This exploratory project examines how digital transformation can support environmental and social justice within the Tayside Bioregion in Scotland, with a focus on communities along the River Ericht in Blairgowrie & Rattray. These areas face increasing flood risk, prompting river restoration and resilience initiatives that rely heavily on digital tools for communication, monitoring and coordination.
The project aims to understand how digital infrastructure shapes participation in local environmental action, and how inequalities in access, confidence, cost and trust affect civic engagement, particularly for residents experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or digital exclusion. It also investigates the environmental impact of current digital systems, which are often energy-intensive, opaque, and controlled by large external providers.
A key objective is to test the feasibility of community-owned, low-energy and open-source digital infrastructure as a more equitable and sustainable alternative. This includes exploring whether locally hosted tools can strengthen community autonomy, transparency and long-term stewardship while reducing environmental impact.
The research will use a participatory approach, combining a digital practices audit, a community workshop, and a stakeholder session. These activities will generate community-led insights into digital needs, barriers and opportunities, and will help assess early-stage adoption potential, usability and trust in decentralised systems.
The project brings together a multidisciplinary team with expertise in digital inclusion, participatory design, community engagement, environmental systems and data ethics. Their combined skills support an interdisciplinary approach that bridges technology, place-based knowledge and social justice.
Aligned with INCLUDE+, the project advances inclusive digital futures by centring underserved communities, addressing digital inequality, and exploring low-carbon, community-governed alternatives to mainstream digital infrastructure. It contributes to building more resilient, equitable and environmentally responsible digital systems rooted in local lived experience.
Team
Donna Holford-Lovell – Director, Crafting Digital
Clare Cooper – Co-Director, Bioregioning Tayside