System Design for Sustainable Energy for all. A new challenging role for design to foster sustainable development

Vezzoli, Carlo; Delfino, Emanuela; Ambole, Lorraine Amollo

doi:10.7577/formakademisk.791

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In Kenya, for instance, according to the International Labor Organization, 90% of businesses are informal, which would mean that a large percentage of the population is familiar with the distributed and networked nature of the informal sector. Such a population could already be familiar with the open and networked relationships that S.PSS and DE offer [67]. Hence, Sustainable Distributed Economies (S.DE) need to be seen not as a return to the past, but as a transition towards socially, environmentally, economically and technically advanced sustainable distributed economies.…”

Section: Distributed Economies (De) As a Strategy Towards Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed Economies

Santos

Vezzoli

Parra

et al. 2021

Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering

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Section: Distributed Economies (De) As a Strategy Towards Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed Economies

Santos

Vezzoli

Parra

et al. 2021

Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering

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“…In this regard, researchers play an active role in unearthing 'current energy knowledges' using problem-solving approaches that are iterative and reflexive (ibid). These aspects of transdisciplinarity tally with the co-design stance of the product-service-system approach for distributed renewable energy [46,47].…”

Section: Co-designing Energy Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediating household energy transitions through co-design in urban Kenya, Uganda and South Africa

Ambole

Musango

Buyana

et al. 2019

Energy Research & Social Science

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Approaches to providing sustainable energy in cities have generated considerable interest in academic and policy circles. The development of this body of work, however, has not shed much light on the modes of intermediation that are needed to reconfigure urban energy systems towards sustainability in energy-poor countries. This paper focuses on the role of academics as knowledge intermediaries who can trigger cross-sector collaborations around innovations for a sustainable energy transition in African cities. The research presented here was generated by an interdisciplinary research team made up of partners in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. The research partners set out to better understand how sustainable energy transitions can be achieved through collaborative efforts between community members, experts and policy actors in the three countries. This paper provides evidence-based reflections on how the research partners used participatory methods to facilitate solution co-design and knowledge co-production over a period of two years under the Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA 2030) program. A key knowledge outcome of the research partnership is an improved understanding of how transdisciplinary research across the sub-region can be used to unearth the socio-spatial, cultural and political dimensions of energy in relation to other urban services such as health and housing. Based on this understanding, the paper proposes transdisciplinary co-design as a promising approach to providing sustainable energy in urban informal settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa."…leaders in government, the private sector and civil society to drive further, faster action toward achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7, which calls for universal access to sustainable energy by 2030, and the Paris Climate Agreement, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate warming to below 2 degrees Celsius." [3].Launched at the UN General assembly in 2011, SEforALL has three main objectives of: "ensuring universal access to modern energy services, doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix." (ibid).This paper focuses on the role of academics in this push for sustainable energy for all. As knowledge intermediaries, academics are well placed to facilitate cross-sector collaborations around innovations for sustainable energy transition, more so in the case of African cities that are some of the fasted growing in the world [4]. We reflect on our own work as knowledge intermediaries and integrators by situating our

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“…Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) refers to the combination of a decentralised and distributed generation of renewable energy sources, such as solar, biomass, and hydro (Emili, Ceschin, and Harrison 2016). Product-Service Systems (PSS), in turn, is a design approach that has been extensively described in the sustainability literature as suitable to address complex societal problems, such as those encountered in the application of DRE in low-income energy markets (Bandinelli and Gamberi 2011; Bartolomeo et al 2003;Emili, Ceschin, and Harrison 2016;Friebe, Flotow, and Täube 2013;Vezzoli, Delfino, and Ambole 2014;). An example that illustrates a sustainable energy PSS is the 'Solar Heat Service' provided by AMG.…”

Section: Contextualisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems

Costa

Diehl

Secomandi³

2018

Journal of Engineering Design

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Design education has devoted little attention to the topic of societal systems transformation in the context of sustainable development. This paper reports on a master's-level course that aims to build the capacity for design engineering students to adopt a Systems Design Approach comprised of the integration of Product-Service System (PSS) and Systems Thinking, in order to develop sustainable energy systems concepts. We identify key factors for skilful performance when designing solutions for complex societal problems. The findings suggest that design approaches grounded in systems thinking are promising for dealing with the increasing complexity of the societal problems which future generations of design professionals are expected to solve. An Open Learning E-Package (OLEP) was offered to support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to introduce Product-Services Systems and Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) models into their design curricula. We argue that capacity building for a systems design approach to complex societal problems, such as those faced in low-income energy markets, can support future generations of design engineers to take an active role in the development and widespread implementation of sustainable energy systems.

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System Design for Sustainable Energy for all. A new challenging role for design to foster sustainable development

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

Distributed Economies

Distributed Economies

Mediating household energy transitions through co-design in urban Kenya, Uganda and South Africa

Educating for a systems design approach to complex societal problems

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