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ADAPTATION IN A BLUE BOX

PROJECT : PREPPER'S KIT 2047, Speculative responses to cybersecurity disasters in energy infrastructures

// Collaborator(s) : Dr Ola Michalec

// Funder(s) : The Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cybersecurity (University of Bristol)

// Completed : 18th May 2025

When I received this brief I knew I wanted to focus on several things :

1. How preparedness could be informed by anticipatory innovation and adaptation.

2. The "civil user" scale - so households and communities.

3. Do the second in a way that uses adaptation as a lens through which resilience can be made contextually relevant and tangible to the public.

4. Use this project to further build out a structured and repeatable methodology to inform the work and able to be further tested at different scales and in relation to different emerging and future risks and risk contexts.

We live in globalised, networked societies where the frequency of events and incidents with potential for disruptive implications is increasing, and if they do occur, they span greater scales, occupy wider scopes, and importantly, because of interconnectivity and interdependence, have potential to become systemic and occur simultaneously.

Today, the nature and variety of hazards is evolving, and the ways in which our connected systems and societies are exposed and potentially vulnerable to them is increasing.

Present-day risks are changing in ways that may exceed historic and established controls; novel emerging risks are manifesting in ways for which they may be no existing control or mitigation regime; and present, emerging and re-emerging risks are interacting and combining in ways that have potential to create implications that may cause severe disruption to the things we care about and society relies upon.

In the past, keeping candles in the kitchen drawer in case of a power blackout was a symbol of cultural, mundane and domestic resilience. What could be an equivalent of that candle in 2047, in a world where energy resilience will depend on our collective and individual abilities to cope with cyber security risks?

In 2024, members of the public are typically protected from power disruptions at the infrastructural level. The (relative) resilience and stability of the computer systems running the UK energy infrastructure are maintained by tireless engineers, IT staff, and complex geo-political arrangements. Cyber security threats, hackers, and vulnerabilities are typically handled internally by a closed circle of experts who are well prepared to handle potential disruptions.

However, the current movement to digitalise, decentralise and decarbonise grid operations brings non-expert citizens into these cyber security operations. How will they prepare for an attack on the energy sector?

The project will propose scenarios of extreme disruption (e.g., due to a country-wide cyber security attack, serious software misconfiguration, etc) and develop a “Preppers’ Kit 2047”, including prototypes of devices encouraging resilient practices for citizens.

In methodological terms, I used what I'm - for now - loosely calling the ACADA framework. This a structured set of methods sequenced from Anticipation -> Characterisation -> Assessment -> Design -> Articulation. This particular combination of techniques and processes is under iterative development.

From a design perspective, given the nature of the adaptations that were imagined in this project and their role within the scenario context, I wanted to design them in a way which intentionally situates them as background objects - things which fade into the content of everyday life and really come into their own during moments when they're needed.

This nudged me to focus on designs which were (1) intuitive to use, (2) approachable, and (3) purposeful. The foregrounding of these three principles alongside a consistent intent to make everything look and feel aesthetically beautiful and simple guided the approach.

For the Fab Lab, there is an additional emphasis on certain material and production characteristics needed for the Lab to be able to design and produce adaptations which do not solely nor needlessly rely on the industrial bases that have in part contributed to the evolution of the risks for which the adaptations are directed.

These principles have been articulated in the Fab Lab Catalogue and include aspects like robustness, modularity, circularity, open source and localised production.

This project exists within a speculative UK town in the year 2047, constructed in the late 2030s much like the old mining towns were - purpose-built, community-oriented, and entirely shaped by the gravitational pull of a local critical infrastructure project - in this case, the Midhaven Data Complex.

In this town, the 'whole-of-society' resilience push we see today has matured into a defining feature of civic life, and following years of disruptions, governments, infrastructure providers, and civil society groups have formed durable new alliances to anticipate and soften the shocks of a dynamic and volatile world.

One such partnership is the Digital Energy Trust, a joint initiative between national cyber authorities, local energy cooperatives, and critical infrastructure stakeholders who, in collaboration with the Midhaven Resilience Forum - a hybrid civic body of local leaders, technologists, and residents - have nurtured an ecology of preparedness and adaptation initiatives to educate and equip citizens with what they need not just to survive disruption, but to adapt forward through it.

The Energy Security Preparedness Starter Kit is part of one such initiative, existing as one of several thematic kits offered to households across Midhaven, addressing risks ranging from extreme heat and water stress to food security and misinformation resilience.

But this is not just a story of top-down instruction or compliance to a prescriptive model. In Midhaven, resilience is grounded in relational co-activity and dependent on the ability of residents to exercise their own adaptive agency alongside more structured planning - and the kits are only the beginning.

What unfolds from them is deeper, more intimate participation in a shared culture of collective preparation, in-situ invention leveraging the affordances of their context, and everyday connection to a hopeful narrative directed not by fear of catastrophe, but creative recalibration, responsive innovation, and anticipatory adaptation.

So what's in the box?

Well, at the heart of Prepper’s Kit 2047 is a set of prototype adaptations, each one reflecting a possible way that citizens of Midhaven might prepare for and respond to future energy and cybersecurity disruptions.

1. Power Pod (miniature prototype)

A personal household energy back-up device, the Power Pod connects to the local Midhaven microgrid and passively draws down surplus electricity during periods of stability. When outages strike—whether due to cyber-induced grid failures or blackouts—it activates, providing essential household power. The Pod is a symbol of distributed resilience: no longer reliant on distant providers, power becomes something shared, stewarded, and exchanged among neighbours.

2. Bug Box

The Bug Box reframes cybersecurity as a communal activity. It’s a citizen-interface for Gridware, Midhaven’s local cyber-security architecture that harnesses distributed threat detection through ambient sensors and household devices. By hosting one of these miniature boxes, residents help monitor network integrity and contribute to cyber situational awareness—without compromising privacy. It’s a reminder that adaptation isn't just technical; it's social, relational, and embodied in physical space.

3. Energy Token

More than just currency, the Energy Token is a method of community energy exchange. Residents earn tokens by contributing to local resilience activities—like sharing power through their Power Pods, participating in cyber drills, or running a repair workshop. These tokens can be traded or exchanged for energy, services, or equipment, creating a local energy economy based on reciprocity.

4. User Manuals / Fab Lab Catalogue

Each adaptation is accompanied by a User Manual—straightforward, instructional, and written in plain language. These manuals explain what the adaptations are, how they work, and how they connect to broader preparedness efforts in the town. Alongside them is a Fab Lab Catalogue, a zine-style directory of additional community-designed adaptations that can be printed and assembled locally.

The adaptations designed in this project are not polished products, and they’re not meant to be.

They are provocations—rough-edged prototypes designed to test how anticipatory design can make adaptation tangible and thinkable.

Accordingly, this project isn’t about offering definitive solutions; it’s about possibility thinking and innovation, exploring what it could look like to develop adaptations that are both hopeful, and deeply situated in people and place.

The Power Pod is a compact, household-scale energy storage and sharing device designed to help residents of Midhaven take control of their power. More than just a battery, it stores surplus energy from the microgrid or your own generation sources, making it available when demand spikes, prices rise, or the grid goes down.

What sets the Power Pod apart is its community-first design. You can share surplus energy with neighbours, contribute to grid stability during peak hours, and even earn Energy Tokens for your efforts. In times of disruption—whether from cyberattacks or system failures—the Pod automatically switches to backup mode, powering essential devices and keeping your home connected.

Drawing on principles of modularity, openness, and local production, the Pod can be printed and assembled in the Fab Lab, repaired or upgraded over time, and adapted to suit different household needs.

The Energy Security Preparedness Box is a household starter kit designed to help residents prepare for, withstand, and respond to energy-related disruptions. It brings together essential tools and guidance to keep homes powered, informed, and connected during times of uncertainty and disruption.

Each box contains a curated set of low-tech and configurable adaptations, including a Power Pod, Bug Box, Energy Token, printed guides and a Fab Lab catalogue showing other energy and cybersecurity-related adaptations available for printing in the Fab Lab.

I created the Preparedness Box to embody resilience activity that is practical, localised, and participatory. Every item in the box is selected or fabricated with repairability, reuse, and accessibility in mind, and many can be made or customised in the Fab Lab.

This box is one of many preparedness kits (like the Orange Box, or perhaps the Green Box) offered to residents by the Local Resilience Forum in relation to a variety of risks from extreme heat and food security to—in this case—energy and cyber disruption.

The Bug Box is a household cybersecurity toolkit designed to protect households and Midhaven’s microgrid from digital threats. It connects to a resident's local network, actively scans for vulnerabilities—like weak encryption, outdated protocols, or unusual data traffic—and invites them to explore, understand, and address them in a safe, guided environment.

But the Bug Box isn’t just a scanner—it’s a portal into collaborative cybersecurity. When it detects an issue, it links the resident to Gridware’s community debugging platform, where they, along with local experts, are able to co-develop fixes through open-source contributions. Residents can even earn Energy Tokens for their efforts, making security not just a responsibility, but a shared opportunity.

I designed the Bug Box as part of community-led digital resilience—where cybersecurity becomes accessible, empowering, and woven into daily life. It includes a built-in AI companion for passive anomaly monitoring, a secure virtual sandbox for safe testing, and the ability to contribute to Midhaven’s distributed cyber defense network. All housed in a form able to be printed, assembled, and customised in the local Fab Lab.

The Energy Token is a digital unit of energy value used within Midhaven’s microgrid to enable local energy exchange, incentivise participation, and support distributed decision-making. Representing real kilowatt-hours generated from localised sources, Energy Tokens can be earned, stored, traded, and used to vote on key infrastructure upgrades or community energy projects.

Residents earn tokens by contributing surplus energy, supporting microgrid stability, identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities through the Bug Box, or participating in preparedness and maintenance initiatives. Tokens can then be exchanged for practical services—like access to the Fab Lab, shared tools, or skill-sharing workshops—or saved for use during disruptions, when central systems may be compromised.

The Energy Token was developed as part of an effort to reimagine energy as a community-governed resource, not just a commodity.

Designed to circulate locally and regenerate value, the token system aligns economic activity with collective resilience.

The Fab Lab Catalogue is a curated collection of anticipatory adaptations—tools, devices, and open-source designs developed to help Midhaven residents prepare for, respond to, and recover from energy and cyber-related disruptions. Each item in the catalogue reflects a commitment to practical, everyday resilience at the household and neighbourhood level.

From modular knowledge vaults and crisis bots, to offline communication kits and emergency disco kinetic generators, every design follows a set of core principles: robustness, modularity, circularity, open-source access, and local production. Many components can be fabricated or repaired directly within Midhaven’s network of Fab Labs using shared equipment like 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines.

The catalogue supports a shift from passive consumption to active co-creation. Residents are encouraged not only to download and use existing designs, but to adapt, remix, and contribute their own solutions via the Fab Lab Cloud—a living archive of community-driven innovation.

The Fab Lab Catalogue is more than a library of objects—it’s a snapshot of a future where resilience is made tangible, local, and shared.

ADAPTATION IN A BLUE BOX

PROJECT : PREPPER'S KIT 2047, Speculative responses to cybersecurity disasters in energy infrastructures

// Collaborator(s) : Dr Ola Michalec // Funder(s) : The Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cybersecurity (University of Bristol)

// Completed : 18th May 2025

// Collaborator(s) : Dr Ola Michalec

// Funder(s) : The Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cybersecurity (University of Bristol)