An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

Modeling social norms in real-world agent-based simulations

Studying and simulating social systems including human groups and societies can be a complex problem. In order to build a model that simulates humans\u27 actions, it is necessary to consider the major factors that affect human behavior. Norms are one of these factors: social norms are the customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. Norms are everywhere around us, from the way people handshake or bow to the clothes they wear. They play a large role in determining our behaviors. Studies on norms are much older than the age of computer science, since normative studies have been a classic topic in sociology, psychology, philosophy and law. Various theories have been put forth about the functioning of social norms. Although an extensive amount of research on norms has been performed during the recent years, there remains a significant gap between current models and models that can explain real-world normative behaviors. Most of the existing work on norms focuses on abstract applications, and very few realistic normative simulations of human societies can be found. The contributions of this dissertation include the following: 1) a new hybrid technique based on agent-based modeling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo is introduced. This method is used to prepare a smoking case study for applying normative models. 2) This hybrid technique is described using category theory, which is a mathematical theory focusing on relations rather than objects. 3) The relationship between norm emergence in social networks and the theory of tipping points is studied. 4) A new lightweight normative architecture for studying smoking cessation trends is introduced. This architecture is then extended to a more general normative framework that can be used to model real-world normative behaviors. The final normative architecture considers cognitive and social aspects of norm formation in human societies. Normative architectures based on only one of these two aspects exist in the literature, but a normative architecture that effectively includes both of these two is missing

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

Sustainable consumption: towards action and impact. : International scientific conference November 6th-8th 2011, Hamburg - European Green Capital 2011, Germany: abstract volume

This volume contains the abstracts of all oral and poster presentations of the international scientific conference „Sustainable Consumption – Towards Action and Impact“ held in Hamburg (Germany) on November 6th-8th 2011. This unique conference aims to promote a comprehensive academic discourse on issues concerning sustainable consumption and brings together scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines. In modern societies, private consumption is a multifaceted and ambivalent phenomenon: it is a ubiquitous social practice and an economic driving force, yet at the same time, its consequences are in conflict with important social and environmental sustainability goals. Finding paths towards “sustainable consumption” has therefore become a major political issue. In order to properly understand the challenge of “sustainable consumption”, identify unsustainable patterns of consumption and bring forward the necessary innovations, a collaborative effort of researchers from different disciplines is needed

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

A GAMIFICATION FRAMEWORK FOR CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE WATER USAGE PROMOTION

The recent advent of smart meters to increase the effectiveness of urban Water Demand Management Strategies (WDM) has allowed water utilities to gather quasi real-time consumption data to monitor the network status and load and useful to develop models of consumers' behavior. At the same time, the consumption information can warn users about their habits in a fine-grained way. In principle, the feedback alone could stimulate increased awareness on water usage, but the motivations and individual attitudes of consumers are mostly hidden. Moreover, the same sustainable behavior should be incentivized also for households in which smart metering solutions are not present, but for which data gathering becomes a challenge. Modifying users' behavior by means of software is a tough task, due to the difficulty in designing an effective application able to maintain the behavioral changes in the long term. Gamification, the use of game design techniques and game mechanics to enhance traditional applications and drive behaviors of its users, has been proven successful in tackling with the problem. In this work, we propose a gamified application to enhance users' participation and data gathering in a real WDM scenario, by describing the designing principles and the architecture of the envisioned solution. An integrated approach exploiting both board and digital games to incentivize users to submit meaningful data for water utilities and change their long-term behavior is also detailed. The work is part of the SmartH2O project, which aims at creating an ICT platform to raise customers' awareness about their consumption and pursue water savings in the residential sector

Serious games in support of transformative multi-stakeholder sanitation planning for increased resource recovery: Specifications for game development

Globally, 2.3 billion people lack sanitation. Innovative solutions are needed that allow for rapid service expansion to underserved populations. Serious games can bring new perspectives into rigid planning and decision-making by increasing the understanding of complex issues, supporting learning of alternative perspectives and enhancing stakeholders cooperation. Existing games are inadequate for addressing the sanitation challenge and current frameworks for game development are neither comprehensive, nor tailored to sanitation planning. The objectives of this report are a) to develop a generic framework for development of serious games supporting transformative planning and governance; and b) to develop a set of specifications for a serious game for transformative sanitation planning specifically, c) to present a sanitation planning game prototype, and d) to report on an assessment of this game prototype. The report is based on literature studies and prototyping with user tests. A comprehensive framework for game development is presented and specifications for a serious game in sanitation planning are described. Initial game prototyping found that not all specifications could be fulfilled. Yet, focusing the framework on the serious purpose of the game, its worldview, its content, and its context of use brought a different but useful logic into the game design process