Abstract
Digital platforms have become vital spaces for learning, teaching, and advocating for sustainability practices and behaviors. In these spaces, individuals consume content and co-create meaning to form community and enact sustainable values through participatory engagement. Grounded in participatory culture and empowerment theory, this study examines how people use AI tools, video platforms, and social media networks to engage with sustainability to reflect identity and belonging. Participants (N=10) across qualitative interviews described digital platforms as spaces where they felt represented and part of a broader sustainability community. Digital tools enabled them to articulate their values, simplify complex concepts, offer relatable narratives, and provide culturally relevant models of sustainable practice. These interactions often reinforced participants’ sense of agency, particularly for individuals from marginalized racial or cultural backgrounds who used digital visibility to challenge stereotypes and contribute to more inclusive understandings of sustainability. Participants also identified limitations tied to algorithmic visibility and uneven representation, highlighting the structural conditions that shape whose sustainability narratives gain prominence online. These findings suggest that digital sustainability engagement operates as cultural participation. Technology shapes identity expression, cultural connections, and understanding, enabling greater engagement with sustainability concepts. The study also seeks to show how digital spaces support belonging and help individuals develop their own paths into sustainability practice.
Presenters
Michelle BurtonAssistant Professor, Art & Design, Montclair State University, New Jersey, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
New Media, Technology and the Arts
KEYWORDS
Digital Sustainability, Participatory Culture, Empowerment Theory, Identity Expression, Belonging, Representation
