and water levels, while championing their rights as a group.?

A powerful way to capture knowledge, the app will allow fisherfolk, institutions and NGOs to access, generate, manage, analyse and communicate environmental information while protecting their choice to maintain sovereignty over their data.?

Informed by a prototype of software co-created with boat captains (a 2023 Best Paper Award winner), the app for fisherfolks will integrate elements and functionalities such as the ability to:

• create and manage profiles
• write and record audio and visual content
• share at different levels through control access
• browse free content published by others.?

"We can’t write it ourselves, but we can easily do it through video tutorials recording how to steer the boat, how to throw the net – stuff like that." – Translated comment from a boat captain

Supported by the Whyte Fund, the work of Dr Hossain and his team in Bangladesh is now being replicated in Indonesia, another country with valuable tacit knowledge that’s at the frontlines of climate change impact.

Young ‘information influencers’ against climate change?

Working with Save the Children in Bangladesh, Dr Hossain is addressing the information needs of the next generation regarding climate action and driving grassroots activism.?

Now in the co-design phase, this project aims to create ‘information influencers’ at the community level by training children, youth, school teachers and college educators to share accurate information about adapting to, and mitigating the impacts of climate change – tackling misinformation that undermines and polarises.

"There are many barriers to accessing information on climate action and disaster risk reduction. People in the area may refuse to provide information, or if the area is very remote, one type of incident occurred there but another type is reported in the media, which can lead to confusion. Moreover, information on climate action and disaster risk reduction is not adequately covered in textbooks.?

The project involves focus groups with school children, their parents and teachers, and young community volunteers. It also integrates interviews with sectoral experts on climate action and youth engagement.?

With around 200 children and youth volunteers already involved, the project institutionalises the process of creating these influencers, embedding the work into other initiatives with the support of industry SEED funding.

If it had been described in a little more detail, we would have gained experience and faced fewer challenges." – comment from a youth volunteer

Harnessing the generational knowledge of ‘Masyarakat Hukum Adat’

‘Masyarakat Hukum Adat’, the appropriate name for Indonesia’s government-recognised Indigenous communities, possess a wealth of traditional knowledge about the climate and sustainability.??

Within this is an intimate understanding of natural disaster warning signs, preparedness methods and conservation practices, such as:

• changing water temperatures and wind direction
• how to preserve and maintain fisheries and mangroves
• how to produce crops while conserving natural resources.

But their Elders are passing without this invaluable knowledge transferring to the next generation – putting it at risk of extinction.?

Partnering with local organisation Yayasan Sasi Alam Indonesia (YASI) and supported by Early Career Seed Funding, Dr Hossain and his team members are co-creating sovereign information solutions for climate action with the Masyarakat Hukum Adat in Indonesia.

An integral part of this project is designing methods to ensure data sovereignty – that is, the right to govern the collection, ownership and application of this data which is rooted in their rights to self-determination and the management of lands, resources and cultural heritage of Indigenous communities.?

Similar work in data sovereignty is being carried out among First Nations peoples in Australia.

The project is expected to co-design prototypes of information solutions like applications and community-led information hubs, which will be piloted and scaled up through larger projects. This project also plans to expand to other developing countries and their Indigenous communities.

Leading change as a Blue Pioneer

Emerging from his work at Oxfam and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dr Hossain was selected for the Blue Pioneers Accelerator Program – a year-long initiative which accepts only 20 to 25 people annually.??

The Program aims to empower change leaders and innovators to overcome ocean conservation challenges mainly in the Asia-Pacific. Fellows are early to mid-career professionals local to the region, working at the intersection of conservation, sustainable foods, climate change, renewable energy, equity and the rights of Indigenous peoples and other critical areas.?

For the program’s team-based collaborative experiments, Dr Hossain developed two ideas for digital ocean conservation solutions underpinned by his expertise in digital inclusion and information empowerment:

1. A game to educate people on ocean conservation in a fun way, complete with a rewards mechanism.
2. An application to help households and local councils in China with waste management.

Connecting with more than 50 Fellows from previous cohorts driving ocean conservation, Dr Hossain had the unique opportunity to learn about all sorts of issues related to ocean management as well as different tools to collaborate across the Asia-Pacific.?

He also worked with Think Beyond Plastic Foundation and ClimateWorks Foundation to generate ideas for challenges addressed by these organisations – and engaged UiPath, a global software company based in Silicon Valley, to explore the potential of AI in ocean conservation.

On top of his involvement in the Blue Pioneers Accelerator Program, Dr Hossain, who has more than 15 years’ experience in environmental conservation, is also Co-Chair of iSchool’s Climate Action Coalition which he played a leading role in establishing. The Faculty of Information Technology at Monash has been a iCaucus member of iSchools since 2019.?

The more you know

Dr Hossain’s projects underscore just how integral information is to advancing sustainability. After all, how can action be taken without a solid understanding of what is happening – and what can be done?

His work also demonstrates that tradition and technology can unite. Whether through co-designed apps, community influencers or conservation programs, the synergy between modern-day information systems and generational knowledge is a key player in the sustainability game.