4.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli 13-14

Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
course System Design for Sustainability
TODAY:
4. (SYSTEM) DESIGN FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION
4.1 Towards social equity and cohesion
4.2 System design for social equity and cohesion
4.3 System design for social equity/cohesion guidelines examples
5. 5. DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL
5.1 system design for sustainable energy for all
5.2 best practices of sustainable energy system for all (elisa
bacchetti)
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
course System Design for Sustainability (SDS)
NEXT LECTURE 1ST APRIL:
OPEN SEMINAR (2) WITH GUEST SPEKERS form the
dept. of management and the one of energy
DESIGN OF DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY
SYSTEM FOR ALL

Carlo Vezzoli

Carlo Vezzoli
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 13-14

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4.1 towards social equity and cohesion vezzoli 13-14