Pervasive Sustainability

With each passing year, we continue to read and write statements such as “As the climate crisis accelerates, the imperative for sustainability has never been more urgent.” Pervasive computing continues to be specially poised to contribute to this priority. As a field, we collectively develop new devices and services; we create tools for algorithmic data analysis and control; and not least, we study digital technologies and services in use, and assess their impacts. This introduction to the special issue briefly reflects on sustainability research in pervasive computing, makes connections to important related fields, and presents the issue’s five articles, which represent the kind of diverse perspectives and approaches needed to address one of the biggest challenges of our time.