Sustainable Development and System Design

course System Design for Sustainability
subject 1. Sustainable development and design: the reference framework

learning resource 1.1
Sustainable development and system
innovation
carlo vezzoli
politecnico di milano . INDACO dpt. . DIS . faculty of design . Italy

Learning Network on Sustainability

Carlo Vezzoli AH-DESIGN, EU PROJECT
Politecnico di Milano / INDACO dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy

CONTENTS

. a context in strong evolution (and crises)
. the sustainable development
. environmental sustainability
. socio-ethical sustainability
. economic/legislative sustainability
. dimension and quality of change
. system innovation for sustainability


A CONTEXT IN A STRONG EVOLUTION

. advent of information and comunication
technologies (technologies of knowledge are at
the based of productivity, competition and power)
. interconnection (people, ideas, images, goods,
money, are circulating like never before)
. network society (not anymore only divided into
independent and isolated nations or
communities)
. enterprises in network (teamwork, networking,
outsourcing, subcontracting, delocalisation,…)
.…


A CONTEXT IN A STRUCTURAL CRISES (1/2)
ECONOMIC CRISIS (AND SOCIAL) 2008-201X:
[STRUCTURAL, NOT JUST FINANCIAL]
. crisis of the industrial model based on material consumption:
services (not products) produce 50% Europe GDP and 75% of
U.S. GDP
. high feedstock‘s prices
. global food crisis
. high global inflation
. threat of a recession in the world
. crisis of credit
. crisis of confidence in stock exchange markets
...
. unemployment


A CONTEXT IN A STRUCTURAL CRISES (2/2)

ENVIROMENTAL CRISIS: THE
DISCOVERY OF ENVIROMENTAL
LIMITS (AND IRREVERSIBILITY
HARMFUL EFFECT)

1972: Meadows, Meadows, Randers,
Behrens, Limits to Growth, MIT, USA

> FIRST FORECAST OF A POSSIBLE
GOBAL ECO-SYSTEM COLLAPSE


FACING THE DOUBLE CRISIS (TODAY):
SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL

危机 : CRISIS ( 危 : RISK; " 机 : OPPORTUNITIES ')
in Chinese (as in other languages), the word crisis
has two meanings, risk and opportunity

. many (rightly) talk about risks
. we should/must (also) talk about opportunities

[the same nature of design is to consider the
opportunities and become its promoter]


[about opportunities]
A KEY CONTEMPORARY QUERRY:
WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMICAL
CRISIS WHICH ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES?

DO WE KNOW ANY OFFER/BUSINESS MODELS
CAPABLE OF CREATING (NEW) VALUE
DECOUPLING IT FROM THE MATERIALS AND
ENERGY CONSUMPTION?
> significantly reducing the environmental impact
of traditional production/consumption systems?


SUSTAINABILITY: INTERNATIONAL PRIORITIES?

"The threat of climate change is serious, urgent and growing."

"The response to this challenge of our generation will be judged
by history, to the point that if we fail, we risk to deliver to
future generations an irreversible catastrophe"

"There is now a widespread understanding of the urgency of
the challenge we are facing. We know what must be done. "

Barack Hussein Obama, USA president, September 22, 2009,
the UN General Assembly


EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY

2005-2014: UNITED NATION DECADE ON
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

integrate the principles, values,
and practices of sustainable
development into all aspects of
education and learning

even DESIGN FOR
SUSTAINABILITY starts to be
diffused in the curricula of
design schools


THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
A SOCIAL AND PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT
that takes place within the limits set by the
“nature” and meets the needs of the present
without compromising those of the future
generation within a world-wide equitable
distribution of resources
. 1987: Our common future, WCED, ONU (first definition)
. 1991: Caring for the earth, UNEP, WWF, IUCN
. 1992: conference ONU, Environment and development, Rio de Janeiro
. 1994: fifth environmental action plan, European Commission
…
. 2002: summit ONU, Sustainable development, Johannesburg
. 2006/2009: Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), European
Commission
. 2005-2014: Decade UNESCO “Education for Sustainable development”


THE SUSTAINABILITY DIMENSIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL: CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL
- not to exceed the biosphere and geosphere
“resilience”
SOCIO-ETHICAL
- same resources (satisfaction) level for future
generations
- equity in the distribution of resources (satisfaction)
ECONOMIC (AND LEGISLATIVE)
- economically practicable and prosperous solutions


THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

[THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE]

THE HARMFULNESS/IRREVERSIBILITY OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS/EFFECTS


serra
greenhouse effect


ozono

ozone l yerdepl t
a aion

euthophicaion
r t


acidificaion
t


t
o
x
i
c
i
t
Carlo Vezzoli
y
AH-DESIGN, EU PROJECT

rifiuti
w st
a es


ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: ACTIONS

PRESERVE THE RESOURCES
PREVENT THE POLLUTION


ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: SCENARIOS

BIO-COMPATIBILITY
resources flows compatible with the natural system

NON-INTERFERENCE
“self-financing” of the artificial system’s resource
flows

DEMATERIALIZATION
reduction of the resources flows to satisfy a
particular social demand of needs and desires


SOCIO-ETHICAL SUSTAINABILITY
EQUITY PRINCIPLE [UN, Johannesburg, 2002]
“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”
(or better, to the same level of “satisfaction” that can be
achieved from these resources in different ways)

SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION [EU, SDS, 2006/2009]
“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”


THE SOCIO-ETHICAL DIMENSION: ACTIONS
ERADICATING POVERTY
11.2010: FAO
THE STATE OF THE FOOD INSECURITY IN THE WORLD


THE SOCIO-ETHICAL DIM.: (OTHER) ACTIONS

[. eradicating 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


ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY [EU, SDS, 2006]
promote a prosperous, innovative, knowledge-rich,
competitive and eco-efficient economy
which provides high living standards and full and high-
quality employment


ECONOMIC (LEGISLATIVE) SUSTAINABILITY: ACTIONS

PROPER ATTRIBUTION OF THE COSTS TO RESOURCES
environmental resources’ costs “internalisation”

ORIENTING (MAIN) ONGOING TRANSITIONS
interconnection, glocalization, services, information, etc.

ENHANCING PROMISING (OF NICHE) ECONOMIC MODELS
e.g. sustainable system innovation or distributed
economies


SUSTAINABILITY: SIZE OF CHANGE

IN 50 YEARS A WORLD-WIDE EQUITABLE SYSTEMS
OF PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION SHOULD USE
~90% LESS RESOURCES THAN THE
INDUSTRIALISED CONTEXTS ARE DOING TODAY

. 1993: Wuppertal institute,vari report
. 1993: WBCSD, Getting Eco-Efficient
. 2004: Meadows, Meadows, Randers, Behrens, Limits to
Growth: The 30-Year Update
. 2007: IPCC, Climate change report
…


SUSTAINABILITY: QUALITY OF CHANGE

RADICAL CHANGE (“DISCONTINUITY”)

PROMOTE (EVEN) SYSTEM INNOVATIONS

DIFFUSED INNOVATION
PROMOTE PLAUSIBLE AND “ATTRACTIVE” (SYSTEM)
INNOVATIONS


SYSTEM INNOVATIONS
from the process and product innovation
to the system innovation:
innovation of the value production system as the
mix of products and services that are together
able to fulfil a particular demand of (customer)
“satisfaction”

“A value system includes the value chains of a firm's supplier
(and their suppliers all the way back), the firm itself, the
firm distribution channels, and the firm's buyers (and
presumably extended to the buyers of their products, and
so on).” [Michael Porter, 2006]


Sustainable Development and System Design

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