Translating Sustainability into Action : A Management Challenge in FabLabs

In recent years, the number of new organizations aiming to accomplish principles of sustainability has rapidly grown, leading analysts and scholars to announce almost a new industrial revolution. An example of this is the proliferation of the so-called fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) that nowadays are perceived as being forerunners in innovative and sustainable high-tech production through peer-to-peer collaborative practices and sharing. However, the challenges managers face in translating these promotional aims into organizational action is vastly understudied. To address this research gap, we have studied the management of two FabLabs, in Italy and Finland. In this study, we draw from a psycho-sociological framework applying cultural-historical activity theory, and especially from the concepts of activity system and contradiction. According to this perspective, a sustainable organization is based on promotion, enrichment, regeneration, and flexible change efforts, and it is related to the managerial and ability to bring internal and external stakeholders together to recognize and solve tensions and contradictions collectively. Through our case studies, we have provided new research knowledge on how managers make an effort to translate sustainability into action in the complex context of FabLabs, involving multiple, often competing stakeholders and activity systems. Our analysis reveals multiple tensions in the collective activity, stemming from system level contradictions, which represent a challenge for the daily work of the FabLab managers. In the paper we also suggest how an engaged management orientation towards sustainably can be promoted, and we discuss future research topics.Peer reviewe

Helping people help themselves - toward a theory of autonomy-compatible help

If development is seen basically as autonomous self-development, then there is a subtle paradox in the whole notion of development assistance: How can an outside party ("helper") assist those undertaking autonomous activities (the"doers") without overriding, or undercutting their autonomy? This conundrum is the challenge facing a theory of autonomy-compatible development assistance - that is, helping theory. Starting from a simple model of non-distortionary aid, the author explores several themes of a broader helping theory, and shows how these themes arise in the work of"gurus"in different fields - John Dewey in pedagogy and social philosophy, Douglas McGregor in management theory, Carl Rogers in psychotherapy, Soren Kierkegaard in spiritual counseling, Saul Alinsky in community organizing, Paulo Freire in community education, and Albert Hirschman, and E.F. Schumacher in economic development. That such diverse thinkers in such different fields, arrive at very similar conclusions, increases confidence in the common principles. The points of commonality are summarized as follows: 1) Help must start from the present situation of the doers. 2) Helpers must see the situation through the eyes of the doers. 3) Help cannot be imposed on the doers, as that directly violates their autonomy. 4) Nor can doers receive help as a benevolent gift, as that increases dependency. 5) Doers must be in the driver seat. One major application of helping theory is to the problems of knowledge-based development assistance. The standard approach is that the helper, a knowledge-based development agency, has the"answers", and disseminates them to the doers. This corresponds to the standard teacher-centered pedagogy. The alternative under helping theory is the learner-centered approach. The teacher plays the role of midwife, catalyst, and facilitator, building learning capacity in the learner-doers, so that they can learn from any source, including their own experience. Development assistance is further complicated by the local, or tacit nature of much relevant knowledge. A knowledge-based development agency might function better, not simply as a source of knowledge, but as a broker connecting those who face problems with those in similar situations, who have learned to address the problems. Changing to the approach of helping theory, entails changing the helping agency itself, transforming it into an organization that fosters learning internally, as well as externally - as in a university, where professors engage in learning, and foster learning in students, but the organization does not adopt official views on the complex questions of the day. This means fostering competition in the marketplace of ideas within the organization, and taking a more Socratic stance with clients, who will then have to take responsibility for, and have ownership of their decisions.Economic Theory&Research,Decentralization,Health Economics&Finance,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Labor Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Educational Sciences,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness

Agency and positive institutional change through sustainable entrepreneurship : the case of first movers providing food loss and waste solutions

The emergence of entrepreneurs dealing with food loss and waste (FLW) solutions, despite the low incidence of institutional pressure, has no explanation by Institutional Theory, a significant gap this thesis aimed to shed light-on. This theory struggles to conceptualize change since agents are viewed as institutionally embedded, i.e., it is assumed that institutional environments shape individuals and organizations who have a limited degree of agency. The agency versus structure is an ongoing debate (the paradox of embedded agency) that seeks to understand how actors can change institutions if their actions, intentions, and rationality all are conditioned by the very institution they wish to change. The objective of this thesis was to understand how first movers entrepreneurs exercise their agency to produce a positive social impact in the context of FLW solutions. To answer this, a qualitative study was designed and performed on seven cases of sustainable entrepreneurship in four different countries: Brazil, Canada, Denmark, and Finland. Data collection is based on observation visits, interviews with entrepreneurs, secondary data, social media posts and interviews with consumers. Content analysis of the collected data was carried out with the help of NVivo Software. The thesis contribution section discusses and analyzes the final result in combination with three papers (the so-called hybrid thesis). In addition to the theoretical discussion, a framework proposing the agency process in three levels (micro, meso and macro) is laid out. Along with a schema indicating the relationship between institutional environment and the processes proposed for the agency in institutional entrepreneurship. In general, this thesis contributes to the advancement of Institutional Theory in relation to agency versus structure ongoing debate (embedded agency paradox). Specifically, the paper-I contribute to filling the gap about the knowledge about the sustainable entrepreneurial process; paper II also contribute to filling the gap in the literature by identifying business models’ innovations in sustainable entrepreneurship, analyzing their characteristics, their mechanisms to overcome hybridity-related tensions, and providing empirical evidence about how business models can be used to create and capture multiple forms of value; and paper III illustrates the interface between sustainable entrepreneurship that addresses the FLW problem, the adopted solutions, supply chain coordination, performance improvement and the indicators of positive social change. Finally, social implications are presented, followed by propositions to stimulate sustainable entrepreneurship. Suggestions are also indicated for potential entrepreneurs and/or managers willing to develop businesses that challenge the practices established in the market

From propagation to negotiation of ideologies in the architectural design studio: critical insights in student-centred strategies for interactive learning

This paper investigates modes of active communications and propagation of ideas and ideologies in architectural education in general and the design studio in particular. Based on survey of students' opinions, modes of tutorials, assessment and production, it investigates the extent to which students enjoy freedom of choice, liberal thinking and ability to develop independently from their design tutors. While challenging current modes of one-to-one design tutorial paradigms, it experiments with alternative means of tutor-free and student-led workshops, where students are able to develop their conceptual ideas in the absence of their tutors at an early stage of design development. It analyzes the process of practical implementation of interactive tools in architectural education which places the diversity of students' cultural experiences, contextual awareness and individual interests as a crucial resource for design inquiry. The cyclical development of interactive learning strategy is examined through two settings: first, it discusses ideology-driven design tutorials that influence students' conceptual ideas; second, it reports on a liberal approach to the design studio, where students are given larger freedom to define their own position and intuition towards the practice of architecture, both in England and in Northern Ireland

Education policy: process, themes and impact

Education policy is high on the agenda of governments across the world as global pressures focus increasing attention on the outcomes of education policy and on the implications for economic prosperity and social citizenship. However, there is often an underdeveloped understanding of how education policy is formed, what drives it and how it impacts on schools and colleges. Education Policy: Process, Themes and Impact makes these connections and links them to the wider challenges of educational leadership in a contemporary context

Futures Studies in the Interactive Society

This book consists of papers which were prepared within the framework of the research project (No. T 048539) entitled Futures Studies in the Interactive Society (project leader: Éva Hideg) and funded by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA) between 2005 and 2009. Some discuss the theoretical and methodological questions of futures studies and foresight; others present new approaches to or procedures of certain questions which are very important and topical from the perspective of forecast and foresight practice. Each study was conducted in pursuit of improvement in futures fields

The Normative Order of the Internet: A Theory of Rule and Regulation Online

There is order on the internet, but how has this order emerged and what challenges will threaten and shape its future? This study shows how a legitimate order of norms has emerged online, through both national and international legal systems. It establishes the emergence of a normative order of the internet, an order which explains and justifies processes of online rule and regulation. This order integrates norms at three different levels (regional, national, international), of two types (privately and publicly authored), and of different character (from ius cogens to technical standards). The author assesses their internal coherence, their consonance with other order norms and their consistency with the order's finality. The normative order of the internet is based on and produces a liquefied system characterized by self-learning normativity. In light of the importance of the socio-communicative online space, this is a book for anyone interested in understanding the contemporary development of the internet.

Learning About Scholarship in Action in Concept and Practice

[First paragraph] In her inaugural year (2005), Chancellor Nancy Cantor announced her vision of Syracuse University as a campus that would be deeply engaged with the world, in activities and partnerships with communities that she named scholarship in action. Recognizing the difficulty of fitting such public or community-engaged scholarship into the traditional framework for defining and evaluating faculty work, she called on the Academic Affairs Committee of the Senate (AAC) to study the issues related to implementing this vision. The Committee responded to this request by undertaking in Spring, 2005 a study of scholarship of action both as a concept and as a set of faculty practices on the Syracuse campus. This white paper reports on what the Committee has learned from this inquiry

Addressing the Complexities of Boundary Work in Sustainability Science through Communication

Sustainability science seeks to identify and implement workable solutions to complex problems. This transdisciplinary approach advances a commitment to work across boundaries that occur among individuals, disciplines, and institutions to build capacities for informed and innovative decision making in the face of uncertainty and change. The concept of boundary work and related discussions of boundary objects and organizations are important, expanding focal areas within sustainability science. While communication is described as central to boundary work, insights from the field of communication have largely yet to inform theorizing about boundaries within sustainability science. In this paper, we highlight three communication perspectives, namely media studies, collaboration and partnerships, and systems theories, which are particularly relevant for understanding how boundaries form, the social context in which boundary work occurs, and informed strategies for enhanced boundary spanning and management. We use three case studies to illustrate how communication theories and methods provide dynamic and strategic lenses within transdisciplinary processes to enable collaborators to build capacity for change, sustain critical and reflective inquiry, and approach difference as generative in collective efforts to produce sustainability