29 May 2025
Discover Digital Sustainability
This blog post is by Dr Adi Keinan-Schoonbaert, Digital Curator for Asian and African Collections, British Library. She's on Mastodon as @[email protected] and Bluesky as @adi-keinan.bsky.social
As someone with an ongoing interest in all things environmental sustainability – especially where digital work and technologies are concerned – I was highly motivated to plan and coordinate a month-long series of training events entitled “Discover Digital Sustainability”. Ran as part of the British Library’s Digital Scholarship Training Programme (DSTP) in March 2025, this training series explored the intersection of technology, digital practices, and environmental responsibility. Designed to spark practical climate action, it brought together staff from across the organisation, offering them the knowledge and tools needed to reduce the environmental impact of their digital work.
Building on the success of previous initiatives – including the DHCC/BL workshop in early 2024, ongoing Carbon Literacy Training, and the launch of the British Library’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy – this comprehensive programme featured a rich blend of talks, interactive workshops, and a reflective reading group session. Attendees engaged with topics ranging from data management, digital preservation, digitisation, and web design to the environmental implications of AI, hardware use, as well as procurement and supply chains.
Throughout the month, staff heard from experts in heritage, academia, and technology, as well as British Library colleagues leading by example in rethinking workflows and adopting greener digital practices. The training not only deepened our understanding of how to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of digital operations but also inspired a broader cultural shift toward sustainability in the way we create, manage, and deliver digital services.
Reading Group
The series kicked off with a dedicated reading group session focused on the theme of data and digital waste. It sparked thoughtful discussion around the environmental impacts of data creation, storage, and retention. Participants explored how to balance the social value of data with its environmental cost, drawing on key resources, mainly from Loughborough University’s Digital Decarbonisation project, which highlights the concept of “dark data” and the hidden carbon footprint associated with unused or unnecessary data.
The conversation set the stage for a timely follow-up webinar later that week, entitled “Your Data Carbon Footprint: What It Is & Why It Matters”, hosted by Leadership Through Data and featuring Professors Tom Jackson and Ian Hodgkinson from the Digital Decarbonisation project. Several attendees joined this session, which offered deeper insights into the scale and significance of data-related emissions and practical steps for managing digital waste more sustainably.
Staff Talks
The training series featured six engaging staff talks (we call them 21st Century Curatorship Talks), each offering unique perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of embedding sustainability into digital practices across the cultural, academic and technology sectors.
Katie Espley from the Library’s Corporate Information Management Unit shared practical strategies in her “Records Management Refresh” session, highlighting best practices for organising digital workspaces to reduce clutter and improve efficiency. Dr Nicôle Meehan (University of St Andrews) examined the environmental impact of museum digitisation, encouraging institutions to take action to reduce its carbon cost. From the tech industry, Lewis Richards (Chief Sustainability Officer, Microsoft UK) provided insights into Microsoft’s sustainability initiatives and how they are addressing environmental impact at scale.
Stacey Anderson (The Box Plymouth) contributed a session on sustainable digital preservation in museums and archives, while David Mahoney (University of Edinburgh) explored sustainable web design, offering practical ways to lower the environmental footprint of online content. Finally, Jon Ray (Oxford GLAM) presented the University of Oxford GLAM’s efforts to develop a digital sustainability action plan, showcasing how cultural organisations can take meaningful steps to reduce their digital carbon footprint. Together, these talks illustrated the breadth of sustainable digital practice and inspired staff to think critically about their own work.
Workshops
Three hands-on workshops offered staff the opportunity to dive deeper into the practicalities of digital sustainability, each approaching the topic from a different angle. In the “Future of Digital Sustainability”, Jo Walton and Nathalie Huegler from the University of Sussex Digital Humanities Lab led an interactive session and card game that explored the environmental impact of digital technologies and strategies for building more sustainable digital practices. Bailey Bryan and Tommy Ferry from the digital agency Wholegrain Digital followed with a focused workshop on the carbon footprint of web design, guiding participants through actionable steps to create more environmentally friendly websites.
Finally, a Hack & Yack session, led by Nora McGregor, brought staff together in a collaborative effort to co-create a Digital Sustainability online guide tailored for library professionals. This guide forms part of a broader initiative by the Digital Scholarship and Digital Cultural Heritage Collections Working Group (a LIBER working group chaired by Nora), now working in partnership with LIBER’s Data Science in Libraries group to build a centralised staff skills hub – a trusted resource for training at the intersection of libraries, cultural heritage, and digital technologies.
Key Takeaways
The different presentations and discussions brought to light the complex challenges and opportunities that lie at the intersection of digital practice and environmental responsibility. One of the recurring themes was the widespread underestimation or complete lack of measurement around digital-related carbon emissions. Many organisations still operate without clear data hygiene policies, and there is a notable lack of consistent, trustworthy reporting from digital service providers on their sustainability practices. This is compounded by limited awareness of the environmental footprint of routine digital activities, including hardware procurement, software use, and long-term digital storage.
Speakers highlighted the tensions many institutions face in balancing environmental goals with the practicalities of funding requirements, user experience expectations, and organisational responsibilities. The use of AI was a particular area of concern – not only for its increasing energy demands but also for the need to use it more responsibly and strategically. The importance of informing policy change and providing the sector with practical, actionable resources was emphasised as a priority for enabling progress.
The talks and workshops also underscored the importance of data and facts in making the case for change. Data centres alone are responsible for between 2.5% and 3.7% of global carbon emissions – potentially exceeding the aviation sector. Additionally, up to 65% of stored data is considered “dark” (unused), with another 15% classified as redundant. Reducing this unnecessary data load is essential, and speakers offered a range of sustainability strategies to help. These included selective digitisation that prioritises high-value or at-risk collections, the use of lossless compression formats to reduce file size without compromising quality, and scheduling energy-intensive processes like integrity checks during off-peak hours.
Other practical recommendations included sustainable web design principles, such as optimising images, reducing page weight, and minimising third-party scripts. Speakers also noted encouraging signs of progress in the form of evolving sector standards for sustainable digital archiving, and the growing emphasis on green procurement, evaluating vendors not just on price and functionality but also on their environmental credentials.
Finally, a clear call to action emerged around the need for collective effort. Sector-wide collaboration was viewed as essential for setting shared standards, influencing common suppliers, and fostering open dialogue. Tools such as carbon calculators and tracking toolkits can support these efforts, but lasting change will depend on sustained joint action and a willingness to embed sustainability into every aspect of digital practice. Importantly, this work must be done with a strong commitment to equity, ensuring that the push for digital efficiency does not come at the cost of access or inclusion.
What did participants think?
The training series saw a whopping number of 88 participants from many teams and department across the Library, many of which attended more than one event. A survey was conducted at the end of the training series, to assess the relevance of topics to both professional digital working and personal life, as well as gauge impact: what changes were participants going to make? How will their behaviour change? With some questions mandatory and some optional, the survey had 22 respondents in total.
On a scale from None (1) to Advanced (5), participants rated their knowledge of digital sustainability at 2.36 on average before the series, and at 3.64 on average afterwards. This demonstrates an increased level of confidence in understanding relevant topics. Survey results also show that almost everyone has learned new things, or reinforced things they’ve already known about. Most respondents also shared or intend to share knowledge acquired from the series, and most have made or intend on making changes in their professional role, with some also in their personal lives. Almost all of them would recommend similar events to colleagues in the future.
Looking into the changes that respondents were going to make, it was evident that participants were thinking critically about digital sustainability, from practical day-to-day actions to influencing organisational change. Several mentioned file and data management, for example reducing the duplication of files, doing a ‘spring clean’, or deleting unnecessary emails. Others talked about sustainable digital practices, like encouraging a climate aware task scheduler function built in for large jobs in development environments, or a desire to create a sustainability checklist for web editing. Several pointed to the importance of advocacy, knowledge sharing and team engagement, for example influencing policies, sharing knowledge about cloud storage considerations, encouraging mindful use of storage in platforms like MS Teams, or telling people about the Hugging Face list of models that require less resources.
Participants highlighted several aspects of the training series that they found especially valuable and enjoyable. The sessions were praised for being accessible to non-specialists, with clear and engaging presentations that made complex topics understandable. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to learn from experts across different fields, gaining new perspectives and recognising shared challenges. The diversity of talks throughout the month helped reinforce key ideas, making the learning experience more cohesive and impactful. Interactive elements, such as the “Future of Digital Sustainability” workshop and the educational card game, were particularly well received for being both fun and informative. Many found the enthusiasm and expertise of the speakers inspiring and valued the sense of community fostered throughout the series – feeling connected to others who are equally committed to addressing important issues.
We had some thoughtful and constructive feedback on how the training series could be improved. A recurring suggestion was to spread out the events over a longer period, with slightly shorter presentations and more interactive elements to keep engagement high. Several attendees expressed a desire for more practical, hands-on content, such as Hack & Yack sessions that focus on applying ideas directly to their work environments. There was also interest in exploring how digital sustainability can be balanced with usability and visual appeal, particularly for those working in online public engagement. A few attendees found the themes somewhat repetitive and proposed a structured progression – starting with theory and moving into application – for those attending multiple sessions. Additionally, ideas were raised about revisiting key topics in future sessions to keep the momentum going and share updates.
My favourite testimonial would probably be:
“I just wanted to drop a quick note to say how great it is that you're running these sessions. I think we often struggle to take environmental impacts into consideration when appraising options for digital systems and data projects so this is incredibly welcome.”
Feedback on the “Future of Digital Sustainability”
The “Future of Digital Sustainability” workshop received separate feedback, which was also really helpful. Participants found the workshop to be a highly engaging, enjoyable, and accessible way to explore the complex subject of digital sustainability. Many emphasised the fun, playful nature of the learning experience, noting how it made the subject matter more approachable and digestible. The interactive format encouraged rich discussions, peer learning, and collective reflection, allowing participants to learn not only from the facilitators but also from the expertise of their colleagues. Several appreciated the balance between educational depth and a light, participatory tone, saying it was both thought-provoking and practical. The workshop was seen as a great tool for building shared understanding and momentum within teams, with participants leaving more informed and motivated.
Suggestions for improvement focused mostly on refining the structure of the card game used in the workshop. Some participants noted a need to better balance the depth of discussion with the pace of gameplay, proposing fewer cards, clearer ground rules, and a short introduction to the game strategy. Others recommended changes to the mechanics – such as modifying hand sizes, how actions and events are played, and how points are distributed – to reduce repetition and enhance flow. A few attendees also wished for a better way to track the many concepts raised during the game. Despite these suggestions, the consensus was that the game was a valuable and enjoyable tool. Participants also expressed interest in future collaboration and emphasised the importance of translating insights into actionable decisions across the organisation.
And as for my favourite quote –
“The workshop was soooo good! I hope you're able to run it again so that more BL folk can attend. I think we all left feeling more positive, informed and empowered than we entered.”
Next Steps
Organising the “Discover Digital Sustainability” training series at the British Library was an incredibly rewarding experience. I learned a great deal through the process and especially valued the chance to connect with other organisations and professionals working in this space. These conversations were not only inspiring but also opened up exciting possibilities for future collaboration. I’m proud that we were able to deliver something both meaningful and impactful, helping to bring the topic of digital sustainability to the forefront within our institution.
Looking ahead, I’m optimistic that many of the insights and ideas from the series will be put into practice – in line with the Library’s strategic action plan – across teams, departments, and individuals. There’s more to come too: I’ll be speaking at DH2025 in Lisbon this July, sharing our work through a paper on “Digital Humanities and Environmental Sustainability at the British Library,” and also plan to publish the topic guide on digital sustainability later this summer. Plus, we’ll be running the “Future of Digital Sustainability” workshop and card game again during Green Libraries Week, this time at our Boston Spa site. Our commitment to learning continues, and we’ll keep seeking new opportunities to support staff through the Digital Scholarship Training Programme.
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