Josefin Wangel fms, CESC
& Green Leap
KTH

What is sustainable development?
A concept used to point out a
desired societal development.

What is sustainable development?
A concept used to point out a
desired societal development.
It is a normative concept, which can be defined, interpreted and put to practice in many different ways.

What is sustainable development?
A concept used to point out a
desired societal development.
Many of the differences concern how sustainable development should be achieved.

Defining sustainable development
• Sustainable development is a normative and socially constructed concept, and is fundamentally about the future.

Sustainable development
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It contains within it two key concepts:
• the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.”
Brundtland Report (1987) Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm

Sustainable development: extended version
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:
• the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor , to which overriding priority should be given; and
• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.”
Brundtland Report (1987) Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm

Limits to Growth
Meadows et al. 1972 ”Limits to Growth”

Planetary boundaries
Rockström et al.

Planetary boundaries
• Climate change
• Depletion of ozone in the stratosphere
• Ocean acidification
• Nitrogen cycle and phosphorus cycle
• Global freshwater use
• Changes in land use
• Biodiversity loss
• Atmospheric aerosol loading
• Chemical pollution

The Natural Step four principles:
Source: www.thenaturalstep.org

Defining sustainable development
• Sustainable development is a normative and socially constructed concept, and is fundamentally about the future.
• Sustainable development is about limitations.

What is sustainable development?
Ecological sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability
The Venn-diagram model

What is sustainable development?
Ecological sustainability
Economic sustainability
Social sustainability
Ecological sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability
The Venn-diagram model The wedding cake model

What is sustainable development?
Further definition is done through specifying what is in the different dimensions
Ecological sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability

Ecological sustainability
Ecological sustainability concern the bio-geo-chemical systems of Earth. This includes:
– Water (pollutants, ground water levels, salinity, temperature, acidification, invasive species)
– Air (pollutants, particles, ozone layer, climate system (global and local, noise, light)
– Land (pollutants, erosion, land use)
– Biodiversity (species and habitats, invasive species, GMO)
– Ecosystem services (f.ex. pollination, photosynthesis, water purification, climate regulation, decomposition)
– Resources (minerals, metals, etc.)

Social sustainability
Social sustainability addresses humans and humanity from a social and societal perspective. Some include economic aspects in social sustainability.
– Human rights (justice, freedom, equality, safety)
– Cultural heritage (buildings, other artefacts, languages, traditions)
– Public institutions (government/governance, juridical systems, systems for health, welfare and education)
– Civil society (organizations, associations, networks)
– Knowledge and skills (formal and informal)
– Physical structures (buildings, infrastructures)

Economic sustainability
• How the economic sustainability is interpreted depends on what model of sustainable development is used.
• In weak sustainability , different types of capitals are seen as exchangeable.
• In strong sustainability , different types of capitals are not seen as exchangeable. Here economic sustainability is defined as economical activities that take place within the limitations of ecological and social sustainability, and that does not degrade these .

Economic sustainability
• No matter if a weak or strong sustainability approach is used, economic sustainability cannot be equated to economic growth .
• Economic sustainability includes economy of societies, companies and individuals.
• Economic sustainability is a mean and not a goal per se, and is thus sometimes included in social sustainability.

What is sustainable development?
Ecological sustainability
Economic sustainability
Social sustainability
Ecological sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability
The Venn-diagram model The wedding cake model

Defining sustainable development
• Sustainable development is a normative and socially constructed concept, and is fundamentally about the future.
• Sustainable development is about limitations.
• Sustainable development includes many interrelated subsystems, making it an issue of complexity.

Synergies and conflicts
Ecological sustainability
Ecological sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability
Social sustainability
Economic sustainability
What synergies, conflicts and emergent problems can occur between or within dimensions?

Environmental justice
The map over childrens’ exposure to NO
2
in
Malmö, shows a clear connection between socioeconomical status
(SES) and air quality.

Defining sustainable development
• Sustainable development is a normative and socially constructed concept, and is fundamentally about the future.
• Sustainable development is about limitations.
• Sustainable development includes many interrelated subsystems, making it an issue of complexity.
• Sustainable development is about synergies and conflicts.

Design and sustainable development
Design is about “how things ought to be” (Simon, 1969)

Design and sustainable development
Design is about “how things ought to be” (Simon, 1969)
This means that also design is a normative process, but does it mean that design is always good ?

Design and sustainable development
“There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few” (Papanek, 1997, p. IX)

Mini design challenge
In 2 – 3 minutes, sketch an example of “evil design”, that you think does more harm than good.

Mini design challenge
In 2 – 3 minutes, sketch an example of “evil design”, that you think does more harm than good.

Mini design challenge
In 2 – 3 minutes, sketch an example of “evil design”, that you think does more harm than good.
Butterfly mines. From the exhibition “Evil design”, Röhsska museum, Gothenburg www.rohsska.se

Mini design challenge
In 2 – 3 minutes, sketch an example of “evil design”, that you think does more harm than good..
From the exhibition “Evil design”, Röhsska museum, Gothenburg www.rohsska.se
and British Museum exhibition “Living and Dying” www.brittishmuseum.org

Design and sustainable development
“In this age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments (and, by extension, society and himself). This demands high social and moral responsibility from the designer.” (Papanek, 1997, p. IX)
What, then is good design?

Design and sustainable development
• Design as a tool to improve existing things or develop new things.

design approaches (selection)
• Industrial design
• Service design
• Interaction design
• Product-Service Systems design
• Design for social innovation

design approaches (selection)
• Industrial design
• Service design
• Interaction design
• Product-Service Systems design
• Design for social innovation
“Customer demand”

design approaches (selection)
• Industrial design
• Service design
• Interaction design
• Product-Service Systems design
• Design for social innovation
“Customer demand”
“remove the constraints from the commercial sector” (Auger, 2009)

design approaches (selection)
• Industrial design
• Service design
• Interaction design
• Product-Service Systems design
• Design for social innovation
• Critical design
• Design fictions
• Speculative design
“Customer demand”
“remove the constraints from the commercial sector” (Auger, 2013)
Design activism
Design as research
Design as art

Design and sustainable development
• Design as a tool to improve existing things or develop new things.
• Design as a tool to explore and challenge norms, values and expectations

Improve or develop
• Industrial design
• Service design
• Interaction design
• Product-Service Systems design
• Design for social innovation
From: Nathan Shedroff (2009) Design is the problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable,
Rosenfelt media, Brooklyn, NYC, U.S.

Improve or develop
• Reduce
– Usability
– Dematerialization
– Substitution
– Localization
• Reuse
– Design for durability
– Design for reuse
• Recycle
– Design for disassembly
– Close the loop
Selected strategies from Nathan Shedroff (2009) Design is the problem: The Future of Design Must be
Sustainable, Rosenfelt media, Brooklyn, NYC, U.S.

Improve or develop: some examples

CelluNova
Aim: to decrease the impact of fashion consumption.
Solution: to develop more sustainable textile materials.
The Paper Province/Mistra Future Fashion

The Clothing Library
Aim: to decrease the impact of fashion consumption
Solution: provide an opportunity for collaborative consumption www.lanegarderoben.se
Photo: DN

Phonebloks
Aim: to decrease lifecycle impacts from mobile phones.
Solution: to develop a mobile phone with exchangeable parts that is also possible to customize. www.phonebloks.com

Renewable energy for all
Aim: To increase the dissemination of solar energy solutions.
Solution: Repacking solar energy for the mass market through multiple product and service system solutions.
“Garden shed with solar panels.”
Green Leap, KTH in cooperation with No Picnic Design. Illustration: No Picnic Design
Learn more: http://www.kth.se/en/aktuellt/nyheter/darfor-ska-du-producera-din-egen-el-1.408852

Renewable energy for all
Aim: To increase the dissemination of solar energy solutions.
Solution: Repacking solar energy for the mass market through multiple product and service system solutions.
“The All-in-One Starter”
Green Leap, KTH in cooperation with No Picnic Design. Illustration: No Picnic Design
Learn more: http://www.kth.se/en/aktuellt/nyheter/darfor-ska-du-producera-din-egen-el-1.408852

Power Aware Chord
Aim: make householders aware of energy use.
Solution: to visualize energy use through the chord.
Anton Gustavsson and Magnus
Gyllenswärd, Interactive Institute.
More examples at www.tii.se/groups/energydesign

Energy AWARE Clock
Aim: help householders understand their energy use patterns.
Solution: to communicate energy use in a recognizable and understandable way
Loove Broms and Karin Ehrnberger, Interactive
Institute. More examples at www.tii.se/groups/energydesign

PeePoo
Aim: provide low-cost sanitation solutions to the global poor.
Solution: a single-use, self-sanitizing, fully biodegradable toilet www.peepoople.com

Mini design challenge
In 2 – 3 minutes, sketch a solution that could decrease the environmental impact of food.
• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle

Explore or challenge
• Critical design
• Design fictions
• Speculative design
“all remove the constraints from the commercial sector that define normative design processes; use models and prototypes at the heart of the enquiry; and use fiction to present alternative products, systems or worlds” (Auger, 2013)
James Auger (2013): Speculative design: crafting the speculation, Digital Creativity, 24:1, 11-35 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2013.767276

Explore or challenge
• Explore and challenge norms through formulating relevant
“ what if ” questions, and representing them as “ as if ”.

Explore or challenge: some examples

The Andro Chair
Aim: to problematize health care needs from a gender perspective.
Result: The Andro Chair
Börjesson, E., Ehrnberger, K., Hertz, A-C., Sundbom, C. Learn more at http://androstolen.se
(in Swedish)

Dolphia and Mega Hurricane
Aim: to explore and challenge material expressions of gender stereotypes.
Result: Gender bending drill and mixer.
Karin Ehrnberger

Dolphia and Mega Hurricane
Dolphia, named after the caring and cute dolphin have "non-threatening" organic forms and simple interface/settings
Karin Ehrnberger
Mega Hurricane has a "sporty" display with a rev counter and a
"trigger" button.

Prototyping the Future
Aim: to normalize sustainable lifestyles.
Result: an interactive experience of life in a sustainable future.
Josefin Wangel & Sara Ilstedt, Green Leap KTH in co-operation with Veryday (interaction design and service design) and Sticky Beat (web developer). To be launched in April 2014.

Prototyping the Future
Aim: to normalize sustainable lifestyles.
Result: an interactive experience of life in a sustainable future.
Josefin Wangel & Sara Ilstedt, Green Leap KTH in co-operation with Veryday (interaction design and service design) and Sticky Beat (web developer). To be launched in April 2014.

Prototyping the Future
Aim: to normalize sustainable lifestyles.
Result: an interactive experience of life in a sustainable future.
Josefin Wangel & Sara Ilstedt, Green Leap KTH in co-operation with Veryday (interaction design and service design) and Sticky Beat (web developer). To be launched in April 2014.

Summing up

Sustainable development
• Sustainable development is a normative and socially constructed concept.
• Sustainable development is about limitations .
• Sustainable development includes many interrelated subsystems, making it an issue of complexity .
• Sustainable development is about synergies and conflicts .
• Sustainable development is about the future .

Design and sustainable development
• Design as a tool to improve existing things or develop new things.
• Design as a tool to explore and challenge norms, values and expectations

Improve or develop
• Reduce
– Usability
– Dematerialization
– Substitution
– Localization
• Reuse
– Design for durability
– Design for reuse
• Recycle
– Design for disassembly
– Close the loop
Selected strategies from Nathan Shedroff (2009) Design is the problem: The Future of Design Must be
Sustainable, Rosenfelt media, Brooklyn, NYC, U.S.

Smart Living Challenge
Open, international innovation competition for products, services and solutions that will make it easier for individuals to live smarter and more sustainable lives in urban environments.
The competition is divided into three categories: Eat, Live and
Move.
Deadline: June 30 th 2014

Contact & more info: wangel@kth.se
www.greenleap.kth.se
www.cesc.kth.se
www.kth.se/abe/fms