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graphic design: Jakub De Barbaro
Experiment overview
A consulting venture built on the Digital Ecology concept, offering organizations practical pathways to reduce their digital environmental impact through audits, workshops, and internal transformations.
Main objectives
The Digital Ecology Institute provided organizations with practical tools to transform their relationship with technology through comprehensive services that addressed both environmental impact and organizational culture.
These included conducting research on IT industry environmental awareness (which I found alarmingly low), performing digital sustainability audits, facilitating foresight workshops for environmentally responsible product development, and implementing strategies for internal ethical digital transformations.
The approach went beyond surface-level changes to address organizational culture, replacing control-oriented digital systems with open collaboration models and proprietary software with open-source alternatives that prioritized privacy and security.
Achieved results
The institute successfully delivered organizational transformations strategies that reduced digital environmental impacts while improving collaboration and information flows.
Through audits and workshops, I helped companies implement practical changes across multiple levels: from email signature optimization (removing unnecessary large images) to comprehensive tool migrations that created more regenerative digital practices.
The most meaningful work involved internal “digital revolutions” where I helped organizations rethink their entire approach to information sharing, collaboration tools, and digital workflows, moving from control-based systems to more open, efficient models.
Main reflection
This journey taught me that when I talked about “digital ecology,” I was unintentionally creating a separation - as if our digital lives were somehow distinct from our real selves. The very term positioned technology’s impact as an external problem to solve, rather than recognizing it as an extension of our choices and values.
I came to understand that meaningful change doesn’t start with technical fixes like streamlining email signatures or building energy-efficient servers.
While these practical steps matter, they only address symptoms. The deeper work begins when we question why we use technology the way we do, what needs it truly serves in our lives, and whether our digital tools are aligned with our human values and wellbeing.
When we focus only on the environmental footprint of our devices, we miss the opportunity to reimagine our entire relationship with technology - one that could be more intentional, balanced, and ultimately more fulfilling. The path forward isn’t just about using technology more efficiently, but about using it more wisely.
I also realized that ecology, by its scientific definition, is primarily about observing systems as they exist - studying relationships and interactions without necessarily changing them. I felt constrained by this concept, as if it limited my ability to create meaningful change.
I ultimately suspended this project when I realized a fundamental truth about my approach.
This realization helped open my mind to a regenerative path, which I’m now exploring. Unlike ecological observation, regeneration isn’t just about understanding how things are, but actively healing systems and helping others reach this transformative stage. The source of change lies not in technical solutions but in how we think about, create, and relate to our digital world in ways that restore rather than deplete.