Climate Change, Water, Sanitation and Energy Insecurity: Invisibility Of People With Disabilities

Wolbring, Gregor; Leopatra, Verlyn

doi:10.15353/cjds.v1i3.58

Cited by 22 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, given the results, we submit that disabled people are invisible in the academic social sustainability discourse. This might not be very surprising as social sustainability has focused so far more on products and processes and less on the social (see Section 3.2. for expansion on this point); however, even if social sustainability discourses would be about social and the understanding put forward by McKenzie [4] and Vallance [3] the result might have been not much different as disabled people are invisible in many academic discourses of relevance to them that are linked to development issues [17,23,36,44,[58][59][60]. A recent online consultation on the Post 2015 development agenda setting highlighted the invisibility as a problem for disabled people and what could and should be done to fix it [37].…”

Section: Prasertsubpakij and Nitivattananon In Their Article Evaluatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Sustainability and Its Indicators through a Disability Studies and an Ability Studies Lens

Wolbring

Rybchinski

2013

Sustainability

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Abstract:The present journal recently stated in the call for a special issue on social sustainability, - [t]hough sustainable development is said to rest on ‗three pillars', one of these-social sustainability-has received significantly less attention than its bio-physical environmental and economic counterparts‖. The current issue promises to engage the concepts of -development sustainability‖, -bridge sustainability‖ and -maintenance sustainability‖ and the tensions between these different aspects of social sustainability. The aim of the present study is to identify the visibility of disabled people in the academic social sustainability literature, to ascertain the impact and promises of social sustainability indicators put forward in the same literature and to engage especially with the concepts of -development sustainability‖, -bridge sustainability‖ and -maintenance sustainability‖ through disability studies and ability studies lenses. We report that disabled people are barely covered in the academic social sustainability literature; of the 5165 academic articles investigated only 26 had content related to disabled people and social sustainability. We also conclude that social sustainability indicators evident in the 1909 academic articles with the phrase -social sustainability‖ in the abstract mostly focused on products and did not reflect yet the goals outlined in the -development sustainability‖ aspect of social sustainability proposed by Vallance such as basic needs, building social capital, justice and so on. We posit that if the focus within the social sustainability discourse shifts more toward the social that an active presence of disabled people in this OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2013, 5 4890 discourse is essential to disabled people. We showcase the utility of an ability studies lens to further the development and application of the -development sustainability‖, -bridge sustainability‖ and -maintenance sustainability‖ concepts. We outline how different ability expectations intrinsic to certain schools of thought of how to deal with human-nature relationships (for example anthropocentric versus bio/ecocentric) impact this relationship and -bridge sustainability‖. As to -maintenance development‖, we posit that no engagement has happened yet with the ability expectation conflicts between able-bodied and disabled people, or for that matter with the ability expectation differences between different able-bodied groups within social sustainability discourses; an analysis essential for the maintenance of development. In general, we argue that there is a need to generate ability expectation conflict maps and ability expectations conflict resolution mechanisms for all sustainable development discourses individually and for ability conflicts between sustainable development discourses.

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Section: Prasertsubpakij and Nitivattananon In Their Article Evaluatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Sustainability and Its Indicators through a Disability Studies and an Ability Studies Lens

Wolbring

Rybchinski

2013

Sustainability

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“…So far there is very limited research on the needs and experiences of disabled people in the environmental literature 4,[10][11][12][13][14][15] . Note that we have chosen to use identity-first language here, both in naming these disabled households and referring to disabled people.…”

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confidence: 99%

Characterizing the energy use of disabled people in the European Union towards inclusion in the energy transition

Ivanova

Middlemiss

2021

Nat Energy

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Designing environmental policy to take account of social difference is increasingly recognized as essential to address both effectiveness and justice concerns. So far there is limited research on the experiences of disabled people in the environmental literature, amounting to a failure to recognize this substantial constituency. Here we compare disabled households’ embodied energy use, income, risk of poverty and energy poverty, and other socio-demographics with other households in the European Union. We find that households including an economically inactive disabled person earn less and consume 10% less energy than other households, and are more likely to experience energy poverty. Disabled households have lower consumption than other households in most categories, with the exception of basic consumption such as food, energy at home (gas and electricity), water and waste services: in effect they have less—and sometimes inadequate—access to resources. We conclude that more attention should be paid to disabled households needs to ensure a just energy transition.

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“…While the focus of this paper is how the two missions of AT innovation and sustainability can and should be aligned, it is important to recognise the causal relationship between climate change and disability. Several authors have highlighted how people with disabilities are more likely to be vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change [18][19][20][21], whilst this group could also represent an invaluable resource to help develop better strategies for climate resilience, equality and sustainability [22][23][24][25].…”

Section: The Relationship Between Disability Inclusion and Environmental Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Could Assistive Technology Provision Models Help Pave the Way for More Environmentally Sustainable Models of Product Design, Manufacture and Service in a Post-COVID World?

et al. 2021

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From multiple studies conducted through the FCDO AT2030 Programme, as well as key literature, we examine whether Assistive Technology (AT) provision models could look towards more sustainable approaches, and by doing this benefit not only the environment, but also address the problems that the current provision systems have. We show the intrinsic links between disability inclusion and the climate crisis, and the particular vulnerability people with disabilities face in its wake. In particular, we discuss how localised circular models of production could be beneficial, facilitating context driven solutions and much needed service elements such as repair and maintenance. Key discussion areas include systems approaches, digital fabrication, repair and reuse, and material recovery. Finally, we look at what needs be done in order to enable these approaches to be implemented. In conclusion, we find that there are distinct parallels between what AT provision models require to improve equitable reliable access, and strategies that could reduce environmental impact and bring economic benefit to local communities. This could allow future AT ecosystems to be key demonstrators of circular models, however further exploration of these ideas is required to make sense of the correct next steps. What is key in all respects, moving forward, is aligning AT provision with sustainability interventions.

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Climate Change, Water, Sanitation and Energy Insecurity: Invisibility Of People With Disabilities

Abstract: Wolbring and Leopatra, Climate change, water, sanitation and energy insecurity CJDS 1.3 (August 2012) 66 Climate change, water, sanitation and energy insecurity: Invisibility of people with disabilities

Cited by 22 publications

References 7 publications

Social Sustainability and Its Indicators through a Disability Studies and an Ability Studies Lens

Social Sustainability and Its Indicators through a Disability Studies and an Ability Studies Lens

Characterizing the energy use of disabled people in the European Union towards inclusion in the energy transition

Could Assistive Technology Provision Models Help Pave the Way for More Environmentally Sustainable Models of Product Design, Manufacture and Service in a Post-COVID World?

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