This document discusses system design for sustainability from the European and Italian perspective. It covers sustainable development and system innovation, the evolution of sustainability in design in Europe, eco-efficient product-service systems, and system design for eco-efficiency and social equity/cohesion. Key points include definitions of sustainability, examples of eco-efficient PSS, and the need for new design approaches, skills and tools to support system design for sustainability.

1. carlo vezzoli Politecnico di Milano Learning Network on Sustainability course Product-Service System Design for Sustainability subject 2 System Design for Sustainability learning resource 2.1 SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY: THE EUROPEAN / ITALIAN APPROACH

2. 1. Sustainable development and system innovation 2. The evolution of sustainability in design (Europe) 3. Eco-Efficient Product-Service System (PSS) 4. System design for eco-efficiency 5. System design for social equity and cohesion CONTENTS

3. 1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SYSTEM INNOVATION

4. THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A SOCIAL AND PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT that takes place within the limits set by the “nature” and meets the needs of the present without compromising those of the future generation within a world-wide equitable distribution of resources 1987, UN “our common future”; 1992 UN conf. Rio; 2002 UN conf. Johannesburg; 2006 UE Sustainable Development Strategy; etc…

5. ENVIRONMENTAL - not to exceed the biosphere and geosphere “resilience ” SOCIO-ETHICAL - same resources ( satisfaction ) level for future generations - equity in the distribution of resources ( satisfaction ) ECONOMIC - economically practicable solutions THE SUSTAINABILITY DIMENSIONS

6. EU DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION “ safeguard the earth's capacity to support life in all its diversity, respect the limits of the planet's natural resources and ensure a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. Prevent and reduce environmental pollution and promote sustainable consumption and production to break the link between economic growth and environmental degradation.” [EU, SDS, 2006]

7. 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” [EU, SDS, 2006] EU DEFINITION OF SOCIO-ETHICAL SUSTAINABILITY

8. ECONOMIC PROSPERITY “ Promote a prosperous, innovative, knowledge-rich, competitive and eco-efficient economy which provides high living standards and full and high-quality employment throughout the European Union.” [EU, SDS, 2006] EU DEFINITION OF ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

9. IN 50 YEARS A WORLD-WIDE EQUITABLE SYSTEMS OF PRODUCTION AND CONSU M PTION SHOULD USE ~ 90% LESS RESOURCES THAN THE HIGHLY INDUSTRIALISED CONTEXTS ARE DOING TODAY SUSTAINABILITY: DIMENSION OF CHANGE

10. SUSTAINABILITY: QUALITY OF CHANGE PROMOTE (EVEN) SYSTEM INNOVATIONS RADICAL CHANGE (“DISCONTINUITY”) DIFFUSED INNOVATION PROMOTE PLAUSIBLE AND “ATTRACTIVE” (SYSTEM) INNOVATIONS

11. 2. THE EVOLUTION OF SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN (IN EUROPE)

12. low impact mat./energies design for social equity and cohesion Product-Service System design for eco-efficiency Product Life Cycle Design ecodesign SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN: EVOLUTION (EUROPE) widening the “object” to be designed

13. new research frontier … low impact mat./energies design for social equity and cohesion Product Life Cycle Design ecodesign SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN: STATE OF ART (EUROPE) Product-Service System design for eco-efficiency CONSOLIDATION (research achievements) (education and practice) DISSEMINATION 100% 100% 0 widening the “object” to be designed … aim at

14. 3. ECO-EFFICIENT PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM (PSS)

15. PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM: DEFINITION pdf available at: http://www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain/design/pss.htm “ the result of an innovation strategy, shifting the business focus from designing and selling physical products only, to designing selling a system of products and services which are jointly capable of fulfilling specific client demands (satisfactions).” “ system innovation can lead, throughout innovative stakeholders’ interactions, to system eco-efficiency.” [UNEP, 2002]

18. E-E PSS INNOVATION (TYPE I) ADDING VALUE TO THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE a c ompany ( alliance of companies ) provides additional services - maintenance, repair, up-grading , substitution and product take back - to guarantee life cycle performance of the product ( sold to the client)

20. E-E PSS INNOVATION (TYPE II) P ROVIDING FINAL RESULTS TO CUSTOMERS a c ompany ( alliance of companies ) provides a customised mix of services, instead of products, in order to provide a specific final result to the customer the client does not own the product and/or does not buy the resources for its functioning and does not operate on it to obtain the final satisfaction, i.e. the client pays the company to provide the agreed final results

22. E-E PSS INNOVATION (TYPE III) ENABLING PLATFORMS FOR CUSTOMERS company ( alliance of companies ) provides access to products, tools, opportunities enabling clients to get their “satisfaction” the client does not own the product and/or does not buy the resources for its functioning, but operates on it to obtain the “satisfaction”, i.e. the client pays only for the use of the product

23. BUT ONLY SOME PSS TYPES ARE ECO-EFFICIENT! IN FACT, PSS IS NOTHING NEW! (IN EUROPE) NOWADAYS every most of the products involve services and vice versa and change towards service economy is happening anyway services (not products) generate: . more than 50 % of GDP in Europe (. more than 75% of GDP in USA)

26. 4. SYSTEM DESIGN FOR ECO-EFFICIENCY

27. … introducing eco-efficient PSS innovation in design ... REQUIRES NEW DESIGN DEFINITION, APPROACHES, SKILLS, METHOD/TOOLS

30. STAKEHOLDERS’ INTERACTIONS DESIGN

33. SYSTEM DESIGN FOR ECO-EFFICIENCY: METHODS AND TOOLS EU RESEARCHES WITH METHOD/TOOLS OUTCOMES: van Halen, Vezzoli & Wimmer, Methodology for product service system innovation, Van Gorcum, Assen, The Netherlands, 2005 MEPSS Manzini, Collina & Evans, Highly Customerised Solutions, Cranfield University, 2006 HiCS MSDS : M ethod for S ystem D esign for S ustailability adopted by Polimi-dis: company consulting + teaching

34. SYSTEM DESIGN FOR ECO-EFFICIENCY CRITERIA . system life optimisation . transportation/distribution reduction . resources reduction . waste minimisation/valorisation . conservation/biocompatibility . toxic reduction [DEVELOPED WITHIN MEPSS PROJECT WITH A RELATED SET OF GUIDELINES AND INTEGRATED INTO THE SDO TOOLKIT]

35. SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN-ORIENTING (SDO)/IDEA TABLE the 6 environmental criteria ... a set of stakeholders'’ interactions promising guidelines (criteria-related) type stakeholders’ interactions idea for each criteria …

36. AN ONGOING POLIMI DIS APPLIED RESEACRH ON SYSTEM DESIGN FOR ECO-EFFICIENCY (USING THE MDSD METHOD)

37. abridged LCA ABRIDGED LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM INNOVATION INTRODUCTION AND DIFFUSION PATH ECO-EFFICIENT SCENARIOS ELABORATION commissioned by: system innovation introd. and diffusion path eco-efficient scenarios elaboration PSS concept design PSS engineering PSS CONCEPT DESIGN AND ENGINEERING 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Impatto relativo (%) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% and production Pre - production - Distribution Disposal Impatto relativo (%)

38. 5. SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION

39. 1° REMARK: (in Europe) Product-Service System innovations have received concern mainly: . for their environmental win-win potential . in relation to industrialised contexts A RECENT RESEARCH QUESTION: WHAT ABOUT PSS POTENTIALS FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION?

40. 2° REMARK: a promising economic model to couple environmental and socio-ethical sustainability 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]

42. group of 40 persons organised to a collective purchase and debating on consumption : . p reference for local, season / biological produces . p reference for small local producer / social coop . . d irect contact with suppliers + production site . c ost reduction duet to de-intermediation other examples of Distributed Economies (not energy related) SOLIDARITY PURCHASING GROUPS (GAS)

44. > DISTRIBUTED ECONOMIES ARE IN FACT PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM INNOVATION WHICH ARE COMMUNITY-BASED AND COUPLING ECO-EFFICIENCY WITH SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION RESEARCH QUESTION: IS THERE A POTENTIAL ROLE FOR THE DESIGN IN SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION WHEN AND IF PSS INNOVATION ARE LACALLY-BASED AND NETWORK STRUCTURED?

45. POLIMI DIS CO-PROMOTED SOME RESEARCH/PROJECTS ON EE PSS DESIGN POTENTIALS FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION

46. workshop 1 (1.2006) ITCP-USP, Sao Paolo method/tool development DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY TOOLS/METHODS FOR SOCIAL INCUBATOR Incubadora Tecnológica de Cooperativas Populares ITCP NETWORK University of Sao Paolo Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba Politecnico di Milano - DIS workshop 2 (8.2006) ITCP-UFPR, Curitiba

48. SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AND COHESION CRITERIA . improve employment/working conditions . increase equity and justice in relation to stakeholders . enable a responsible/sustainable consumption . favor/integrate the weak and marginalized . improve social cohesion . empower/enhance local resources [DEVELOPED BASED ON EXPERIENCES MATURED IN UNIDO, ITCP AND INFORMAL LENS (2003 IIT) AND INTEGRATED INTO THE SDO TOOLKIT]

49. SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN-ORIENTING (SDO)/IDEA TABLE the 6 environmental criteria ... a set of stakeholders'’ interactions promising guidelines (criteria-related) type stakeholders’ interactions idea for each criteria …