COMPASS 2025, hosted in Toronto, invites interdisciplinary research on sustainability with a focus on how computing and moves toward sustainability are embedded in and shaped by specific local contexts—computing in place. Rooted in the broader discourse of sustainability but also open to questioning its prevailing narratives, COMPASS welcomes work that critically examines how technology intersects with social, environmental, and economic systems. This year’s theme encourages a deeper, situated perspective on how technological practices emerge as solutions, but also contributors to the complexities they claim to address.

COMPASS draws from a wide array of disciplines: computer and information sciences, social sciences, critical geography, environmental studies, economics, climate studies, and engineering. We aim to foster a discussion that interrogates not only the potentials but also the limitations of technology-led interventions in sustainability. This includes research that explores power dynamics, inequality, and extraction—how technology might reinforce or disrupt existing systems. We encourage work from activists, worker advocates, and indigenous scholars, alongside those studying topics such as labour movements, climate adaptation, and the ethics of sustainability practices. COMPASS values research that brings forth the often-unseen political and material consequences of digital infrastructure in shaping futures.

COMPASS explicitly promotes multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research and practice that address key challenges for sustainable societies including, but not limited to, equity, health, education, poverty, accessibility, conservation, climate change, energy, infrastructure and economic growth. We also welcome research on the ethics of technology, especially from a critical perspective, that explores limitations and concerns with technology-led solutions for sustainable societies. COMPASS also has a particular commitment to approaches and research that address the challenges faced by under-represented and marginalized communities.

The theme of the conference will be Computing in Place. We also invite submissions that speak to that theme and/or contribute to one or more of the following areas:

    Systems and IoT for Sustainable Societies
    HCI, Design and Critical Perspectives
    AI, ML and Data Science for Sustainable Societies
    Development, Economics and Policy
    Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change
    Technology, Media, and Social Practice

Authors will have the opportunity to present their work as part of either in-person and hybrid paper sessions.

In our papers track, we welcome a variety of submission types, including deployment experiences, practitioner reports, user studies, ethnographies, design research, and systems building. We invite contributions from a range of fields, practices, and individuals who may not see themselves as traditionally members of ‘computing’ disciplines, including the humanities and social sciences, climate and sustainability research, and community advocacy.