Design Brief: Environmental Data as a Public Good

What do future environmental data ecosystems look like to you? What looks differently in those ecosystems and who is involved? What tools can we build and what values propel their design?

A critical aspect of creating real change in the environmental data space is reimagining how to get there and imagining what it might look like when we do. The prototypes in this Design Brief do just that – offering ideas and schemas to take and adapt in different contexts and with different populations. During Summer 2022, OEDP helped a Design Trust, a brainstorming session bringing together designers and design-adjacent folks. Together, we explored avenues for expanding opportunities about environmental data as a public good and environmental data’s role in local government planning. 

The prototypes featured in this brief are from a subset of designers who wanted to expand on an idea sparked in the Design Trust, and cover the gamut of environmental data topics, all with a goal of fostering environmental data as a public good. Our designers come from varied backgrounds, with experience in communitybuilding, creative technology, local government, policy, and the environmental sciences, and the prototypes created reflect those expertise. We encourage you to engage with the prototypes as you see fit: reading and learning about the designs, reaching out to the designers with questions or avenues for expansion, and adapting ideas for use in your contextual sector or place.