4.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli 12-13 (27)

Carlo VezzoliPolitecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy

course System Design for Sustainabilitysubject 4. Design for social equity and cohesion

learning resource 4.1

Towards social equity and cohesion

carlo vezzolipolitecnico di milano . DESIGN dept. . DIS . School of Design . Italy

Learning Network on Sustainability (EU asia-link)Learning Network on Sustainabile energy systems (EU edulink)


CONTENTS . the socio-ethical dimension of sustainability. PSS: opportunities in emerging and low-income contexts. distributed economies: coupling eco-efficency with social equity and cohesion. distributed renewable energy generation/the third industrial revolution. distributed economies a promising PSS characteristic for sustainable innovation for all


[UN SUMMITS, RIO, JOHANNESBURG, RIO+20 (1992-2012)]EQUITY PRINCIPLE “every person, in a fair distribution of resources, has a right to the same environmental space, i.e. to the same availability of global natural resources”

THE SOCIO-ETHICAL SUSTAIANBILITY

[EU, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, 2006/2009]SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION“promotion of a democratic, socially inclusive, cohesive, healthy, safe and just society with respect for fundamental rights and cultural diversity that creates equal opportunities and combats discrimination in all its forms”


. eradicating of poverty

. promotion of principles and rules of democracy

. promotion of human rights and freedom

. achievement of peace and security

. access to information, training, employment

. respect for cultural diversity, regional identity

THE SOCIO-ETHICAL SUSTAIANBILITY: ACTIONS


1996: Rome, FAO summit: 185 countries agreed and committed to cut by half the number of undernourished people

2000: UN Millenium summit >“Millenium decleration” signed by 191 member states:

1. Eradicate poverty and by for 2015: . reduce by half, form 1990 to 2015, the percentage of undernourished persons. grant a full and productive employment and a dignitous job for all, including women and yungseter…

ERADICATING POVERTYinternational commitments


2001: the world bank; UNFPA. 1,1 billion people live on less than 1 US dollar a day. 2,7 billion people (half the world) live on less than 2 US dollar a

day. 1 billion children (1 in 2 children in the world) live in poverty. 11 million children die every year before fifth birthday. 18 million people a year (1/3 of deaths) are due to poverty. 400 million have no access to safe water. 800 million people are undernourished

. 80% of world population uses 20% of consumed natural resources



11.2010: FAOTHE STATE OF THE FOOD INSECURITY IN THE WORLD



IT IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF SO CALLED “DEVELOPING COUNTRIES”

. in a global market companies in industrialised countries are interacting with stakeholders of their supply chain, being in low-income and emerging countries

. even industrialised countries are facing poverty and problem with social cohesion

THIS IS WHY IT IS BETTER TO SPEAK ABOUT LOW-INCOME, EMERGING, INDUSTRIALISED CONTEXTS

SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION:A CONCERN FOR ALL


PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEMS (PSS): OPPORTUNITIES EVEN FOR LOW-INCOME AND EMERGING CONTEXTS


… in terms of (social-ethical) sustainability a question has been (UNEP, 2000-2002):

IS A PSS APPROACH APPLICABLE TO EMERGING/LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS TOO?

IF SO, COULD IT ALSO FACILITATE (TOGHETHER WITH ECO-EFFICENCY) SOCIO-ETHICAL ENHANCEMENT IN THESE CONTEXTS?

IF SO, WITH WHAT CHARACTERISTICS?


PSS IN EMERGING/LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS: CASES coupling socioethical + environmental + economical sustainability


VIRTUAL STATION (OFFICES)

Fortaleza, Brasilsupply a full range of products, infrastructure (owned by virtual station) and services for a complete office. clients only pay for the periods of use; spaces are equipped with computers, printers, scanners, access to internet, TV, copiers etc; reception, personalised phone answer, answering and remittance of fax reception/transmiss.

it is environmentally sustainable because infrastructure/equipment are shared (less needed) and most efficient are used + it is socio-economically sustainable because of no need for initial investiment facilitate the set-up of small company.


SOLAR HOME KITSBrasil

TSSFA company offers to Brasilian rural people a solar home kits that include the hardware to generate solar energy, the installation service and products that use the electricity, e.g. lighting and electrical outlets. Customers sign a three-year service contract (all of the tangible inputs are owned by the provider).

it is environmentally sustainable because it uses the solar energy + it is socioethically sustainable because give to poor people access to useful services + it is economically sustainable because is a business for TSSFA company.


WHY PSS INN. ARE OPPORTUNITIES IN EMERGING AND LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS?

being more eco-efficient on a system level> is “cheaper” to implement and to have access to, can respond to unsatisfied demands more easily

focusing on a specific context of use > it leads to local rather than global stakeholder

(competent) involvement

being more labour/relation intensive> it leads to a rise in (local) employment and the diffusion

of skills


“a product-service system innovation (approach) may act as a business opportunity to facilitate the process of a social-economical development in an emerging and low-income context - by jumping over the stage characterised by individual consumption/ownership of mass produced goods - towards a “satisfaction-based” and “low resource-intensity” advanced service-economy.”

UNEP, 2002: PSS AN OPPORTUNITY EVEN FOR EMERGING AND LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS (FOR ALL)

free pdf at: http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=WEB/0081/PA


[assuming they PSS are applicable in all contexts]

WITH WHAT CHARACTERISTICS A SYSTEM INNOVATION APPROACH COULD FACILITATE -TOGHETHER WITH ECO-EFFICENCY - SOCIO-ETHICAL ENHANCEMENT IN EMERGING/LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS?


DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES: “selective share of production distributed to regions where activities are organized in the form of small scale, flexible units that are synergistically connected with each other” [JOHANSSON et al., IIIEE, SWEEDEN, 2005]

“STRONG” EMERGING HYPOTHESIS

WHICH ARE THE PROMISING INNOVATION MODELS?(socioethic + environmental + economic sustainability)


DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES: TYPES

. to produce energy (i.e. distributed energy

generation)

. to produce informations (e.g. wikipedia)

. to produce software products (e.g. Linux)

. to produce (hardware) products (e.g. 3-D Printing)

…

. to design (e.g. sustainability maker project, EU life +

funded project)


Local Energy Networkdistributed energy generation with proper management and technology for the use of small-scale power generation technologies located close to the load being served

EXAMPLE OF DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES: DISTRIBUTED ENERGY GENERATION WITH RENEWABLE RESOURCES (SUN, WIND, …)


THE SHIFT FROMNON-RENEWABLE AND CENTRALISED RESOURCES (I.E. FOSSIL FUELS) TO RENEWABLE AND DISTRIBUTED ONES’ (I.E. SUN, WIND, HYDROGEN, ETC.) …

… IT IS A (MAY BE “THE”) FUNDAMERNTAL PILLAR TO MATCH ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIO-ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC SUTAINABILITY


FOSSIL FUELS (OIL, COKE, …) + CENTRALISED

environmental un-sustainability: most of CO2

emissions > global warming + extraction pollution

socio-ethic un-sustainability: extraction, production,

distribution infrastructure, complex and CENTRALISED >

reduction of diffused direct access to resources >

low power to individual over their own destiny >

widening of rich AND poor gap (inequality)


RENEWABLE RESOURCES (SUN, WIND, …) + DISTRIBUTED

environmental sustainability: non-exhaustable + greenhouse effect reduction + lower environmental cost for extraction, transformation, distribution

socio-ethic sustainability: “distrib. renew. energy gen.”sun, wind, … acquisition: local + with simple processes > micro-plants installable/manageable by small economic entity > user-producer > energetic micro network building > global network of micro network> access, self-sufficiency, power (and interdependency) to individuals and local communities > resources democratisation > inequality reduction


“the creation of a renewable energy regime, loaded by buildings, partially stored in the form of hydrogen, distributed via an energy internet—a smart intergrid—and connected to plug in zero emission transport, opens the door to a Third Industrial Revolution.”

[Rifkin, 2011]

THE THEORY OF THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION


1. shifting to renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, ocean waves and biomass)

2. buildings as power plants3. deploying hydrogen and other storage

technologies in every building and throughout the infrastructure to store intermittent energies

4. using internet technology to transform the power grid of every continent into an energy sharing intergrid that acts just like the internet

5. transitioning the transport fleet to electric, plug in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart continental interactive power grid

PILLARS OF THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

[Rifkin, 2011]


ENTERPRISES/INITIATIVES IN DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES

promote system innovation with the following main characteritics:

LOCALLY-BASED: start from sustainable local resources and needs, but could become open non-local or global systems

+NETWORK-STRUCTURED: gain critical mass and potential by their connections in network


WORKING HYPOTHESIS: DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES A PROMISING PSS CHARACTERISTIC IN EMERGING AND LOW INCOME CONTEXTS (FOR ALL):

LeNS book: “PSS design for Sustainability”, Greenleaf, 2013 (to be published)]

“a system innovation (PSS approach) may act as a business opportunity to facilitate the process of a social equity and economic development (in an emerging context) - by jumping over the stage characterised by individual consumption/ownership of mass produced goods - towards a more advanced service-economy with a low resource-intensity being “satisfaction-based”,characterized by the development of local-based and network-structured enterprises and initiatives, for a sustainable re-globalisation process characterised by a democratisation of access to resources, goods and services”.

4.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli 12-13 (27)

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