There are many discussions, slogans, and myths out there when it comes to sustainability. But what is behind all those slogans? What does “carbon neutral” really mean and how does it compare to “net-zero”? Is my cloud really running on renewable energy? What are the low-hanging fruits when it comes to reducing carbon emissions? And how does “carbon offsetting” really work?

This session explains all those slogans and concepts, sheds some light at common myths, and provides the audience with a solid understanding of the topic.

Target Audience: Architects, Developers, Managers, Project Leaders
Prerequisites: No prerequisites
Level: Basic

The topic of Green Software is very important because software is everywhere and affects the environment indirectly through the usage of hardware. Jochen Joswig explains what Green Software means and more detailed how energy demand can rise through software usage. There are different degrees of software effects on the environment that can be considered and evaluated. Jochen Joswig is furthermore researching green software metrics, approaches, quality criteria and how they can be applied in the daily business of software development.

Target Audience: Software Engineers, IT-Architects, IT-Consultants, Manager, ESG-Consultants, Sustainability Manager
Prerequisites: None
Level: Basic

Extended Abstract:
Information and communication technology (ICT) is both a curse and a blessing when looking for solutions to environmental problems like the climate crisis. On the one hand, things like video calls and instant messaging reduce the need for travel and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the total energy consumption and natural resource demand of ICT is growing. Therefore, in his opinion it is the responsibility of everyone involved in software development to use these resources as sparingly and efficiently as possible. Ideally during all parts of a software’s lifecycle.

There has been extensive research in recent years about Green Software. In this talk, Jochen Joswig will introduce some of the key ideas and methods from his research and make the matter of Green Software more accessible. Furthermore, he will introduce some areas in which in his opinion research is still lacking and provide a personal view on how this could be changed.

Over 95 % of companies in the EU are small businesses with less than 250 employees. Many of them would like to reduce their carbon emissions but very few have the knowledge and time needed to take action.
Reaching a sizable fraction of these companies with actionable information about their carbon footprint has a huge potential for climate impact. But is that possible for an organization with less than 10 employees? While also working at a sustainable pace?

Target Audience: Everybody willing to explore how to build software for our future
Prerequisites: none
Level: Basic

Extended Abstract:

Humanity of today is faced with several very serious challenges: environmental problems such as climate change are changing our conditions for living and producing food, making social problems like poverty and global inequality worse.  A good future for our Planet Earth and the humans it supports is possible, but only if we act for it. The aim of this session is to give more people the confidence and tools to get more people to do exactly that: act for a better future.

We’ll spend most of the session exploring the story of GoClimate, a company founded for the sole purpose of stopping climate change. From the example of GoClimate’s journey we’ll extract a toolbox for making an impact on a global problem with a small team. Hopefully you’ll leave this talk convinced that your actions matter and with concrete ideas on how you can act.

Green software engineering is an emerging discipline and being a part of the climate change solution is a relatively new part of many software companies' strategy. For some of us, building resource efficient solutions is something we have already done for a long time, but we called it performance work. Where do the two meet and when are they different? This talk introduces the field of green software engineering and explains where it intersects with performance optimizations, giving you the tools to take an active part in the climate solution.

Target Audience: Architects, Developers
Prerequisites: Basic understanding of software and performance metrics like latency and resource utilization
Level: Advanced

Extended Abstract:
Software has a huge carbon footprint and impact our global commitment to keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement. To reach this goal, emissions need to be reduced by 45 % by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. The rising interest in getting a better handle on the carbon emissions of software has garnered interest from the research and practitioner communities across industry, government, academia, and civil society.

The objective of this session is to break beyond surface-level discussions and dive deep into understanding the challenges and opportunities related to assessing and mitigating the carbon impacts of software systems, through the lens of high performing software.

Sustainability needs change-ability. This 90-min panel will have on three speakers on change. How to move many people or a company to change the status quo. This question addresses the needs of organizations and likewise the needs of our society.

Target Audience: Change Management People, Everyone
Prerequisites: None
Level: Advanced

Extended Abstract:
We will combine three speakers with 20 min Impulse talks. There will be biological brewed beer in different flavors to accompany the tasteful and inspiring talks. The audience will be able to ask questions and supply suggestions, the speakers will respond to that. Anke and Hannes will serve as referees and sommelier(e)s.
The three talks are:

Gina Häußge: Adventures in Open Source Development - how to change OS
Oftentimes when imagining how Open Source Software is developed, the following sort of picture is painted: teams of dozens of developers coordinating happily, handling constant software maintenance with a smile on their faces and often provided with company funding. This is an ideal picture that sadly and all too often doesn't reflect reality. So, the question remains: what is it like to create, develop, and maintain an Open Source project independently or with a small-sized team and an unsure funding situation?

Michael de Zan: Sect or state religion? Agile rituals from a cultural-historical perspective
As a team, do we enjoy going to the retro as much as young people go to church on Sundays? Do we help shape agile events, or do we delegate them to priestly rite experts? Are we passionate about agile values, or do we live with the agile framework as with a state religion whose rituals we have to serve externally? The lecture takes a look at the agile rituals from a ritual-theoretical and cultural-historical perspective, shows parallels and offers a change of perspective in order to reflect on and further develop one's own rituals.

Anke Nehrenberg: “To boldly go …” - Definitions - Reflections - Observations - Predictions on ‘Culture of Growth’
We will start by exploring the concept of culture and continue with a self-localization: where are we today, what aspects does ‘growth’ bring to the party? Culture and organization not only are interdependent, they affect each other reciprocally. Most of this will sound familiar and may be boring, so let’s take it a bit further and explore the edges of our known universe: I will draw on observations and reflections of organizational culture and what may become important in a (galaxy) future not so far away.