Design for Sustainability

Gabriela Baron, Politecnico di Milano

Contents

1.The urgent need for a Radical Change!

2.Redesigning wellbeing & consumerism

3.Social Innovation and those promising minorities

4.Sustainable development and the design of sustainable systems: Criteria

5.Design for social equity and cohesion: Criteria

1.The urgent need for a Radical Change!

1.The urgent need for a Radical Change!

The irreversibility of environmental damagesIn 50 years the worldwide systems of production and consumption

should use 90% LESS resources, than what are being used today

So... which products are really sustainable?

Savonarola Chair

-Italian medieval times-Walnut wood-500 years of useful life

Herman Miller, Chadwick, Stumpf Aeron Chair

-12 years warrantee-bailment use model-easy to fix and replace parts

What is environmental sustainability?

What is environmental sustainability? It refers to the systematic conditions through which, at a global and regional level, human activities should not interfere with the natural cycles (on which they are based) more than the planet’s resiliency can take.

What is environmental sustainability? It refers to the systematic conditions through which, at a global and regional level, human activities should not interfere with the natural cycles (on which they are based) more than the planet’s resiliency can take.

>and, at the same time, these human activities shouldn’t impoverish the natural capital to be transmitted to future generations

What is environmental sustainability? It refers to the systematic conditions through which, at a global and regional level, human activities should not interfere with the natural cycles (on which they are based) more than the planet’s resiliency can take.

>and, at the same time, these human activities shouldn’t impoverish the natural capital to be transmitted to future generations

! To these mainly ‘physical’ characteristics, we should add an ethical one: the equity principle by which each person has the right to the same environmental space, that is, the same availability of global natural resources

“el desarrollo sustentable responde a las necesidades del presente sin comprometer las posibilidades de responder a las necesidades de las generaciones futuras”

World Commission for Environment and Development (WCED) Our Common

Future (nuestro futuro compartido), 1987

“el desarrollo sustentable responde a las necesidades del presente sin comprometer las posibilidades de responder a las necesidades de las generaciones futuras”

World Commission for Environment and Development (WCED) Our Common

Future (nuestro futuro compartido), 1987

“Sustainable development responds to the present needs without compromising the needs of future generations”

+

-

tiem

poAcciones hacia la sustentabilidad en el tiempo:

- Intervention to reduce damages

- Intervention on the processes

- Intervention on products and services

- Intervention on consumption patterns

Actions towards sustainability over time

The truth is that today design seems to be more part of the problem than part of the solution

There are four levels of Intervention

There are four levels of Intervention1. The redesign of the existing (with lower impact materials and energy)

There are four levels of Intervention1. The redesign of the existing (with lower impact materials and energy)

2. The design of new products and services (environmentally more sustainable, to replace the current ones)

There are four levels of Intervention1. The redesign of the existing (with lower impact materials and energy)

2. The design of new products and services (environmentally more sustainable, to replace the current ones)

3. The design of new systems of products and services (based on satisfaction, intrinsically sustainable)

There are four levels of Intervention1. The redesign of the existing (with lower impact materials and energy)

2. The design of new products and services (environmentally more sustainable, to replace the current ones)

3. The design of new systems of products and services (based on satisfaction, intrinsically sustainable)

4. The proposal of new scenarios of sustainable lifestyles

1. The redesign of the existing (with lower impact materials and energy)

2. The design of new products and services (environmentally more sustainable, to replace the current ones)

3. The design of new systems of products and services (based on satisfaction, intrinsically sustainable)

Capivari Monos (Brasil)

Capivari Monos (Brasil)

4. The proposal of new scenarios of sustainable lifestyles

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

connects the Technically-possible

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

connects the Technically-possibleto the Environmentally-necessary

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

connects the Technically-possibleto the Environmentally-necessary

and formulates NEW PROPOSALS

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

connects the Technically-possibleto the Environmentally-necessary

and formulates NEW PROPOSALS- socially and culturally attractive-

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

connects the Technically-possibleto the Environmentally-necessary

and formulates NEW PROPOSALS- socially and culturally attractive-

through the strategic coordination of

And that is how Design could be the activity that....

connects the Technically-possibleto the Environmentally-necessary

and formulates NEW PROPOSALS- socially and culturally attractive-

through the strategic coordination ofProducts, communication and services.

2.Redesigning wellbeing & consumerism

A social ‘learning’ processThe transition towards sustainability will be a social learning process thanks to which, progressively, through trial and error, we will learn to live better consuming (much) less and regenerating the quality of our physical and social environment.

more wellbeing

= more products

more wellbeing =

+ information+ services+ experiences

de-materialization of the social demand of welfare

In order to reduce the material and energetic quantity that a system needs, we propose a process of

This is intended as a drastic reduction of the number of products and services needed to reach a socially acceptable welfare

Possession vs. Access

possession

access

access

access

We need to

BREAK the connectionWe need to

BREAK the connectionWe need to

established between

BREAK the connectionWe need to

established between

the perceived welfare,the availability of productsand the consumption of resources

New products and servicesbased on what the user knows, wants and can do.

For example

> These are systems of products and services that, depending on the result to be achieved, provide the user with the best means to reach it by making the best use of his capacities and skills

...but human nature is not that simple and mono-logic

Historically, the idea of comfort is based on the minimization of the personal efforts,

Critical consumerismis based on the possibility that users have of taking consumerism decisions that will influence the market (and consequently, will influence the offer of products and services)

The social role of the Designer

> To contribute by rising the number of alternatives, technically and economically practicable.

> To promote the capacities of the users, their possibility to participate personally and directly in the definition of results and the means to achieve those results

> To stimulate people’s imagination with new cultural proposals, new values and ideas of quality, to influence them with new standards of welfare (influencing then the demand of goods and services)

Aesthetics are

very important

And remember that....

We must seek the local expression in each culture in order to promote non-esthetically obsolete objects that are also attractive

>These new aesthetics should not only consider products, but also services and economical interactions

3.Social Innovation and those promising minorities

>creative communities>glocalization,>open-source ethics>co-design / crowdsourcing>....

4.Sustainable development and the design of sustainable systems

Dimensions

Dimensions

environmental

Dimensions

socialenvironmental

Dimensions

social

economical

environmental

System innovationTherefore, we talk about

It’s the shift from designing products and services to designing a System

System innovationTherefore, we talk about

It’s the shift from designing products and services to designing a System

The innovation will lie on the combination of these products and services that jointly satisfy a need, but also the innovation on the economical (or collaborative) relationships amongst the actors of the system

System innovationTherefore, we talk about

It’s the shift from designing products and services to designing a System

The innovation will lie on the combination of these products and services that jointly satisfy a need, but also the innovation on the economical (or collaborative) relationships amongst the actors of the system

>Satisfaction-based systems: the systems is based on the satisfaction of a need, not on the selling of a new product, so it’s not a bout a new product, but about all the products and services (and processes) involved in the satisfaction of a need.

Ariston + Enel: pay per use

For example

Eco-efficient System Design Criteriaa) System life optimizationb) Transport and distribution reductionc) Resource reductiond) Waste minimization and valorizatione) Conservation-biocompatibilityf) Toxicity reduction

System life optimizationDesign to orient the interactions between the system’s actors towards:The optimization of the SUM of the necessary products and services lives

Transport and distribution reductionDesign to orient the interactions between the system’s actors towards:The reduction of the SUM of the necessary packagings and transportations

Resource reduction

Resource minimization : quantitative reduction of the impact (of the total PSS)For all the life-cycle stages: pre-production, production, distribution y disposition of what hasn’t been used

Design to orient the interactions between the system’s actors towards:The reduction of the SUM of the resources used by all the products and services of the system

Waste minimization and valorizationDesign to orient the interactions between the system’s actors towards:Improving the SUM of the recycling methods for the system’s elements, energy recovery and composting; and the reduction of the SUM of the waste produced by the system

Conservation-biocompatibilityDesign to orient the interactions between the system’s actors towards:The improvement of the conservation and renewability of the SUM of the used resources

Toxicity reductionDesign to orient the interactions between the system’s actors towards:The toxicity reduction (or elimination) regarding the SUM of the resources used by the system

5.Design for social equity and cohesion

‘Design for social equity and cohesion’ Criteria:a) Improve working conditionsb) Ensure justice and equality for all the actors of the systemc) Encourage sustainable and responsible consumptiond) Favor and integrate the weak and marginalizede) Improve social cohesionf) Enable and empower local resources

Improve working conditions(inside a company)

Ensure justice and equality for all the actors of the system- Design for just and equitable relationships (outside the company): amongst the associations, the society and the community where the design will be incorporated.

Encourage sustainable and responsible consumption- Design of systems that facilitate a sustainable behavior regarding the user’s decisions

Favor and integrate the weak and marginalDesign of systems that integrate:- Children, elderly, disabled (weak) and - unemployed, illiterate (marginal).

Improve social cohesionDesign of systems that promote the social integration in a neighborhood, between generations, genres, cultures, ...

Enable and empower local resourcesDesign of systems that regenerate and empower local economies.

How do environmental and social sustainability converge?

How do environmental and social sustainability converge?By using mainly local and regenerative resources

+ Introducing networks of decentralized systems for the extraction/production/use of such resources.

Greenstar networkIndia, Jamaica y Ghana

clock is ticking...