Light Sketching for Ecology: A cooperative design tool for balancing human experience and ecological impact

Abstract

The impact of artificial light at night on ecology is an urgent and continuous consideration in lighting design. People’s needs and wishes for light in urban areas often conflict with demands for minimising ecological impact. For example, in city parks people may desire light that offers a pleasant experience of nature and the feeling of safety, while the fauna may thrive best with no light at all. How to overcome this seemingly unresolvable conflict, especially in hybrid environments like city parks? This paper presents Light Sketching for Ecology, a cooperative lighting design tool to help balance lighting demands from the human experience side with demands for minimising ecological impact. Results from a pilot study show the potential of Light Sketching for Ecology to create a win-win situation in which park users are more positive about the park lighting while the lighting’s ecological impact is significantly lowered.