4.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli

Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
course System Design for Sustainability
subject 4. Design for social equity and cohesion
learning resource 4.1
Towards social equity and cohesion
carlo vezzoli
politecnico di milano . DESIGN dept. . DIS . School of Design . Italy
Learning Network on Sustainability (EU asia-link)
Learning Network on Sustainabile energy systems (EU edulink)

Carlo Vezzoli
CONTENTS
. the socio-ethical dimension of sustainability
. PSS: sustainable opportunities even for low and
middle-income contexts
. distributed economies: a promising model for
social equity and cohesion
. distributed economies a promising PSS
characteristic for sustainable innovation for all

Carlo Vezzoli
[UN SUMMIT, 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”

Carlo Vezzoli
. 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

Carlo Vezzoli
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 POVERTY
international commitments

Carlo Vezzoli
2001: the world bank; United Nations Population Fund (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
ERADICATING POVERTY

Carlo Vezzoli
11.2012: FAO
UNDERNURISHEMENT IN THE WORLD
ERADICATING POVERTY
Total= 868 milionTotal= 1 000 milion

Carlo Vezzoli
11.2012: FAO
UNDERNURISHEMENT IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
ERADICATING POVERTY

Carlo Vezzoli
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, MIDDLE-INCOME, INDUSTRIALISED
CONTEXTS
SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION:
A CONCERN FOR ALL

Carlo Vezzoli
PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEMS (PSS):
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES EVEN FOR
LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS

Carlo Vezzoli
… in terms of (social-ethical) sustainability a
question has been (UNEP, 2000-2002):
IS A PSS APPROACH APPLICABLE TO LOW AND
MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS TOO?
IF SO, COULD IT ALSO FACILITATE (TOGHETHER
WITH ECO-EFFICENCY) SOCIO-ETHICAL
ENHANCEMENT IN THESE CONTEXTS?
IF SO, WITH WHAT CHARACTERISTICS?

Carlo Vezzoli
PSS IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS:
CASES

Carlo Vezzoli
VIRTUAL STATION (OFFICES)
Fortaleza, Brasil
supply 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.

Carlo Vezzoli
WHY PSSs ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY
IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS?
being more eco-efficient on a system level
> are “cheaper” to implement, can respond to unsatisfied
demands more easily in a low income context
focusing on a specific context of use
> lead to local rather than global stakeholder (competent)
involvement (empowerment)
being more labour/relation intensive
> lead to a rise in (local) employment and the diffusion of
skills
focusing on access rather than ownership
> reduce/avoid the higher costs of initial
investment, can be accessed more easily from all

Carlo Vezzoli
“a product-service system innovation
(approach) may act as a business
opportunity to facilitate the process
of a social-economical development
in low and middle-income contexts -
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
LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS (FOR ALL)
free pdf at: http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=WEB/0081/PA

Carlo Vezzoli
[assuming they PSS are promising in all contexts]
WITH WHAT CHARACTERISTICS A PSS APPROACH
COULD FACILITATE -TOGHETHER WITH ECO-
EFFICENCY - SOCIO-ETHICAL ENHANCEMENT IN
LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS?

Carlo Vezzoli
DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES (DE):
“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]
are there promising offer models for social equity and
cohesion?

Carlo Vezzoli
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. open innovation/design and crowd-
sourcing)

Carlo Vezzoli
ENTERPRISES/INITIATIVES IN DISTRIBUTED
ECONOMIES: CHARACTERISTICS
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
SOCIOETHICAL POTENTIAL: direct access to
resources > increased participation and power to
individuals and local communities > democratisation
of access to resources> poverty and inequality
reduction

Carlo Vezzoli
WORKING HYPOTHESIS: DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES
A PROMISING PSS CHARACTERISTIC IN LOW AND
MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS (FOR ALL):
LeNS book “PSS design for Sustainability”, Greenleaf, 2014
“a PSS approach may act as a business opportunity to
facilitate the process of a social equity and economic
development in low and middle-income contexts - 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 locally-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

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