The HUB a platform for sustainability practice Eugenia Chiara | PhD. Politecnico di Milano
Mauro Alex Rego | MA Candidate. Köln International School of Design
This paper presents a case study about a well succeeded initiative that works as a platform for promoting sustainable practice in the design field. Concerning the needs of a designer related to sustainable issues, this study presents an analysis of the international network called "the Hub" and on how its characteristics can promote favorable conditions to the practice of sustainable design. In order to show the advantages and the possibilities, a case study on design offices's experiences will be presented. Finally, a replication model will be proposed.
1 Design in a new social economy A new kind of economy is emerging in many fields, including the environment, care, education, welfare, food and energy. In the Nesta (2007) report “Danger and opportunity, Crisis and the new social economy,” Murray (2009) calls it ‘social economy’ because it melds features which are very different from economies based on the production and consumption of commodities. At the same time, the sustainable issues enter in the international agenda, plenty of research takes place in market models that are harmless to the environment and to the society (e.g. Sevice Design). In this new economic scenario the relationships between market-state- consumers have been redefined and new kind of enterprises and entrepreneurs are emerging. They are trying to transform social paradigms through their operate: the social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs are people who work inside large organizations to develop and promote practical solutions to social or environmental challenges. Social entrepreneurs apply the principles of social entrepreneurship inside a major organization. They can also be characterized by an ‘insider-outsider’ mindset and approach.1 One example is Win Sakdinan at Procter & Gamble who developed the company’s Future Friendly initiative, which helps consumers to save energy, water and packaging with its brands. 2 Another example is the nurses as social entrepreneurs programme developed at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. (Murray, Caulier-Grice and Mulgan, 2010: 128)
A designer often take part as a promoter or a member to new initiatives with social and environmental aims that are being created everyday but just few of them survive and evolves. Most of the time, The main challenge is the economical sustainability of those initiatives. The projects have no way to sustain themselves: because of lack of funding and partners. In addition, the absence of professional supervision that compromises the well development of the initiative. Often this business ventures born with a non-profit aims and they are developed in a more economical direction but without strong business expertise, others are promoted by people with a reduced business experience and prevision skills.