Enviro 2010 - Social design for sustainability

Social design for sustainabilityHarnessing social networks and design thinking to achieve sustainable outcomes

Presented by:Grant YoungEmail: [email protected]: @grantyoung or @zumio

• I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we're meeting today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

• In this session I’m going to explore social design for sustainability, looking at some examples of, and the principles behind, harnessing social networks and design thinking with the aim of achieving sustainable outcomes

• My presentation and associated notes, which includes links to further information, is available on the Zumio website – the URL will be listed at the end of the presentation.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

• I want to start today by introducing you to Gus the Boxer• How many of you have heard of Gus?• Gus says he is the designer for an accessories business. Gus runs the place - he doesn’t have an “owner” per se,

he has his “hoomin” who kinda works for him.

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Name Gus the BoxerLocation Fitzroy, MelbourneAustraliaWeb http://www.Gusthe...Bio rare white boxer doginterested in red balls, Iwork @haul, doing acalendar for charity -LortSmith.com

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@valeriekhoo Val when did ubecome a footy hag ?#aflswanskangasabout 3 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to valeriekhoo

Checking out the Melb. Design Market. (@ Federation Squarew/ 11 others) http://4sq.com/4x7Tq0about 3 hours ago via foursquare

@TimboReid w00fabout 5 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to TimboReid

@juliancarter Charlie...it's a disgrace.about 7 hours ago via Splitweet in reply to juliancarter

Ban puppies being sold in pet shops. http://bit.ly/cPZROFWritten, spoken & authorised by Gus the Boxer. Fitzroy.about 7 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

I needed some emergency comms. advice, so I went to see --> (@ Code Name Max w/ @codenamemax)http://4sq.com/7NEhOy3:06 PM Jul 10th via foursquare

Swimming time for this dog. (@ Port Melbourne Dog Beach)http://4sq.com/djbnIT

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• I know this because he talks about his activities and interests on popular social networking sites like Twitter...

Further information:• http://twitter.com/gustheboxer

Gus the Boxer Like

I am a rare white boxer dog madabout red balls. I work @haulsitting in the window sleepinmostly & designing collars. Ihave done a charity forLortSmith.com for dogs not aslucky as moi -->http://GustheBoxer.com/

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Location:29 Best StFitzroy, Australia, 3068Phone:03 9486 7810Birthday:December 17, 2003

Wall Info Photos Boxes Shop

Gus the Boxer Ban puppies being sold in pet shops.

Written, spoken & authorised by Gus the Boxer. Fitzroy.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/rspca-calls-for-boycott-of-pet-shop-puppies-20100710-104vy.html

RSPCA calls for boycott of pet shop puppieswww.theage.com.auYou are here: Home » National » Article

6 hours ago · Comment · Like

Nick Keats, Susan Lambe, Maryanne Kimpton and 14 others like this.

Maryanne Kimpton Dear Gus we need to help get rid of puppyfarms also, that way it would harder for pet shops to get stock.The RSPCA needs to have more authority than they have!!!! FromMillyabout an hour ago · 1 person

Gus the Boxer I have been very busy this arvo in my role as @haul onlinepersonal shopping assistant.http://twitter.com/GustheBoxerJuly 2 at 12:48am · Comment · Like

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Jade Craven If only one had an unlimited budget :-) Perhaps youshould advertise this service.July 2 at 2:29am

Gus the Boxer + Others Gus the Boxer Just Others

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• And Facebook...• Gus is a bit of a celebrity, you see...

Further information:• http://www.facebook.com/GustheBoxer

• Hanging out with famous people, like Giaan Rooney - who posed with Gus for his Rock Star calendar...

The Gus the Boxer 2010 'Rockstar' Calendar featuresfamous North Fitzroy dog - Gus.

Gus & friends (think Live Aid 'We are the World' 1985 style)have all donated their time and skills for this project. ALLprofits will go to Lort Smith Animal Hospital in NorthMelbourne, Australia.

Gus recomends buying this calendar for yourself, the petnutter in your life and don't forget your dog needs acalendar to keep organised.

If you live in an apartment and can't have a dog, gus willglady be your virtual dog for 12 months for the low lowprice of $25 + postage.

But wait, that's not all, if you are one of the first 100 to buy,your calendar will be paw-o-graphed by the great doghimself.

See calendar Preview

0417 538 744 (text me, I don't answer calls) e: [email protected]

© Gustheboxer.com 2009

• Which you can buy on his website• The captions for the calendar came, of course, from Gus’ Twitter and Facebook friends• The money he raises goes to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital• Gus is the mascot for Fitzroy-based accessories company, Haul...

Further information:• http://www.gustheboxer.com/

27.06 iPad CASE IN THE PAPERS Melbourne's Sunday AGE featured our iPad case as the 'Object of Desire'. 26.06 PINK MACBOOK SLEEVES We finally have a few pink billboard macBook sleeves 13", 15", 17" in-store & online. 25.06 FRESH BATCH OF iPad CASE & FOLIOS. More iPad case, sleeve & folios are in-store &

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• Their products are designed to be both attractive to their target market and reflective of the recycled materials from which they are made

• While not particularly “world changing”, I put forward this example of clever marketing by a sustainably-minded small business as a light-hearted introduction to how social networks are being used in pursuit of sustainability goals

• These tools, which include Facebook & Twitter, which I’ve just mentioned, and others with names like Flickr, YouTube, wikis and blogs, among others, are being put to use for a variety of ends, including...

Further information:• http://haul.com.au

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• ...product design.• Quirky is an example of crowd-sourced product development company – where members of the Quirky

community put forward ideas which are then “influenced” – evolved and refined – by the community.• Some designs are then put up for sale and a proportion of proceeds are distributed to the person who submitted

the product idea and any relevant influencers.• This example reflective of a broader DIY mentality that can be witnessed across the web and open source

software communities, where people share information and skills, empowered by online tools.• Quirky and its ilk seek to leverage what academic and author Clay Shirky calls the “cognitive surplus” - that is the

application of our collective abilities to activities outside of our traditional paid work, often at the expense of television viewership.

Further information:• http://www.quirky.com/

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• Of course, by definition social networking sites are built upon actual social networks – people connecting with each other.

• The Linked In professional networking site supports business people connecting with their peers, and the site hosts groups where people can exchange information and support each other around a variety of topics.

• On-screen I’ve highlighted just three examples of groups within Linked In focused on sustainability, CSR and social innovation here in Australia:• The A&NZ Sustainability Circle: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2379226• Social Innovation eXchange: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=117523 -- AU VERS?• and Corporate Social Responsibility Network, also known as “CORNA”: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?

mostPopular=&gid=2787647

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• This networking extends to recruitment – here we see Ernst & Young’s graduate recruitment efforts on Facebook.• They use this space primarily in support of their graduate program. They announce new intakes and career

nights, as well as answer questions about the application process. They also provide videos highlighting the culture of the company and what it’s like to work there.

Further information:• http://www.facebook.com/eycareers

A deeper trend?

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• But while these examples might be interesting in their own way, perhaps this is just a fad?• Myself and others believe that these networks are representative of a deeper shift in the way people, businesses

and civic institutions connect with one another, resulting in deeper socio-political implications.• In his book “Here comes everybody”, Clay Shirky describes how these technologies reduce the “transaction cost”

of organising, which is changing the organisational models we use to co-ordinate collective effort.• Ezio Manzini notes these changes too, suggesting these technologies are an important component of social

innovation and sustainability, helping to facilitate the connection of small & local communities into larger, more open & distributed networks.

• So, what’s some examples of the types of connections that can be made?

Image: mdezemery @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdezemery/295687769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdezemery/295687769/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdezemery/295687769/

• Take Kiva, which enables entrepreneurs in developing countries to access credit sourced from lenders in other nations.

• Kiva enabling business owners to take out small, low-interest loans to fund the expansion of their business – an approach known as “micro-credit”.

• While the average loan size < $400 USD, Kiva reports that they have distributed loans to a total of more than $148 million USD, with a delinquency rate of <2%

• These technologies are also impacting government policy development...

Further information:• http://www.kiva.org/• http://www.kiva.org/about/facts/

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+ City of Melbourne & City of Sydney ShareMajor Planning Award, 31 Mar 2009 + City of Melbourne takes home prestigiousplanning award, 30 Oct 2008 + Melbourne to become one of world's top 10most liveable & sustainable cities, 30 Jul 2008

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ConnectWithAGroup DaleBowerman 11 Jul 2010 - 03:59 S3Resources SarahLowcock 10 Jun 2010 - 11:11 ContactUs SarahLowcock 26 May 2010 - 09:09 PoliciesAndGuidelinesDiscussio... DaleBowerman 30 Apr 2010 - 12:26 ResidentialSustainableMobility... PhilL 09 Apr 2010 - 12:09

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• ...with initiatives such as the Future Melbourne wiki project, produced and managed by CollabForge for the City of Melbourne to provide an additional engagement option for citizens to contribute to the City’s 2020 sustainability plan

• The site enabled a level of participation much greater than that achieved using more traditional consultation tools.• These tools are also having an impact on organisational transparency...

Further information:• http://www.futuremelbourne.com.au/

Thanks to Melissa Tagget and Dale Bowerman from City of Melbourne for their assistance in this case study.

• ...with sites like WikiLeaks providing an avenue for whistleblowers to anonymously publish documents, some of which have already had significant political and media impacts

• Notable examples are the recent leaking of video showing evidence of a US Military attack that killed 12 civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists

• And closer to home, the site was host of a leaked ACMA “blacklist” that informed debate on the Government’s internet censorship plans

• NGO and other advocacy groups are also using these tools to effect change...

Links:• http://wikileaks.org/• ACMA blacklist: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/

Australia_secretly_censors_Wikileaks_press_release_and_Danish_Internet_censorship_list,_16_Mar_2009• Iraq video: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/soldier-charged-over-iraq-video-leak/story-

e6frg6so-1225889127062

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We love Apple. Apple knows more about "clean" design than anybody, right? So why do Macs, iPods,iBooks and the rest of their product range contain hazardous substances that other companies haveabandoned? A cutting edge company shouldn't be cutting lives short by exposing children in China andIndia to dangerous chemicals. That's why we Apple fans need to demand a new, cool product: a

greener Apple. What's new NOW? It's all streaming in live at the iBuzz page.

Breaking News: Steve Jobs announces change in policy

Home About iTox + iWaste .mAct ProCreate iPush

• As the recent Greenpeace campaigns targeting Nestle and Apple demonstrate...• Nestle’s sourcing of palm oil from suppliers linked to the destruction of gorilla habitat came under scrutiny with

Greenpeace producing a dramatic video, campaign site and associated Facebook page for the campaign. Nestle didn’t do itself any favours, handling its response to both the video on YouTube and community interaction on Facebook poorly. But the campaign ultimately resulted in Nestle updating its policy in response to Greenpeace and the community’s demands.

Last year, millions of people from nearly everycountry on the planet were united by acommon purpose: to build a powerful globalmovement to solve the climate crisis.

The slideshow on the left is just a sampling ofthe more than 25,000 photos of peopleuniting in a global call for 350, the safe upperlimit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

October 24th, 2009 was called "the mostwidespread day of political action in theplanet's history," with more than 5200 eventsin 181 countries. We increased pressurethroughout the Copenhagen climate talks: welobbied inside, we protested outside, and weorganized thousands of candlelight vigils withpartners around the world.

But now the Copenhagen climate talks havecome and gone, and we don't have the fair,ambitious, and binding treaty this globalmovement--and the latest science--demands.

But this is not over: 2010 will be a crucialyear for the growth of the movement--and forits evolution. Please join us.

See all the 350 photos on Flickr »Africa | S.Asia | E.Asia | Europe | N.America |S.America | Australia & NZ | Pacific

Submit Photos from an Action »

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I AM READY for an ambitious, fair, andbinding global climate deal. I call on worldleaders to pass climate policies based onsound science and strong enough to get usback to 350.

Oct 24: Watch the video from theInternational Day of Climate Action »

See the inspirational video from theDecember 11-13 vigils »

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• http://350.org/ is another example of the mobilisation of individuals, outside of the traditional boundaries of NGO institutions, to achieve environmental outcomes

• Leveraging strong community support for a carbon emissions target, the campaign invited participants to come up with their own way of expressing support for keeping CO2 levels beneath the 350 ppm target

• Organisers did not specify much detail - a day of action and providing the infrastructure to co-ordinate and promote events

• And with more than 5200 events in 181 countries - this demonstrates one of the key tenets of social media – giving up control for influence...

More Control More In!uence

Message

• In traditional media approaches we’re used to “controlling the message” and trying to get that message out to as many people as possible, usually at great expense through advertising and media spend

• In this model, we can exert more control over the conversations closer to us – our own blogs, press releases, websites, advertising and the like

• However, an interesting thing occurs as those messages disseminate out into conversations between peers• The less control we have over the conversation, the more influence those conversations have in an individuals

decision making• I want to take a moment to explore why is this so...

The power of “someone like me”

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• International PR firm Edelman runs an annual survey asking participants about who they trust for their information - the media, scientists, politicians, their friends and family, and so on.

• Over the past few years, “someone like me” – people that we personally relate to - rank high in our level of trust.• Intuitively I think we get this - if we’re after a recommendation on a restaurant or music, we are likely to trust our

friends. Well, the ones we think have good tastes anyway.• Research into behaviour change also re-enforces the role of peers and social norms in effecting change.• This can be seen in Les Robinson’s research into sustained voluntary behaviour change, which highlights the role

of peers as both a catalyst for, and as an important factor in achieving ongoing, behaviour change.• This is important because, while often the emphasis of sustainability discourse is focused on the technical

aspects, such as “eco-efficiency” and “eco-design”...

Image: victoriapeckham @ Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriapeckham/164175205/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriapeckham/164175205/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriapeckham/164175205/

• ...increasingly we also need to encourage and enable changes in behaviour to achieve sustainability goals• For example, Levis determined that about 50 percent of the energy consumption of a pair of their jeans occurs

after they are purchased - hot water use in washing and the use of electric clothes dryers being significant contributors

• Changing such behaviours requires thinking beyond the delivery of a product and into use, factoring in cognitive biases and heuristics, concepts that are being examined in behavioural economics.

Label image + further information:• http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/with-new-consumer-care-tags-levi-strauss-aims-to-reduce-

its-carbon-footprint/

Jeans image: http://www.levis.com.au/

• In summary...• These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad• Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful

engagement with both• This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside

organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist• And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where

“consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”• Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.• For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-

alignment...

Social design

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• Also known as “human-centred design”, “design thinking”, or “service design”, among other terms• This method asks the question: what if we involved the people we’re serving in the design process?• What if, rather than considering our customers as just someone to spread our message or buy our stuff, we

instead treated them as experts of their own domain that can contribute to solving their own challenges?• Today I want to explore some of the elements of social design, illustrated by examples of successful application

of these concepts. The first of these is...

Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/


Take your customer’s perspective

Social design

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• Taking your customer’s perspective... which asks us to explore our challenges from the perspective of our customers, as opposed to the more common approach of applying an organisational or technical lens

• Our aim is to understand the motivations and barriers to customers using our services, and seek out opportunities to better support their needs

• This approach may be applied to improve an existing offering, as service design agency Live|Work did with UK-based car-sharing service Streetcar...




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Streetcar Limited - Registration No. 04525217 Registered in England and Wales. VAT registration number 832 4283 39 Registered Office: Melbury House 51 Wimbledon Hill Road Wimbledon SW19 7QW

• Live|Work note that their goal in working with Streetcar was to create a “customer experience had to be better than that of buying and owning your own car.”

• In seeking an understanding the customer’s perspective, they found that the biggest barrier was simply that customers found the service difficult to comprehend

• So their response focused on communications – to explain the service more effectively via a simple 4 step process• Streetcar has gone on to become the largest car share service in Europe• In this example, social design is used to refine an existing offering...

Further information:• http://www.livework.co.uk/our-work/Streetcar

• ...the Hippo Water Roller, in contrast, is an example of considering a user’s requirements to develop an innovative new product.

• In many countries traditional water collection involves carrying 20 litre buckets of water from the local reservoir to the village.

• This burden falls significantly on women and children, and can cause significant health issues.• The Hippo is pretty self-explanatory - not only does it reduce the burden on the person carrying the water, it

increases the volume of water that can be transported to 90 litres• This product doesn’t try to change the system, it just looks at the challenge from a user’s perspective and seeks

to find alternative ways of responding.• Sometimes, however, the best solutions can only be found by [Zooming out for context]...

Further information:• http://www.hippowater.org/• http://www.hipporoller.org/

Zoom out for context


Social design

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• ...Zooming out for context• This principle challenges us to take a step back and understand the context of use, not just the specific activity.• For example, rather than simply considering how to make a more sustainable /car/, we might instead consider

the systems of /mobility/ that require cars in the first place.• In doing so, we may uncover non-obvious ways of meeting customer needs with potential to stand out from the

competition.




• A Better Place is a great example of this principle at work• Long charge times and low range are often highlighted as being a key barrier to the uptake of electric vehicles• Rather than thinking about how to improve electric car technology, they sought to overcome these barriers by re-

thinking the “fuel tank” and service stations in the context of electric vehicles• Developing an innovative system of battery swapping approach and supporting infrastructure


Research


Social design

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• One great tool we can use to understand your customer’s perspective and this broader context is to undertake design research, specifically structured to facilitate a “deep dive” into the world of the people we are wanting to engage

• While this research might include more traditional methods of quantitive surveys and focus groups, there is a growing recognition within the business and design communities of the role ethnographically-inspired observational research techniques can play

• One such example of this process being applied to sustainability is...




Low Carb Lane

• ...Live|Work’s “Low Carb Lane” project, as featured in Design of the Times in 2007.• This project saw members of the Live|Work team spending more than a year with the community of Castle

Terrace in the UK.• This deep research uncovered numerous challenges, as well as opportunities to overcome them – with solutions

ranging from the technical...• ...an “energy dashboard” to make visible real-time of energy use and savings achieved by the energy efficiency

measures. This dashboard was refined over time with input from the community.• To economic – creating what they called “SaverBoxes” to support more capital intensive energy efficiency

measures – providing installation and products at no up-front cost, funded instead through the savings gained from increased efficiency

• To the social – establishing a co-operative energy company• I want to quickly present another example of research providing subtle, but powerful, learnings to support

behaviour change that revolve around...

Further information:• http://www.dott07.com/go/lowcarblane• http://www.livework.co.uk/our-work/low-carb-lane

• ...a humble smiley face

Image: LoopZilla @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/loopzilla/2203595978/

Electricity bills & energy consumption

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• Around 2007, a study was undertaken to see if households would reduce their energy consumption by publishing comparative data about their energy usage compared to their neighbours

• The idea was to leverage our bias towards meeting social norms to decrease energy consumption

Image: brendan.wood @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanwood/2161236298/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanwood/2161236298/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanwood/2161236298/

3.8 kWh

2.9 kWh

4.2 kWh 3.5 kWh

4.7 kWh

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• Some bills published the comparative figures as numbers – if your number was higher than your neighbours’, the theory was you would be more inclined to reduce your consumption

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• As expected, higher numbers resulted in an average drop in energy consumption• What perhaps isn’t as expected is that lower numbers lifted to meet the average – that is, a rebound effect

resulted in higher energy consumption by people who were more efficient• Not good news, however the study also tested an alternative approach...

3.8 kWh

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4.7 kWh

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• Some households were sent bills that simply had smiley faces, instead of numbers, representing their energy usage in relation to their neighbours’

• A smiling face = below average consumption, a frowning face representing above average consumption• And this did the trick: Higher energy consumers reduced their consumption• But importantly, lower energy consumers remained at the same level of consumption

Smileys image: //Amy// @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/_-amy-_/2784838186/


Research

Collaborate


Co-design

Multi-disciplinary teams

Co-opetition

Social design

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• In addition to research, there is another powerful way to involve people in the design process: collaboration• I’ll jump in and expand on each of these through examples...




home get involved background resources team rules partners press contact

Winners:

Jury:Karma Cup C1: The Betacup& BetacupCampaign

C2:Cuptokeep C3:The NextCup C4:The NeutralResource Coffee

Cup

C5:NetworkedLoyalty

See more...

What Others Say:

See more...

Partners:

The design phase of the betacup is complete. Learn more about the betacup and the people behind it, see all the ideas or see what others are saying.

• Betacup is a “crowd-sourcing” competition from a number of partners, including Starbucks and the online design community Core77. Crowd-sourcing is an example of co-design, although there are a variety of models to choose from.

• The organisers leveraged the [Jovoto platform]...

Further information:• http://www.thebetacup.com/

CONTESTSHOME ABOUT CLIENTS CREATIVES BLOG

What is jovoto?jovoto is a marketplace for creative concepts.We connect those who have ideas with those who needthem, providing the necessary tools to make the processfun and fair.

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Communication Strategy

DB Mobility Logistics AG

The Eco Way10000 ! overallabout 1 month Left

Show Deutsche Bahn's ecologicalengagement through creative

Communication Strategy

Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen

Save Your Privacy2500 ! overall27 days Left

Data protection is a civil right!The Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen

Viral Campaign

Smeet

Social Media Virus 2500 ! overall14 days Left

Get the word out about Smeet asa brand in the social web via• ...Jovoto platform, which is similar in some respects to Quirky, which we saw earlier. It calls itself a “marketplace

for creative concepts” providing a platform that organisations can pay to use to connect to the Jovoto creative community.

• The competition resulted in solutions ranging from...

Jovoto: http://www.jovoto.com/

• ...the social: the winning Karma Cup “points” system that creates a community programme that rewards existing behaviour – bringing re-usable cups – while also promoting this behaviour.

• To the...

Further information:• http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4751

• ...engineered: CupToKeep re-usable, a collapsible cup that shrinks to 1/5 it’s original size to make transporting a cup more convenient, while mimicking the experience of the traditional take away cup.

Further information:• http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4608

• The FastCompany biomimicry challenge placed biologists within multi-disciplinary design teams to respond to a select number of problems proposed by companies, such as IBM.

• IBM were interested in how their smart city technology systems could be used to provide “overlays of information [that] could help guide residents toward making better personal decisions for the good of the city.”

• The design agency Smart Design teamed up with biologist Mark Dorfman to use nature as an inspiration for an approach to enable better collective water management in an urban environment. Their creative response proposed ambient feedback systems that were a mix of high-tech and natural elements, mimicking nature’s own ecosystem feedback mechanisms.

Further information:• http://www.fastcompany.com/1648801/biomimicry-challenge-smart-design-ecosystem-approach-to-water-

conservation-for-ibm

ABOUT GX SEARCH BIG IDEAS GX NEWS MEMBERSHIP CONTACT SIGN IN

ENABLE THE SUSTAINABLEECONOMYHelp bring the network efficiencies of open innovationto solving global problems of sustainability.

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REDUCE A HOMEʼS CARBONFOOTPRINT

USE A NEIGHBORHOODAPPROACH TO RENEWABLEENERGY

BIG IDEASAbove are just a few of the big ideas with big impact.Click on one for details, or thereʼs plenty more inside.

SEE ALLTHE IDEAS >>

THE GREENXCHANGE IS AN INNOVATIVEREVOLUTIONARY PARTNERSHIP THAT BRINGSTOGETHER COMPANIES, PEOPLE, AND IDEAS TOCREATE SUSTAINABLE CHANGE THAT AFFECTSUS ALL.

TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE HAPPENS WHENINDIVIDUALS ARE WILLING TO SHARE IDEAS,WORK TOGETHER, AND SEEK SOLUTIONS THATCREATE MORE EFFICIENT, MORE PROFITABLE,AND MORE MEANINGFUL BUSINESSOPPORTUNITIES/MODELS.

Quarry Rehabilitation forEcosystems: How Companies areRestoring Ecosystems...

Green patent survey to provideinputs for climate change conference

Scheme to save forests holdspromise, risks

More news...

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SEARCH

rubber...water...recycling...servers...energyefficiency,...reprocessing...• Increasingly companies are working out they can’t do it alone, and are looking to co-operate with other like-

minded, and some times competitive, companies to achieve their objectives.• GreenXchange is one such initiative where Nike, Best Buy and Creative Commons have partnered to share patents

related to sustainability• Participants aren’t necessarily giving things away – they can set licenses for the use of the IP they submit to the

exchange and therefore earn revenue from sharing.• They can also choose not to license to direct competitors while still allowing non-competitive uses of the IP

Further information:• http://greenxchange.force.com/

• Creative Commons is behind a number of initiatives that promote a “some rights reserved” copyright model, as opposed to the more traditional “/all/ rights reserved”, to encourage sharing

• The GreenXchange falls under Creative Commons’ Science Commons initiative, which also covers the [Eco-Patent Commons project]...

Further information:• http://creativecommons.org

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Eco-Patent Commons to receive three patents from HPGENEVA, July 1, 2010 - The World Business Council for SustainableDevelopment (WBCSD) announced today that HP has joined the Eco-Patent Commons. HP has contributed three patents to this uniqueinitiative aimed at making patents freely available to enable thedevelopment of products that protect the environment.

Dow and Fuji Xerox Join Eco-patents Commons, Xerox PledgesAdditional Patent to Help the Planet Geneva, 20 October 2009 - The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and FujiXerox Co., Ltd. (Fuji Xerox), a joint venture between Xerox Corporationand FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, have joined the Eco-PatentCommons, a first-of-a-kind business effort coordinated by the WorldBusiness Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to help theenvironment by pledging environmentally beneficial patents to the publicdomain.

Ricoh and Taisei Join Eco-Patent Commons, DuPont ContributesAdditional Eco-friendly Patents Geneva, 23 March 2009 - Ricoh Company, Ltd., a global leader inoffice solutions, and Taisei Corporation, a leading engineeringconstruction company, have joined the Eco-Patent Commons, a first-of-a-kind business effort coordinated by the World Business Councilfor Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to help the environment bypledging environmentally beneficial patents to the public domain.

The Eco-Patent Commons, launched by IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes and Sony inpartnership with the WBCSD, was founded on the commitment that anyone who wantsto bring environmental benefits to market can use these patents to protect theenvironment and enable collaboration between businesses that foster newinnovations. The objectives of the Eco-Patent Commons are :

To provide an avenue by which innovations and solutions may be easily sharedto accelerate and facilitate implementation to protect the environment andperhaps lead to further innovation.

To promote and encourage cooperation and collaboration between businessesthat pledge patents and potential users to foster further joint innovations andthe advancement and development of solutions that benefit the environment.

Since the launch of the Eco-Patent Commons in January 2008, one hundred eco-friendly patents have been pledged by eleven companies representing a variety ofindustries worldwide: Bosch, Dow, DuPont, Fuji-Xerox, IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes,

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• ...Eco-Patent Commons project which is hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development• Contributors to the project include IBM, Nokia, HP, Fuji-Xerox, Dow, Sony and others

Further information:• http://www.wbcsd.org/web/epc


Research

Collaborate

Iterate


Social design

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• The last element of social design I’ll explore today is that of iteration• Traditional project management techniques where process segments are separated – with design taking place,

then moving to manufacturing, then to marketing in distinct steps – are ill-equipped to respond to both the pace of the competitive and legislative environment, nor to adapt to respond to learnings from our customers’ interactions with our products and services

• Iterative management helps address these challenges...




Learn

Evolve Create

EnvisionResearch

• ...by reducing a complex project into smaller components delivered as early as possible so that they can be tested in real use - this can help identify rebound effects, and how users co-opt or appropriate solutions in unexpected ways – both positive and negative

• Early iterations will likely focus on prototypes and pilots, but an iterative approach can extend beyond a product or service’s release to market

• On a small scale, effective prototyping can help with refining products...

• Such as this energy monitor• Where prototyping, along with observational research, transformed a product that was difficult to use, putting an

unwieldy monitoring device out of reach/eye-site of most users and transformed it into a much better adapted form factor.

Case study and illustration in: Wever, R, Kuijk, Jv & Boks, C 2008, 'User-centred Design for sustainable Behaviour', International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, vol. 1, no. 1.

B-Cycle

• But the principle can be applied to larger scale systems also• In April 2010, B-Cycle launched in Denver, Colorado• It is a state-of-the-art bike sharing program, a joint venture between health insurance company Humana, bike

company Trek, and advertising and design agency Crispin Porter Bogusky (Buh-GUS-kee)• The system was first created and tested within Humana – with over 2500 staff signing up in the first few weeks.• Then the partnership was created to start testing the concept more broadly. Denver is the largest roll-out so far

- the city wide service is the largest in America.• A Better Place’s incremental roll-out internationally is another example of large-scale piloting & prototyping.

More information:• http://www.collaborativeconsumption.com/archives/now_that_we_can_do_anything_what_will_we_do.html• http://thefuturewell.com/2010/04/23/bcycle-building-health-and-community-and-saving-some-trees-and-

other-assorted-wildlife/• http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/bcycles-big-bike-share-plans.php


Research

Collaborate

Iterate


Social design

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• So just to recap these principles...• I hope the examples I’ve presented outline how organisations are using the social design principles to not simply

respond to, but further to harness and embrace, these trends to achieve business, social and environmental benefits

• In addition, these methods can also reduce business risk – but that’s a topic for another conversation...




More information and download at http://zum.io/enviro2010/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License. You can view this license at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/

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