4.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli

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: 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


[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”


. 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; 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



11.2012: FAOUNDERNURISHEMENT IN THE WORLD


Total= 868 milionTotal= 1 000 milion


11.2012: FAOUNDERNURISHEMENT IN THE DEVELOPING 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, MIDDLE-INCOME, INDUSTRIALISED CONTEXTS

SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION:A CONCERN FOR ALL


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


… 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?


PSS IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS: CASES


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.


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


“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


[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?


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?


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)


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


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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