Skip to main content

SC: Sustainability

PART I — FORESIGHT SNAPSHOT  |  SC: Sustainability  |  Fixed Time-Stamped Synthesis


2026 SC: Sustainability

Card Type

Societal Challenge

Series

Immersive Futures Guild — Vision 2035

Layer

1 — Atomic Foresight Object

Status

Active

Confidence

Medium

Workshop

Circle of Scholars — January 2026

Facilitator

Circle of Scholars Workshop Team

Tags

sustainability  |  ecology  |  infrastructure  |  layer1  |  sc

Tally.so Form

https://tally.so/r/ilrn-if-sc-sustainability-2026


The convergence of ecological crisis with technology development creates both pressure and opportunity for immersive learning systems. Digital infrastructure carries environmental costs — data centers, device manufacturing, and energy consumption — that must be accounted for in the design of immersive learning ecosystems. Simultaneously, immersive technologies offer capabilities for environmental education, remote collaboration (reducing travel footprint), and simulation of ecological systems otherwise impossible to experience directly.

Key Drivers / Contributing Conditions:

  • Climate emergency acceleration and institutional net-zero commitments

  • Device lifecycle, e-waste, and hardware supply chain concerns

  • Energy costs of cloud-rendered and AI-assisted XR at scale

  • Growing learner and institutional demand for sustainability accounting in EdTech

Educational and Design Implications:

  • Carbon accounting requirements for virtual campuses and XR deployments

  • Pedagogical opportunities in immersive ecological and climate simulation

  • Design tension between digital access expansion and digital footprint reduction

Tensions Carried Forward to Part II:

  • Can immersive learning claim sustainability benefits without comprehensive lifecycle accounting?

  • How should institutions weigh digital footprint against travel-reduction benefits of virtual conferencing?

Linked Scenarios / Strands: See cross-links above

Ways of Knowing: Tree  ·  Garden  ·  Lantern


PART II — COMMUNITY EVIDENCE & DIALOGUE TRACK  |  SC: Sustainability  |  H2 2026 — Living


T

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION FORM  —  SC: Sustainability

Submit case examples, methodological challenges, cultural perspectives, and proposed evidence criteria via: https://tally.so/r/ilrn-if-sc-sustainability-2026


Part II — Scope and Instructions

This section collects community responses, case examples, and challenges to the Part I foresight snapshot above.

It opens July 1, 2026 and undergoes synthesis review in September 2026, November 2026, and January 2027.

Contributions are submitted via the Tally.so form above and appear in the registers below after editorial review.

The Part I text is not modified in response to Part II contributions; it is versioned at the Annual Handoff review.

Contribution categories:  Case Example  |  Methodological Challenge  |  Cultural/Community Perspective  |  Proposed Evidence Criterion

Ways of Knowing accepted:  Tree (evidence)  |  Garden (practice)  |  Lantern (futures)


Tensions Open for Community Response:

  • Can immersive learning claim sustainability benefits without comprehensive lifecycle accounting?

  • How should institutions weigh digital footprint against travel-reduction benefits of virtual conferencing?


Contributor / Date

Category

Way of Knowing

Contribution Summary

[ Awaiting contributions — form opens July 1, 2026 ]


No comments to display

Back to top