Cindy Kohtala
Biographic Data
| ID | 6904144 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cindy Kohtala |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cindy |
| FAMILY NAME | Kohtala |
| SIGNATURE | KOHTALA C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Umeå University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7417-0745 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 8 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Seamful infrastructuring through material engagement for energy transitions with youth
While the concept of infrastructuring has become well established in Participatory Design (PD), understanding how infrastructuring unfolds within complex sociotechnical issues for sustainability, such as energy transitions, remains underexplored. This study analyzes six PD energy projects where school communities co-designed and prototyped renewable energy technologies and used them. We illustrate how direct, hands-on material engagement with ren…
Materiality in community energy innovation
Collective and citizen-driven activities for energy transition have been thriving globally in recent decades. Community energy innovation (CEI) developed through hands-on engagement with materials has garnered increasing attention from the interdisciplinary energy research community. The recent scholarly discussion has highlighted the role of materiality and its relation to collective agency, inclusion, and approaches to participation. Accordingl…
Experimenting with sustainability education
Experiments are deemed not only useful, but necessary in sustainability transformation to enhance local decision-making. This is especially apparent in Finland where national government programmes and city administrations promote sustainability experimentation and bottom-up initiatives in the interest of equitable participation. At the same time, universities are expected to respond to societal calls for major infrastructural transformations, whi…
Title
Content
Makers and Design in South Africa
Collaborative Confusion among DIY Makers
Eco-oriented makers and grassroots subcultures experimenting with digital fabrication technologies, and other activists designing sustainable futures, are increasingly the subject of research. As they address problems of environmental sustainability beyond institutional contexts, their work may appear vague, even confused, yet their activities are underpinned by intense and principled commitment. Working through their confusion, many maker commun…
Framing Open Design through Theoretical Concepts and Practical Applications
This study reports on the results of a systematic literature review on\n‘open design’ in academic fields including and beyond design and HCI.\nThe review investigates how studies are framed as open design and\nopen-source design (including ‘open hardware’): how researchers contribute\nto conceptual theorizing about open design or study its practical\noperationalization, in do-it-yourself ‘making,’ manufacturing and practices\nin-between these dom…
Materiality in community energy innovation
Collective and citizen-driven activities for energy transition have been thriving globally in recent decades. Community energy innovation (CEI) developed through hands-on engagement with materials has garnered increasing attention from the interdisciplinary energy research community. The recent scholarly discussion has highlighted the role of materiality and its relation to collective agency, inclusion, and approaches to participation. Accordingl…
Framing Open Design through Theoretical Concepts and Practical Applications
This study reports on the results of a systematic literature review on\n‘open design’ in academic fields including and beyond design and HCI.\nThe review investigates how studies are framed as open design and\nopen-source design (including ‘open hardware’): how researchers contribute\nto conceptual theorizing about open design or study its practical\noperationalization, in do-it-yourself ‘making,’ manufacturing and practices\nin-between these dom…
Collaborative Confusion among DIY Makers
Eco-oriented makers and grassroots subcultures experimenting with digital fabrication technologies, and other activists designing sustainable futures, are increasingly the subject of research. As they address problems of environmental sustainability beyond institutional contexts, their work may appear vague, even confused, yet their activities are underpinned by intense and principled commitment. Working through their confusion, many maker commun…
Title
Content
Makers and Design in South Africa
Experimenting with sustainability education
Experiments are deemed not only useful, but necessary in sustainability transformation to enhance local decision-making. This is especially apparent in Finland where national government programmes and city administrations promote sustainability experimentation and bottom-up initiatives in the interest of equitable participation. At the same time, universities are expected to respond to societal calls for major infrastructural transformations, whi…
Materiality in community energy innovation
Collective and citizen-driven activities for energy transition have been thriving globally in recent decades. Community energy innovation (CEI) developed through hands-on engagement with materials has garnered increasing attention from the interdisciplinary energy research community. The recent scholarly discussion has highlighted the role of materiality and its relation to collective agency, inclusion, and approaches to participation. Accordingl…
Seamful infrastructuring through material engagement for energy transitions with youth
While the concept of infrastructuring has become well established in Participatory Design (PD), understanding how infrastructuring unfolds within complex sociotechnical issues for sustainability, such as energy transitions, remains underexplored. This study analyzes six PD energy projects where school communities co-designed and prototyped renewable energy technologies and used them. We illustrate how direct, hands-on material engagement with ren…
Political science (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction (3 works) · Business (2 works) · Engineering (2 works) · Engineering ethics (2 works) · Epistemology (2 works) · Geography (2 works) · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development (2 works) · Innovative Education and Learning Practices (2 works)