3.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli 11-12 (27)

course System Design for Sustainability
subject 3. Design for social equity and cohesion

learning resource 3.1
Towards social equity and cohesion

carlo vezzoli
politecnico di milano . INDACO dpt. . DIS . School of design . Italy

Learning Network on Sustainability

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

CONTENTS

. Sustainability: the socio-ethical dimension
. Socio-ethical Sustainability: a concern for all economies
. PSS: opportunities in emerging and low-income contexts
. Distributed Economies: system innovation coupling socio-ethical
with environmental sustainability
. Transition path and socio-technical experiment for self-standing
sustainable PSS diffusion


SUSTAINABILITY: THE SOCIO-ETHICAL DIMENSION

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)


THE SOCIO-ETHICAL DIMENSION: ACTIONS
ERADICATING POVERTY
international commitments

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

2000: UN Millenium summit: signed by 191 member states the
Millenium decleration:
1. Eradicate poverty and by for 2015:
. reduce by half, form 1990 to 2015, the percentage of persons
living in extrerm poverty
. grant a full and productive employment and a dignitous job for
all, including women and yungseter
. reduce by half, form 1990 to 2015, the percentage of
undernourished persons
…


ERADICATING POVERTY

2001: the world bank; UNFPA
. 80% of world population uses 20% of consumed natural
resources
. 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


ERADICATING POVERTY
10.2006: Rome, conference Food and Agriculture Organization
(UN)

Jaques Diouf, general director FAO

“Instead of decreasing, the number of starving people is
increasing by 4 millions per year”

1996, World: 800 millions undernourished

2006, World: 854 millions undernourished


ERADICATING POVERTY
11.2010: FAO
THE STATE OF THE FOOD INSECURITY IN THE WORLD


THE SOCIO-ETHICAL DIM.: (OTHER) ACTIONS

. [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 DIMENSION

[EU, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, 2006]

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”


[SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION]

A CONCERN FOR ALL ECONOMIES
IT IS NOT JUST A MATTER FOR ENTERPRISES IN LOW-
INCOME OR EMERGING ECONOMIES

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

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


AN EMERGING MODEL AND ITS TOOLS

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR):
a management model in which the company
responsibility is extended to all the stakeholders,
aiming to optimise the economic value together
with social and environmental ones

. Social Accountability (SA8000)

. Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (GRI)


(PSS) SYSTEM INNOVATION:
OPPORTUNITY EVEN FOR LOW-INCOME AND
EMERGING CONTEXTS


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

IS A SYSTEM INNOVATION 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?


UNEP, 2002: SYSTEM INNOVATION AN OPPORTUNITY
EVEN FOR EMERGING AND
LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS
“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.”
free pdf at: http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=WEB/0081/PA


SYSTEM INNOVATION IN EMERGING AND
LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS:
EXAMPLES coupling socioethical +
environmental + economical sustainability


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.


SOLAR HOME KITS
Brasil
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.


WHAY SYSTEM 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


[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?


WHICH ARE THE PROMISING INNOVATION MODELS?
(socioethic + environmental + economic sustainability)
“STRONG” EMERGING HYPOTHESIS

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” [IIIEE,
SWEEDEN, 2006]

SOLIDARITY COOPERATIVE NETWORKS:
“networks in which units of production and consumption are
articulated in nodes able to self-propagate and self-feed in a
solidarity collaboration” [MANCE, BRASIL, 2003]


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

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


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 direct access potentiality 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: “distributed energy generation”
sun and hydrogen 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

DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES (not only sun/wind):
POTENTIAL CONVERGENCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
AND SOCIO-ETHICAL SUSTAINABILITY

use primary local, conservative, regenerative
resources (i.e. locally sustainable)
+
introduce distributed networks for the
extraction/production/use of such resources


DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES: CHARACTERISTICS

ENTERPRISES/INITIATIVES:

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):
“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”.

LeNS book: “PSS design for Sustainability”,
Greenleaf, 2011 (to be published)]

3.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli 11-12 (27)

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