Collaboration for Sustainability in a Networked Worldwww.wordle.net-Rebecca PetzelBlekinge Institute of Technology

OutlineOverviewBackgroundSustainability & COINsResearchResultsSustainability AssessmentBarriers to UsePractitioner RecommendationsConclusions

BackgroundThe Sustainability Challenge1987 U.N. Brundtland Report1988 the Sustainability Principles2002: "sustainable development simply calls for more collaboration since the changes needed exceed the capacity of individual actors."

BackgroundIn What ways can COINs be part of a movement towards a sustainable society?Harnessing Collective IntelligenceThe Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development

ResearchResearch & MethodologyUsed creative tension of backcastingSurveys (32 people)Interviews (18 people)Participant ObservationFeedback & Dialogue

ResResults: assessmentSustainability AssessmentBridging Ingenuity GapSocially sustainable structuresSelf-organization, Diversity, InterdependenceLow-impact TechnologyResource inefficienciesAccess ConcernsLack of systems perspective

Results: barriers76.5 % of people globally lack Internet Access http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2053/2229752965_ae28533a0a_o.jpg

Results: barriersDigital Immigrants perceive technology a bit differently than digital nativeshttp://seacreatures.deviantart.com/art/Old-People-14159737

Results: barriersFrom hierarchy to wirearchy is a tough transitionhttp://www.jarche.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/wirearchy.jpg

Results: barriershttp://www.lrdc.pitt.edu/schunn/sword/plagiarism.jpgNot everyone thinks of intellectual property the same way

Results: barriershttp://nirel.deviantart.com/art/Scream-17026336Sometimes technology is frustrating

Results: barriersWithout the presence of face to face collaboration- dysfuntional argumentation can create roadblocks

Results: barriershttp://digitalminds.deviantart.com/art/Pain-in-the-ass-101307904Web collaborations can suffer from poor signal to noise ratios

Results: barriersThe web presents new communication challenges: people say things on-line they wouldn’t say face to facehttp://auleaf.deviantart.com/art/Screw-You-127132471

Results: barriersOver-controlling leadership can stifle a collaborationhttp://altair4444.deviantart.com/art/Puppet-Not-15196569

Results: barriersCollaborations fail through lack of shared vision, trust or transparent communication: the pillars of successful COINshttp://marthema.deviantart.com/art/Together-35327305

Results: barriers“The biggest challenge to harnessing the collective intelligence of the world to help solve some of the very serious problems we have around sustainability….has to do with people knowing not only how to use the software, but ideas around critical thinking and collaboration.”– Howard Rheingold

Results: recommendationsHow to collaborate?When to collaborate Perfect Invitation Collaborator experience designLead by example Strategic considerations for COINs

ConclusionsSustainability & COINsCOINs support social sustainabilityCOINs CAN support environmental sustainabilityThe FSSD & COINsInnovation!

ConclusionsValidity & Further ResearchTime ConcernsEmerging factors in rapidly developing fieldDetailed resource assessment of distributed workingCollaboration Ninjas

Conclusions“the danger is not that we ask too much of the Internet, but too little…it could be a new platform for how we could organize ourselves, to find knowledge together, to work out what is true and to decide together what we should do about it”–Tim Berners-Lee

AppendixFramework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD)Understand the system- the natural laws that define the biosphere and societies relationships with the earth. Interdependence, diversity, self-organization, laws of thermodynamicsSystemSuccess on a principled level. The minimum requirements necessary for success. The sustainability principles are a minimumSuccessStrategic guidelines to guide decision making processes. Importantly backcasting as a strategic guideline and guidelines for socially sustainable processes of relating: transparency, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, involvementStrategicActionsPrioritized steps put into action, following strategic guidelines for success in the systemAppropriate tools including management techniques and monitoring processes to guide implementation of strategic toolsTools

AppendixThe Sustainability PrinciplesTo become a sustainable society we must...eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of substances extracted from the Earth's crust (for example, heavy metals and fossil fuels)2. eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of chemicals and compounds produced by society (for example, dioxins, PCBs, and DDT )3. eliminate our contribution to the progressive physical degradation and destruction of nature and natural processes (for example, over harvesting forests and paving over critical wildlife habitat); and4. eliminate our contribution to conditions that undermine people’s capacity to meet their basic human needs (for example, unsafe working conditions and not enough pay to live on). v

AppendixResearch Questions