Rachel Charlotte Smith is Associate Professor at the Department of Digital Design and Information Studies at Aarhus University. Her research focuses on sustainable futures between emerging digital technology and everyday life. Through longterm participatory research projects, she engages with exploring and transforming everyday practices and co-designing inclusive technologies and futures in diverse contexts. She works across contexts of participatory AI for green transitions in communities, automated urban mobility, and emerging technologies in education. She leads the research centre Digital and Green Transformation of Cities and Communities. 

Smith contributes to theoretical and methodological advancements in Design Anthropology, Participatory Design and Human-Computer Interaction. She was Chair of the Advisory Board for the International Participatory Design Conference (PDC) between 2020-2024. Recent publications and volumes include Routledge International Handbook for Contemporary Participatory Design (Smith, et al., 2025, Routledge), Participatory Design (Bødker et al., 2022, Springer), Special Issue on Towards Pluriversality: Decolonizing Design Theory and Practice, (Smith et al. 2024, CoDesign), Special Issue on Computational Empowerment (Schaper et al. 2023, International Journal of Child Computer Interaction), Special Issue on Design Anthropology (Smith ed. 2022, Design Studies), Design Anthropological Futures (Smith et al. 2016).