Assessing the value of the information provision for enhancing the autonomy of mobility impaired users. Madrid pilot Site Study.

A City is the space where every person acquires the citizen condition, which demands access to multiple services and facilities, and develops social relations in a free and equal condition of options. A lack of accessibility limits independency and autonomy. Thus, the relationship between “sustainable development” and “accessibility for all” becomes clearer, and both goals reinforce each other. In this sense, information plays a key role in order to overcome existing barriers, specially for people who rarely use public transport, have impaired mobility, or make a particular journey for the first time. The impact and benefits is linked with public transport as a “facilitator” of mobility, and, in particular, for the aim of intermodality. The usefulness of information that should be provided (both the information itself and how is offered) to mobility impaired users (MI users) is discussed on this paper based on following of the ASK-IT project that has being carry out on Madrid. The work was done in close cooperation with representatives of all different types of MI user groups

The role of socio-technical experiments in introducing sustainable Product-Service System innovations

This is the pre-print version of the chapter published in 2015 by Springer in the book “The Handbook of Service Innovation” (edited by Renu Agarwal, Willem Selen, Göran Roos and Roy Green). The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6590-3_18Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability, but their implementation and diffusion are hindered by several cultural, corporate, and regulative barriers. Hence, an important challenge is not only to conceive sustainable PSS concepts, but also to understand how to manage, support, and orient the introduction and diffusion of these concepts. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular, the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project, the chapter investigates the role of design in introducing sustainable radical service innovations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments, partially protected spaces where innovations can be incubated and tested, become more mature, and potentially favor the implementation and scaling up process

How the design of socio-technical experiments can enable radical changes for sustainability

Sustainability requires radical innovations, but their introduction and diffusion usually encounter the opposition of existing socio-technical regimes. An important challenge is, therefore, to understand how to catalyse and support the process of transitioning towards these innovations. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project (aimed at designing, introducing and diffusing a sustainable mobility system in the suburban areas of Cape Town), the paper investigates the role of design in triggering and orienting societal transformations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments. A new socio-technical system design role emerges: a role in which the ideation and development of sustainable innovation concepts is coupled with the designing of appropriate transition paths to gradually incubate, introduce and diffuse these concepts

Sandy Regional Assembly Recovery Agenda

On January 26, 2013, nearly 200 participants representing over 40 community, environmental justice, labor and civic groups from across New York City, New Jersey and Long Island -- from the neighborhoods most impacted by Superstorm Sandy, and most vulnerable to future storm surges convened the Sandy Regional Assembly to strategize how government officials should implement a Sandy rebuilding program.In April 2013, these groups presented their Sandy Regional Assembly Recovery Agenda -- the first regional grassroots Sandy rebuilding and resiliency plan. The Recovery Agenda was a mix of suggested capital projects and policy recommendations, designed to advance 3 goals:Integrate regional rebuilding efforts with local resiliency priorities;Strengthen vulnerable communities & reduce public health threats, andExpand community-based climate change planning, disaster preparedness & response

Business begins at home

One of the most significant trends in the post-industrial era has been for the home to become an important focus for work. The boundaries between work and home are now increasingly blurred, reversing the forces of the industrial era in which places deemed suitable for each were clearly demarcated and physically separate. The most recent published figures available from the Labour Force Survey (2005)1 indicate that 3.1m people now work mainly from home, 11% of the workforce. This represents a rise from 2.3m in 1997 (9% of the workforce), a 35% increase. The majority of homeworkers (2.4m or 77% of the total) are 'teleworkers' – people who use computers and telecommunications to work at home. The number of teleworkers has increased by 1.5m between 1997 and 2005, a 166% increase. Clearly, it is the growth in the number of teleworkers which is driving the increase in homeworking

Revamping the “Network Paradigm”

In the contemporary metropolitan areas the quality of the “space of flows” in terms of 'urbanity' is becoming crucial. Urbanity is closely related to the multi-scale and flexible interconnections of the strategic railway nodes as privileged exchange hubs for both global and local spaces, on the one hand, and epicentres of the most significant urban regeneration projects on the other. Topology, kinetics and adaptivity represent the key features of the mobility network systems, and can be beneficially used to regenerate the metropolitan territory providing new identities to the archipelago of European conurbations

MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS ACTUALIZATION: THE STRATEGIC ROLES OF NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES.

To enumerate the milestone reached in international cooperation as pertaining to inspiring development efforts embedded in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as set out by the United Nations in 2000, with the sole aim of improving the lives of about two billion people around the world, is to recount the obvious relevance. Its pertinence is more weighty and significant to Africa and Asia continents, knowing that a large proportion of the world-poorest are densely concentrated in them. This work identifies, analyzes and enumerates the roles of Nigerian universities in attaining Millennium Development Goals by 2015. It also submits that strategic massification and vision specificity are indispensable routes through which most developing world countries both in Asia and Africa can accomplish the behemoth task before them in terms of poverty reduction, hunger elimination, education and environmental targets