Thesis defence: Patricia Ciobanu

On February 19, 2026, Patricia Ciobanu will present her PhD thesis at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University. The thesis defence takes place at DSV in Kista, starting at 1:00 pm.

The title of the thesis is “Designing to Care for Nature”.

PhD student: Patricia Ciobanu, DSV
External reviewer: Sara Heitlinger, University of London, UK
Main supervisor: Oskar Juhlin, DSV
Supervisor: Ylva Fernaeus, KTH

The thesis can be downloaded from DiVA

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Abstract

Engaging with the environment has been a significant topic of research within human-computer interaction, and it is particularly of interest to the field of sustainable HCI and the recent development of more-than-human design. Such investigations are gaining relevance as environmental disruptions continue to intensify and expand, bringing a sense of urgency to how we approach the more-than-human world around us.

This has led to various engineered solutions that centre on mitigating impact, which have been crucial in addressing ecological challenges. However, despite such efforts, environmental disruptions persist and worsen. This thesis frames the reason for this not around inadequate engineered solutions, but rather around how they fail to address the root issue – a disconnection from and neglect of nature. We maintain a form of connection by consistently being informed by how environmental adversities affect us and our surrounding natural ecosystems. This increases our awareness and leads to a deep concern for ourselves and the state of the environment.

However, this can also foster a sense of angst, desensitisation, and immobilisation, preventing us from taking action. This thesis argues for a need to translate this concern for nature into perspectives and practices that allow both humans and the environment to flourish: a move to caring.

In this work, I explore how such a transition from concern to care in human-nature relations can be fostered through design. Positioned within the more-than-human turn in HCI, this exploration is based on four empirical studies, constructed through design-led methodologies, including research through design, autobiographical design, and a critical approach.

These studies (1) outlined a more-than-human care framework to understand how technology shifts human-nature relations, (2) engaged with the multiple temporalities of nature through technology and an embodied practice, and critically analysed (3) media artworks to explore material deconstructions of posthuman interventions of time and (4) the meanings embedded within alternative time representations.

Following these four investigations, this thesis pinpoints three dimensions to consider when designing to care for nature: enactments of care, expressions of time, and explorations of materiality. Each dimension has distinct aspects that can be combined and used to engage with fundamental challenges in caring for nature, which include the differing temporal dynamics between humans, technology, and the environment, as well as the dematerialisation of technology, which distances us from the physical realities of the world.

This thesis reflects on the outlined dimensions by proposing design pathways to bring nature into view, bring nature closer, and bring people closer to nature. It also discusses the tensions within the dynamics of care, nature, and technology.

This thesis contributes to HCI and design research situated from a more-than-human standpoint. Addressing a transition in human-nature relations from concern to care is both abstract and complex, highlighting a need for plurality in perspectives, methods, and practices. This thesis embraces such pluralities and supports a design space that cultivates interdependent and careful interactions with nature.

Keywords: human-computer interaction, care, nature, sustainability, design research, more-than-human