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ANNEX 1.1 Problems Here are more problems for you to discuss with your classroom:
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ANNEX 1.2 Initiatives for LOLA and other initiatives that are interesting but LOLA is not looking for...
FOOD INGREDIENTS The average distance travelled 2000 KM from the producer to your table ELECTRIC DRILL Average time of use 4 hours in its entire life 1 KG OF STRAWBERRIES IN WINTER consumes only in transport Around 5 Litres of diesel A CAR Is not in use – or parked95% of time FRUITS 1 VEGETABLES in Europe has gone from a variety of 5000 to 50 in 100 years PACKAGING In our waste it represents 30% in weight and 50% in volume POSTAL JUNK MAIL An average adult receives in a year Around 18,6 KG and approximately 44% of this mail goes into a landfill unopened. CHEMICALS In 50 years 75,000 have been introduced into the environment. 300 synthetic chemicals are found in human bodies. IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne 2
IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne 3
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Loan Gardens - Netherlands, Utrecht A public green makes a neighbourhood more beautiful and welcoming. Solution Loan Gardens is a public green, which as been turned into a garden by the residents. There are a lot of public green spaces in Overvecht, and residents wanted to use this particular area to give the neighbourhood more identity. Residents who want to garden there first ask permission first of the ‘De Bram’ community centre, which also provides all the information they need, as does the municipal housing corporation, Overvecht. When permission is granted residents receive a management contract, and sometimes some funding, which makes then the owners of the public space they applied for and they can start gardening. The association provides advice, gardening courses and plants for the inhabitants, and the district office and students of nearby Wellant College help with planting. Background Overvecht is a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Utrecht. It consists mainly of blocks of flats; the area tends to be drab and grey, and lacks a positive identity. Another problem is that residents tend not to know each other, even in their own block of flats, and feel no responsibility for their neighbours. This problem is common to much of The Netherlands, particularly where the community is multicultural, as in Overvecht, and people are not used to each other.
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The benefits
Society Since the residents started doing things together, communication barriers have diminished sharply. Gardening provides an opportunity for a Dutch woman to talk with a Moroccan man, which would otherwise be problematic. People have started feeling more accepted in society, which will improve their daily lives. The fear for the unknown has disappeared – for example, residents now know that one of the hang around youngsters, who previously they perceived as threatening, is in fact the son of Mr Chamli, their neighbour. Environment The environment gets an identity, because every gardener or resident’s committee adds a garden design. It also means a cleaner environment, with both gardeners and nongardeners looking out for litter. Economy The local authority saves on public space maintenance, now the green spaces are better managed.
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Vegetable Box -Cologne, Bonn & Surroundings, Germany Fresh, organically grown, reasonably priced vegetables are delivered to the door, together with recipes, and opportunities to visit the farm. Solution The Apfelbacher Gemüsekiste delivers a box of local vegetables and fruits weekly, giving several options: a basic assortment with only vegetables, one with additional fruits, a single box and a family box. It is also possible to order special vegetables and fruits, bread, cheese and tinned meat. The basic vegetable box costs about 12 euros. The products are fresh and seasonal, and have to be grown locally. Customers are often surprised to find unknown vegetable or fruit in their box: products that they would have never bought otherwise, because they don’t know how to prepare them. For this reason, a list of recipes is included in the vegetable box. Background It is quite difficult to buy fresh, organic vegetables and fruit for a reasonable price in big cities. Moreover, the existing markets do not offer vegetables and fruits that don’t assure the shop a certain profit, or that are not easy to grow or handle. This reduces awareness about food varieties and leads to the loss of knowledge about traditional ‘grandmothers vegetables’. The Gemüsekiste service was conceived to address these issues.
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The benefits
Society The service fosters consciousness about tradition, taste and the coherence of food and season, and has made people realise that organic food can be affordable.The Apfelbacher family also helps to spread knowledge of organic farming and its importance for sustainable development by inviting primary school classes for visits to the farm. Environment The production of organic food, avoiding the use of genetically modified seeds and pesticides and following organic and seasonal cultivation techniques, reduces pollution, preserves the landscape and safeguards biodiversity. As all the food in the scheme is grown locally, the reduction of food transportation radically reduces the environmental impact of the food chain and reduces the need of energy for cooling and freezing (food is fresh and seasonable). Economy The case study demonstrates that ecological production can be economically sustainable: 20 years ago, when the Apfelbacher family started farming organically, there were about 30 other small farmers surrounding of the village. Today only the Apfelbacher family (and one extensive farmer) survives, thanks to the high quality of the product and the creation of a direct, innovative link to the consumers.
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Walking Bus - MIlano, Italy Children get to school by themselves enjoyably and safely Solution The walking bus encourages children to walk to and from school in the safety of a group under supervision of one or more adults. Safe routes are created and become a fun part of children’s daily routine. They meet their friends, talk and play, and share experiences outside the school. Gradually this builds up the children’s autonomy and personalities. It is also good exercise, and frees up time for the parents, who would otherwise have to take the children to school. What’s more, it improves children’s road safety awareness, improves pedestrian safety, and creates friendlier neighbourhoods as people get out and interact with one another. Finally, it reduces traffic pollution and accidents involving child pedestrians. Background Walking bus is an initiative by some teachers at an elementary school in Milan to improve the health and the well-being of children. In Milan, a large part of daily traffic congestion is caused by taking children to and from school by car. However, it’s difficult for children to walk on their own, because of unsafe roads and pavements often being blocked by parked cars. The walking bus protects and organises the groups of children.
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The benefits
Society Walking to school means that people don’t use their cars; this reduces traffic, accidents and pollution, and eases congestion on public transport. On a social level, the system recreates the sense of neighbourhood that existed a long time ago but has been lost in big cities. Developing this system could see schools as promoters of new ways of living, involving the whole community and increasing its responsibility towards children. Environment This system reduces traffic jams, air and noise pollution near schools and makes the streets more pleasant to live in. It also reduces fuel consumption, thus improving the environment. Economy This solution both gives parents time to do other activities, and saves money on fuel.
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Purchase group - MIlano, Italy How people buy quality, ethically produced food directly from producers. Solution A Filo Di Paglia consists of a group of people with the same beliefs in sustainable and ethical consumption who decided to collectively buy large quantities of essential basic products such as pasta, olive oil, from small local producers and distribute it among themselves. In this way, shopping is both cheap and convenient, and provides the satisfaction of knowing where the products come from, that they’re supporting small producers of quality products and respecting fair trade by paying the right price. There is no additional cost for packaging or advertising products and logistics are optimised. The group meets regularly to decide which producers best fit their selection criteria of benefiting both producers and users. A list of products and quantities is organised and, based on this, the group orders the products directly from producers. Background Conventional models of purchasing food do not show how it is produced and distributed, or give any guarantees of respect for human rights and the environment. Consumers are increasingly dissatisfied by the products offered by large distributors such as supermarkets (which normally exclude small producers from their trade), and are looking for quality, transparency and traceability.
are slowly increasing, but are still limited in number as they develop locally, mainly comprising friends sharing the same vision. There is no strict organisational structure, and it runs on a family-friend basis, where all the costs are shared evenly and accordingly. Members place their order through email/ phone and pay in cash.
The benefits
Society Being together with friends in a relaxed atmosphere, discussing which product to buy that fits the group’s objectives of avoiding exploitation, and being high quality and of known origin, generates a feeling of satisfaction. The small number of people in each group makes communication easier. Environment There is less packaging waste, less need of energy for cooling and freezing (food is fresh and seasonal) and less pollution from delivery, as the products are bought in bulk. Some of the products are organic so benefit the ecosystem. Economy A side-effect of the group’s action is improvement in family economy, because of the economies of scale in buying food. It also helps small local producers to survive, giving them an alternativedistribution channel to the supermarkets.
They would like to actively find out about the background of the product rather than being a passive consumer. Consequently alternative forms of shorter supply chain are emerging. Current situation GAS was initiated in 1994 and is still developing. The Milan groups 10
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Sustainable Housing and Living - Eindhoven, Netherlands A community creates the conditions for environmentally friendly living. Solution De Kersentuin is an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable community in the city of Utrecht, founded and developed by the inhabitants themselves. The residents made a plan for this sustainable neighbourhood, bargained with the city, and contacted architects to help them. In a matter of years, a neighbourhood of 94 buildings was created; it benefits from shared facilities, solar power systems, special thermal isolation, a balanced ventilation system, the possibility to extend houses as families get bigger, lots of green in the neighbourhood, a shared garden, neighbourhood-help and carsharing. Its residents are very self-sufficient, and arrange new initiatives – such as like hand crafts, a carrier cycle, carshare, etc - from which both inhabitants and the rest of the town now benefit. Background A group of people started feeling the need for an environmentally friendly living space, a kind of development not provided by the state. They only way to get a socially and environmentally sustainable place to live was to take the initiative and go set up a plan for themselves. Seven people started planning the neighbourhood. After a year and a half, the city of Utrecht agreed to co-operate. By this time, the numbers in the planning - the projects future inhabitants - had grown. A location was found – Leidsche Rijn, a new neighbourhood in a suburb of Utrecht.
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The benefits Society Fewer cars in the neighbourhood lead to a more child-friendly place, a diverse group of inhabitants, lots of activities to bring and keep people together, social contact within the neighbourhood, social control, innovative initiatives, a feeling of being part of a whole. Environment Resources are used efficiently and modestly. There are a car-sharing project, the many green areas maintained by both inhabitants and hired workers, shared facilities, including environmentally friendly washing machines, as well as good use of natural resources such as solar cells for energy and rain water for domestic use. Economy Economic benefits are probably of a secondary nature. If initiatives from ‘De Kersentuin’ can be applied on a larger, commercial scale there could be direct economic benefit for the inhabitants themselves: by organising certain services themselves and by sharing facilities they save a lot of money. In the future, it will even be possible for inhabitants to be paid by the power company for any extra energy they produce from the roof-top solar cells.
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Urban Hitchkinking- Brussels, Belgium Faciliter l’auto-stop dans l’enceinte de la ville de Bruxelles, tel est l’objectif de VAP, les Voitures A Partager. VAP est un projet qui a vu le jour en septembre 2005, à l’occasion de la semaine de la mobilité de Watermael-Boitsfort. Devant le constat d’une circulation automobile en constante augmentation, Claire Van Bellinghen, responsable du projet, s’était demandé dans quelle mesure il lui était possible d’encourager le covoiturage en ville. Lui est alors venue l’idée de réunir au sein d’un même groupe automobilistes et piétons désireux de partager l’expérience du covoiturage.
réelle. Mais au-delà d’un simple but pratique, le projet VAP espère changer les habitudes des usagers de la route en encourageant les contacts sociaux. L’avantage d’un tel service est qu’il ne nécessite que de très peu d’infrastructures, dans le sens où ce sont les automobilistes qui mettent à disposition leur propre voiture au profit des piétons. VAP ne dispose ainsi que de badges, et de cartes à offrir à ses utilisateurs. Un ordinateur est également utilisé pour stocker les données des inscrits.
L’avantage d’une telle initiative est que, par l’inscription des membres, VAP entend rassurer les usagers sur l’aspect sécuritaire du service. De même, s’instaure peu à peu une communauté autour du service, ce qui favorise l’assistance et la confiance entre ceux qui voyagent ensemble. Par ce projet, Claire Van Bellinghen n’a aucunement l’intention de faire concurrence aux transports en commun: il s’agirait plutôt de leur être complémentaire. Le covoiturage peut nous être utile pour parcourir les distances qui nous séparent des stations de transport à atteindre, par exemple pour la commune de Watermael-Boitsfort qui ne dispose que de trois bus pour 80 km de voirie.
IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne
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A l’heure actuelle, le service restant assez jeune, le nombre d’usagers n’est pas assez conséquent pour être vraiment efficace. Les membres se comptent au nombre de 180 à Watermael-Boitsfort, et de 45 en dehors de cette commune. Si le projet en est encore à un stade expérimental, la perspective d’une augmentation du nombre d’utilisateurs est 15
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Book Exchange - Cologne, Germany Readers enjoy new books, and exchange them easily, without having to store them at home. Solution The website Buchticket provides a free service offering thousands of book titles for exchange. Users have to become members of Buchticket. Exchanges are then based on trust and a so-called ‘book ticket’, like a virtual coupon, which enables users to choose a book. One ticket is worth one book. To get more tickets, members have to contribute books of their own. If somebody is interested in a member’s book, Buchticket sends the book-owner an e-mail and they send the book in the post (Germany has a special low price for book postage). Background Most books we own are read only once. Afterwards they are mostly stored unused in the shelf. Giving them away as a present is not possible, so what to do with them? The idea of the book exchange was started by a group of five actors as a means of sharing books among themselves. They never imagined it would become such a big success, with a constantly increasing number of members. The technology was organised by a young media agency which organised job searches on the internet.
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The benefits Society Society benefits from sharing things and the platform for communicating with each other. Without a technical platform this service would not be possible, and without the community and chat functions people would not use the service. In this way, IT and community tools are spreading sustainable ideas. Environment Fewer books need to be produced. Statistically people buy or borrow a new book when they’ve just finished a previous one, meaning that reading encourages more reading. By offering people easy access to new “used” books, the idea of using instead of owning diffuses into people’s minds. Economy Book Exchange saves users money, giving them new books to read without having to buy them.
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Time bank - Milano, Italy Local residents help each other out through the mutual exchange of skills. Solution Time Bank manages the exchange of people’s spare time and competences, like the northern European LETS (Local Exchange Trade System). Every activity, help or product has a price in hours. People can ask someone for help with a problem and pay back with their own time instead of money. When somebody receives a service or help they have a debt equivalent to the amount of hours spent which they can repay by offering something that cost the same time, or if more (for some hours credit). Members join the association by filling a form saying what they need and what they could offer in exchange. The request is then put in the Time Bank’s list of announcements and communicated to all the members through a website, a weekly e-mail and a paper note posted in the main centre for the people without a personal computer.
The benefits Society Time Bank gives great benefit to society. People can receive help but, more importantly, everyone can find something to give to the others in mutual exchange, with everyone having the same value in terms of what they can offer. Environment Time Bank holds sales, where people bring their old stuff and sell it for hours. In this way, every old and unused object can turn into something positive instead of being thrown away. Products exchanged like this have their lifespan lengthened, and shared tools get much more use. Economy Time Bank can improve domestic finances, as no money has to be paid for services. But the money is less important than the feeling of solidarity.
Background In big European cities such as Milan, people are no longer surrounded by family and need different kinds of help and assistance in everyday life. People sometimes can find solidarity in their own neighbourhoods, but it’s hard getting problems solved in a professional way. Many people are willing to offer their time, but others are too shy to ask for it, or worry about how they’ll repay the favour. Barter solutions like the Time Bank are emerging to help out.
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Lodge a Student At home- Milano, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; & Paris, France Intergenerational house sharing helps students find cheap, family-style accommodation, while giving lonely, but independent, elders help, companionship and financial support. Solution Megliomilano realised that independent elderly people could provide young students with low-cost accommodation in exchange for a little household help. A campaign generated a lot of offers from elderly people who had at least one room free in their house; manmy students also submitted requests. A psychologist was employed to visit the houses, interview the students and elderly people, and match the two together. Megliomilano keeps track of everybody involved through weekly feedback, gives both parties free legal assistance and support from a psychologist support, and organises monthly meetings with all users of the service. Background Large Europeans cities like Milan have a huge demand for student accommodation; in 2003, nearly 20,000 places were needed in the city. An increasing number of elderly people living alone need a little help with everyday activities. In addition, room prices in Milan are some of the most expensive in Italy, forcing students to live in nearby cities and to commute to college. As the Milan universities cannot offer a solution to these problems, students often decide to study somewhere else, and Milan loses out both culturally and economically. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of elderly people need help to live independently in their own homes.
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The benefits Society The service gives an immediate solution to two big problems in Milan: the lack of accommodation for students and the need of company and little assistance for elderly people living alone. At the same time it reduces the generation gap, and provides new ideas dealing with problems of elderly people. Two problems are emerging: sometimes the elderly people are using the students as nurses, which was never the aim of the service; and a female bias is evident: Elderly people look for female students, and students look for female elderly people. This reduces the opportunities for males, both elderly and students. Environment Reducing the number of student commuters has the potential to reduce traffic, pollution and overcrowding on public transport. Sharing of buildings, rooms and facilities allows to reduce the need for heating per person, and produce a more efficient use of the buildings. Economy There are clear economic benefits for both users of the service: The elderly people get financial and practical help; while students get access to low-cost rooms, so can afford to live and study in Milan and enjoy the cultural life of the city. The providers are currently using funds from the private sector and their own resources, but this will not be enough for much longer.
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Used construction material recycling - Estonia, Tallinn How valuable used construction materials and components are re-used. Solution This project teaches people about old and used materials so that they can be reused, enriching the new environment. It collects, removes, stocks and transports valuable used building and construction elements, ranging from door handles and postbox labels to bricks, stairways and roof details. Materjilad finds out about potential reclaimable materials from construction or real estate companies, who are demolishing old buildings to develop new projects, or members of the public interested in a sustainable lifestyle. Project manager Valdur Lillemets organises the transportation and stocking of materials and posts information about new findings on the website. The organisation both sells the elements, via the website or from the stock area, and runs courses and workshops about sustainable renovation. People are taught to lengthen the lifespan of objects that have served us well rather than throw them away. Background Tallinn and other Estonian cities are rich in original preserved wooden housing. But the intensive period of construction and renovation that started following independence in 1991, and following shift from public to private property, has had strong influence on peoples taste and preferences. Now everything that is new and imported is attractive, and old and homemade is not worth considering. This attitude has resulted in several culturally and historically important buildings being destroyed, and the waste of valuable materials.
attention in the last few years. Fortunately, there are organisations that promote sustainable thinking and resource-saving. One of these is the Information Centre for Sustainable Renovation (SRIK), whose main project is materjalid.net. The benefits Society New groups interested in sustainable renovation and recycling of used materials are emerging thanks to workshops regularly organised by materjalid.net coordinators. Participation in these workshops encourages personal involvement in the renovation of homes, and encourages participants to look after their own environment. Nevertheless, more active promotion via mass communication would increase awareness of using old materials in renovation. Only a very small percentage of people are aware of sustainable renovation, and the option of living in the city’s original wooden housing areas. Environment Recycling used materials is directly connected to sustainable thinking and resource conservation. Using old materials eliminates the need for any extra energy or production resources, and they are generally produced using traditional techniques, which aren’t harmful to the environment. Economy New compoments cost more than used components. In fact, saving money is very often the main reason for young families to buy used materials.
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Old Age Asossiation - Guangzou, China The members of the is a self-organized Old Age Association use their various skills to serve the residents in the community and teach two primary schools’ students in their neighbourghood. Solution “WENXINSHE” includes some groups such as serve team, patrol team, calligraphy and painting team, Yangko team and riding team, etc. They have organized for the residents to learn calligraphy and painting and also to do some physical exercises. Usingtheir expertise, they also teach courses in near primary schools.
communication amongst neighbours. Environment While doing these activities together they reduce impact and the solution optimises the use of existing structures for semi-public and public activities. Economy Some of the activities that the Old Age association carries out, are not included in school budgets, plus private tutors for these activities might be very expensive.
Background With the growth of the Chinese cities, more and more people leave the one-storey houses and move into apartments. The initial relationship among neighbours is becoming worse and worse. The residents living in the FENGJINGYA community would not like to see this phenomenon happen in their own community. So some of the residents of this community (most of them are old age people) set up the Old Age Association. It is now become the a bonding point amongst residents. They advocate, keep watch and help other people, living in a harmonious community. The benefits Society The members of the Old Age Association have various skills, such as mending the electric equipments, massaging (serve skills); calligraphy, Chinese painting and playing harmonica (cultural skills); Chinese Gong Fu, Yang Ko and making kites (custumal skills). They use all these skills to serve They enhance and improve the relationship among residents. Gradually, they build their community as a harmonious community. the residents and build the bridge of the 24
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Annexed infomation... Carsharing « Cambio », Germany ‘ a car when it’s needed’
The advantages of a private car with a price according to its use. Solution Cambio is a carsharing system that gives a greater freedom in sharing a car with a practical use. The user will only pay for membership fees: Cambio makes available to its members a series of different vehicles for booking when you need them, either for an hour, a day or a week. The price is proportional to use. The principle is quite simple, you recieve a card with an individual pin code, that gives you access to all the Cambio Vehicles available in your country. You must book the car you need in the parking point of your convinience. The reservation is either made by telephone or internetat any time, either in advance or last minute. You must go pick up the car to the specific parking piont to then leave it back there when you have ended your trip. Each month, you will recieve a detailed bill, representing all your trips and the pricing by kilometers made. Background Owning a car by yourself can be quite expensive. Parking takes more and more time. Also car rentals are not placed strategically in the city. With services like cambio, you can pay for what you use when you use it with a much more low fixed cost. For people that use a car occasionally is IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne
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STEP 1 individuelle, les coûts fixes sont minimes, et vous payez en fonction de votre utilisation. De plus toutes les voitures disposent de places de parking réservées, vous ne devrez donc plus paniquer à l’idée de devoir vous garer. Bénéfice environnemental Le bénéfice environnemental est principalement le désengorgement des centres urbains de Belgique. Lié au développement des transports en commun, Cambio voudrait montrer aux gens qui habitent la ville, qu’une voiture individuelle ne leur est pas indispensable, ce qui évidemment contribuerait à diminuer la pollution en ville. Bénéfices sociaux Civisme Partager un bien commun entre personnes de différents milieux et origines impose une certaine discipline à l’utilisation du bien confié ponctuellement. Bénéfice économique ? Pour les personnes n’ayant qu’une faible utilisation de la voiture, l’achat de cette dernière reste une dépense fort importante. En plus de l’achat, reste à payer les taxes, l’assurance et les entretiens ; en bref beaucoup d’argent pour un usage minime et pas toujours approprié à la ville. C’est pourquoi une utilisation rationnelle des moyens de transports mis à disposition peut rapidement se révéler bénéfique pour l’utilisateur civique et soucieux du développement durable.
Posséder une voiture qui reste devant votre porte vous coûte beaucoup d’argent et de soucis, pour les personnes ne roulant pas souvent, ce système est beaucoup plus avantageux que la possession d’une voiture 27
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Nurseries at home- Milano, Italy A flexible, customised professional day nursery for small groups of infants, at a reasonable price, and with a socialising environment Solution The service is run for the municipality of San Donato Milanese by a cooperative of 80 members started in 1999 to organise services for infants, the disabled and the. It offers professional nursery care to small groups of two or three children under three years old. Children are assigned to a childminder, who looks after them in her own home. The carers look after and educate the children, and take them also to other activities for infants organised by the local authority to help in the baby’s social development. The service is focused on two main concepts: having a maximum of three children per house, making it easier for the childminder to take them out on her own, and that the childminders should be well-trained. The scheme offers new job opportunities, especially for immigrants, and a new, flexible and personalised kind of childcare. The parents have to drop off and pick up the baby at the carer’s house and provide the baby’s food.
The benefits Society This service both offers parents a flexible solution to the problem of nursery places and supports the children’s early socialisation. It provides jobs for otherwise unemployed childminders, which was especially important to immigrant residents who otherwise had had to have their children looked after by relatives living far away due to delays getting their visa. By working for the cooperative they can both take care of their own children and work for the community. Environment The solution optimises the use of existing private structures for semi-public and business activities, and reduces the number of journeys between homes and nurseries. Economy Using the childminders’ own homes is a less costly and quicker solution for the local authority than building and administrating new nurseries. The service provides an income to previously unemployed childminders.
Background Developed as an industrial area back in the 1960s, San Donato Milanese is home to many young professional people and immigrants, all living away from their families and their help in raising their children. The number of children keeps increasing, and the existing nurseries cannot satisfy the community’s nursery needs. In 1999 more than 60 families were denied places at the nurseries. The local authority developed the service with the cooperative in 2000.
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Aquarius Association- Eindhoven, The Netherlands People over 55 live in a resource-sharing community suited to their diverse needs and lifestyles Solution Aquarius is a social community of about 45 older people living together, helping each other when needed. They want to grow old together. They each have a private home and garden, but also use a communal space and large communal garden. The inhabitants help each other out as much as possible. A committee organises the community, and has the task of vetting potential new members, who can apply between ages 55 and 65 (to make sure there are is always a mix of younger and older residents). Aquarius is a community where elderly people spend their days in an active social active environment. Background In 1984 a group of elderly people who did not feel comfortable living alone, but even less comfortable living in an elderly home, took the initiative to establish an elderly living society in Eindhoven. These people wanted to have an environment that was better adjusted to the needs and wishes of their age category. Some of these people lived on their own and felt lonely, with little or no social connections to society. Other people felt insecure in their own houses and wanted to get a safer feeling. Others needed regular healthcare but were reluctant to go to an elderly home.
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The beneďŹ ts Society Living in Aquarius encourages active social contact, and helps keep inhabitants’ lives as vital as possible, in a safe, friendly environment. Members remain active and independent for a longer period; society in general reduces the need for nursing of the senior citizens. Aquarius encourages the distribution of giving and receiving aid over the retirement years. Environment As most of the activities take place within Aquarius, transport intensity is minimised. Children of the inhabitants don’t often need to help them with problems, as most help is given by fellow inhabitants, which also reduces journeys. Economy The economics of Aquarius are almost the same as normal life. They rent a house and the activities are organised voluntary by fellow inhabitants. Mutual co-operation saves a lot of money.
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Initiatives that might be great but LOLA is not looking for... Wrtite the intro for this....
IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne
1. Group purchase, China
Place: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuxi Web-site: http://www.shtuangou.com/stg_together.asp
Service idea:
This group purchase works through Internet, where consumers could know information of products (or service) from suppliers (most of them are good brands). It organizes the consumers who have same needs and then bargain and purchase from suppliers in bulk, which generally is organized by professional purchase retail companies. In this way, the distributions system between consumers and suppliers was simplified, which would brings benefit to them both by decreasing the cost of distribution and risk of bargain.
Why is this not an example for LOLA? Even though these people organize a “community”, this community is about purchase of goods in order to get a better price. It does not change our lifestyle or encourages us to consume less, locally or environmentally friendly products, its purpose is only to consume cheaper and maybe more if the price is good. 32
2. 41 pounds organization. Place: United States, Michigan Web-site: http://www.41pounds.org
Service idea: 41pounds.org stops junk mail and catalogs arriving to your house by you joining at their website, paying a small fee that covers your entire household for five years, and they will contact all companies that would be seduced to send you things act on your behalf to decline them, thus protecting the environment. The name comes from the amount of junk mail the average person receives each year (credit card applications, catalogs, coupon books, etc.) Why is this not an example for LOLA? This is a great cause, but not a good example for LOLA. See, Junk mail wastes an incredible amount of natural resources and contributes to global warming, and it could be great if this proposal could
be available in many countries, but it does not imply a change in lifestyle- a main criteria: when you are a member it prevents undesired information or publicity to arrive to you, but you don’t take an active role, you pay for a service that you don’t participate in. Yes, there is an environmental benefit, but your habits have not changed and it does not make us share more with others. We could say: it is not a LOLA case, but a great cause Many NGO’s could have similarities with this, so be careful when you think of one of them.
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Annexed infomation... 3. Recycling, using reusable bags and buying biological products in stores. Place: All over the world, hopefully.
The Idea: The idea of all of these actions is to reduce your environmental impact just by choosing alternative products to the ones available or changing regular habits such as separating waste or taking a re-usable shopping bag when you shop. Why is this not an example for LOLA? Yes, these are all great ways of starting to care about environment. These gestures can help -and you should do them!!! But they cannot be categorized as a change in lifestyles, our main criteria. They are changes in behaviour that make us consume less and they can be seen as a substitute or an INSTEAD: when I throw my garbage away I separate it INSTEAD of putting it together. Do I change my lifestyle? No. We are also looking for new ways of living and sharing; here there is definitely there is no sharing.
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4. Passive Houses or a hybrid car Place: All over the world, hopefully.
The Idea: These products are environmentally friendly solutions that either reduces our energy consumption or are less polluting. A passive house reduces heating loss and requires a little amount of energy for heating. A hybrid car is a car that uses a conventional propulsion system with an on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) to achieve better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle. Why is this not an example for LOLA? These are all technical solutions that maintain the same lifestyles. They are great solutions that lower our impact and reduce waste, but essentially they are built to maintain a same lifestyle. For example, if you have a hybrid car, that sometimes means that you use the car because it consumes less, and it doesn’t solve other problems like traffic jams and over-consumption…. Should we ask if you are alone in your hybrid car with 4 empty seats in a traffic jam surrounded by other cars that are also used by one person alone, is it the best solution? A passive house lowers our energy consumption for heating-which is good!!!but does it prevent you of changing your lifestyle towards energy?
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Annexed infomation... 5. UROBURO/ MOBILE EN VILLE Place: Milano Italy & Paris, France
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6. Rag or can picker / bicycle or other flea markets Place: Generally in developing countries
Service idea: Uroburo is a jewlery atelier that gives an opportunity to young people with psychological problems a place to express themselves and learn a craft, while they can also generate profit from sale. The aim of Mobile en Ville roller parades is to promote social interaction between different groups through an event that focuses on mobility, while having fun. Wheel chaired people are accompanied by a skater through a route. The event is held to provide city route information for the wheelchair-bound and to promote alternative forms of transport. “Mobile en Ville” organizes events in order to make the city easier to live and move in, asking for changes to pavements, signs etc. Why are these not examples for LOLA? Even if these are great initiatives to motivate and help handicapped people (and they should exist everywhere!!) we have to consider that these solutions addresses a special part of the population, and it is not a solution type that we could propose for all of us, thus not applying to be a LOLA initiative.
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Service idea: Rag pickers and can, paper or bottle collectors are people who recollect those items to sell them as recyclable material. Many companies sometimes re-buy those and other tings as cork bottle caps and journals, thus activating a parallel industry around this. A bicycle flea market repairs and re-sells donated bicycles, and gives one or two jobs to unemployed people. Why are these not LOLA lifestyle cases? This gives jobs to people, yes, but it is not an acceptable as a lifestyle. Even though people without jobs can profit from this activity, it should be a model for building our society. For example if we project ourselves in the future, following our criteria, this initiative would not prevail in time, because slowly this very informal way will be substituted by a service, as for example with cans, the pick up will become a communal duty.
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Annexed infomation... 7. Some kinds of Charity organizations Service idea: There are many ways that charities work, but most likely we can say that these are all ideas based on helping other people in an unfortunate, handicapped or less favourable health, economical or social situation. Some charities initiatives are held informally whilst others are transformed in a Non Profit Organization. Why are they excluded from LOLA? If we look at these cases towards achieving a sustainable lifestyle, they cannot be considered as a model because there is no reciprocity in them. Members help others and don’t expect anything in return (but the satisfaction of helping others). As before, we cannot propose this kind of interaction as a “model of society” in which ones help and the others receive. Society is meant to be in a sharing relations context. These kinds of initiatives, even if they do not qualify as a Lifestyle change initiative they are of great value for our unfair societies.
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8. Traditional Communities The idea: Doing things the old way: a farmer that uses horses for ploughing, cheese, bread & other food products made with a traditional recipe in an old fashioned mechanical way, hand made crafts and many cultural heritage communities that gather preserve a traditional way of doing. Why is this not an example for LOLA? Preserving certain cultural parts of our patrimony is definitely necessary to preserve a sense of belonging. But do they apply as a “new way of living”? We say that even though they should exist throughout time, they cannot qualify as an alternative lifestyle. These ways, the old ways cannot qualify as new ways of facing with daily challenges. We can certainly include the knowledge and practices from other times, but for them to be considered they should mix new elements of solution to form an innovative lifestyle.
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Annexed infomation... 11. Neighbourhood watch
Place: Tallin, Estonia
Service idea: Violence, theft and lack of safety are very actual themes in Estonia, more in some places than others. The Estonian Neighbourhood Watch (ENHW) had its roots in people’s fear of crime and their desire to protect themselves. They create a sense of security, it is an association founded as a civic initiative. Every sector (min. 50% of the appartments in one building or min. 4 private houses) has made a contract with ENHW, local municipality and local police department. A Security firm is also a sponsor. Every member of the sector has all the contacts of other users, police, municipality and ENHW,and a list of advices of how to react in different situations – all made and given by ENHW.
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Every user has a sticker called ’Neighbour Guards’ to put on the window to acknowledge intruders and every house has posters to put on the buildings, fences and etc. to inform about neighbourhood watch area. ENHW also organizes trainings for heads of sectors and regular meetings with local municipalities. Why is this not an example for LOLA? Non ethical_ could you please elaborate in the non ethical ? I can see it’s not a case … but the ethical posture…?
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12. Dabbawalla Place: India
Service idea: The dabbawalla is a very nice Indian tradition. The word “Dabbawalla” translates to dabba = lunch box, and walla = man or the ‘lunch box man’. It is a 125 year old trade formed by a unique and incredible network of 5,000 men with the complex task of delivering 200,000 home made lunches each day from suburban homes to downtown offices in the city of Mumbai... all within a period of approximately 3 hours! That’s about 65 million ‘dabbas’ a year with almost no mistakes! Why is this not an example for LOLA? The Dabbawalla is a great Indian tradition that keeps homes connected through food. This is a beautiful and gigantic task that is carried out every day! However, we cannot promote this kind of service that is a beautiful idea as a sustainable lifestyle. Imagine all the transport that it requires!! If the system was proposed in a more sustainable way by changing some ideas around (as you could eat what others produce in a short walking distance), it could become an innovation, but for now, is a very nice tradition.
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Annexed infomation... 13. A meta or multi case / Cohousing / Taxistop The idea: There are some cases thatactually have a lot of cases in them! Yes! Big or small organizations such as UNICEF, WWF (BIG!) or a Co-housing project (small), can include many different ways of helping each other and making our daily life more sustainable. For example, In a co-housing project, a group of families decided to build a community in which they have their own houses but share certain facilities such as gardens, play rooms, guest rooms and a party place, but they can also include carsharing and a biological garden/farm and a timesharing bank plus many others. Same as Taxistop. Taxistop is a Belgian NGO that deals with mobility issues. They have promote char-sharing & carpooling to work, airport & school; they also promote house exchange for holidays, a mobility system for people with low mobility and home bed & breakfast. Why is this a too large example for LOLA? If we take these cases, WHICH WE CAN, we have to not look at the case more closely and take ONE of the activities that they do as an example, if not the exercise becomes complicated. For example, in a Co-housing we can take the “sharing spaces” aspect as a sustainable lifestyle case or “car-sharing” or “time sharing”, but preferably not all of them together!
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14. Smart pool/ weblogs and software Place: Belgium
Web-site: http://www.taxistop.be/4/tools/ 4smartpool-1.htm The idea: Smartpool is the software that makes carpooling in Belgium possible. This software was made by Taxistop (see the previous case) to make carpooling easy. It contains a big database of people that would like to share their car for going to school, work or other places in a daily routine. The software then matches offer and demand in order to make carpooling happen quickly and easier! A weblog is a site on the internet that is regularly updated. The first weblogs started as a simple website to quickly store information, and sometimes the creators would add a personal opinion. Nowadays they have evolved into a way of many users to express opinions. Postings from users range from stupid or even offensive pictures and movies to serious, even scientific, articles and columns. People can (anonymously) express their opinions, feelings and beliefs too a large audience, thanks to the internet. Why is this not an example for LOLA? We must say that this is a very efficient way of organizing information, very much needed for the LOLA cases, but that is what it can be qualified as a tool that enables the functioning of a complex system, as a library software could help a book exchange system to operate. So think again and look at the system that the tool is helping… maybe that can qualify as a case! 43
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15. Stavik Food Festival
Place: Ahmedabad, India Web-site: http://www.sustainable-everyday.net/ ccsl/?p=99#more-99
The idea: The traditional food festival, Satvik is organized by SRISTI in collaboration with GIAN, NIF, and IIMA to stimulate demand of local crops and their varieties from dry regions so as to generate market based incentives for their conservation. Recipe competitions are organized among women for encouraging the revival and/or creating awareness about minor millets and uncultivated plants and their perceived health/nutritional benefits among the urbanites. Various institutions working for the cause of organic agriculture are also brought on a common platform through the help of this festival. Stalls are set up by various organizations, farmers’ collective and individual to showcase and sell organic foods like minor millets, organic vegetables and fruits etc. People, who deal with minor millets, display and sell both processed and non-processed food, are part of the event. Various activities in the realm of creative games, painting, card making out of traditional grains, face painting, hand painting and T-shirt painting are organized for children.
Annexed infomation... 16. A wind or a solar village The idea: A village that has favourable wind or solar conditions has installed a windmill: solar panels that generate clean energy for its entire population. Why this may not be an example for LOLA? The problem with this kind of solution is that it can be quite context specific. If we wanted to reproduce this idea in my village and in it there is no wind, then there is no possibility to duplicate this idea somewhere that doesn’t have similar conditions. This makes difficult the promotion of the case as a sustainable lifestyle.
STEP 1 17. Ready Made Art & Crafts
Place: The Netherlands, Eindhoven The idea: The aim of the scheme is to bring schools and artists together for educational purposes. An organization called BISK acts as mediating agency between schools and artists, who are invited to the workshops to develop the pupils’ creative skills. The pupils, guided by the artist, create artwork from garbage, discovering the potential of the material that is all around them, finding and composing new meanings out of discarded objects. Students can learn about materials, tools and ways of expressing themselves. Why is this not quite accurate example for LOLA? Arts can be fun, a good way of selfexpression and easy if you start with something already existing. However, this is not an answer on the way we treat our objects and garbage. Arts shouldn’t be a solution to deal with our over consumption. Also creating artistic objects is not dealing with daily life issues, but a good start to be creative!
Why is this not quite accurate example for LOLA? What the festival DOES can definitely be considered as a LOLA case, but the slight problem is the FREQUENCY of the initiative. We could not say that this can become a lifestyle, but what if the festival was instead a market every week with local farmers? IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne 44
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ANNEX 1.3 Criteria Our Criteria: For understanding how do sustainable lifestyles take place, we must understand of what are the principal parameters that a case needs to have to qualify as such. We propose this as a basic exercise, and the criteria is as well explained in the Reporter Book. These 4 criteria combine in a balance such that creates a LOLA case. Some of them actually have one criterion as a goal, yet as a byproduct you get other benefits enlisted here. Look out for this, because we need the presence of all these elements, but not necessarily in an even way. Browse at the LOLA cases and non-cases explained in the following pages. See that they all have these qualities embedded. So let us look at each one more closely. 1. AN INNITIATIVE MUST BE A NEW WAY OF ORGANIZING DAILY LIFE. This is the first and most important one. We can say that the current patterns of consumption and organization of certain aspects of daily life will not help us achieve sustainability balancing ecological, cultural and economical aspects. But there are certain groups of people changing their everyday life, how they eat, work, move in the city, change their living
spaces and more, spontaneously because they are motivated in making a difference, and it works. If we share our car instead of owning it by ourselves, share the ride to work with others that work nearby instead of going alone or walk to school with your classmates in a group instead of sitting in traffic with your parents can be seen as an alternative solution for transportation. Why not getting a vegetable box weekly from a local farmer with biological products instead of going to the supermarket? These are all activities that change our way of doing. We have to say that the kind of cases that we will be searching for are not daily actions that reduce impact and substitute certain products in a way that does not alter our current lifestyle, which is something we all can do with no effort, but sometimes life changing decisions for its participants. 2. AN INITIATIVE MUST PROMOTE SOCIALIZATION AND ENHANCING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PARTICIPANTS. There is reciprocity in all of these lifestylechanging cases. All of their participants share, collaborate, administrate and take part in these solutions expecting to give as much as they receive. They are looking for quality in their relations, getting to
Annexed infomation... know their neighbors, making more friends, becoming a community. They understand and help each other in order to achieve a common goal and benefit, counting in a certain “moral” quality that they want promote. They believe in the benefit of living in an integrated society, and they don’t mind spending time in and for the initiative that they are part of, because they know that they will not only get a material or intangible benefit but also personal satisfaction. 3. AN INITIATIVE MUST REDUCE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, GENERATING LESS WASTE & POLLUTION WHILE NARROWING USELESS CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY AND RESOURCES.
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4. AN INNITIATIVE MUST BE STABLE, BEING ABLE TO SETTLE DOWN PERMANENTLY IN OUR DAILY LIFE, TO BE ABLE TO PROFIT FROM ITS BENEFITS. The initiatives can be young ones, even a couple of months old, but we need to think if they will be able to stay. For them to turn into initiatives that can be models of new lifestyles we need to think if they are strong enough to prevail. Same as replicability we need to be able to reproduce these initiatives all over the world –adapting to local context of course- to achieve some change!
One of the main points that we want to achieve is this, concerning lifestyles. This is a mayor challenge we are facing. And we need to find ways to accomplish. Such is the unnecessary amount of waste & consumption that developed countries have achieved that we need to change and prioritize what we need. So think about the solution that you are looking at: does it produce more or less or the same current consumption? Does it fully take advantage of the resources that it uses? Remember the different kind of resources: Material & natural goods, infrastructure, energy, people & knowledge. IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne
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ANNEX 1.4 Good practices
STEP 1 And less pertinet to sustainable lifestyles but yet very important…
Formulation of each principle: WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WHAT WOULD THIS IMPROVE?
BRING PEOPLE AND THINGS TOGETHER REDUCE THE DEMAND FOR TRANSPORT
PROMOTE DIVERISTY OF THE NATURE, PEOPLE AND SOLUTIONS IMPROVE THE ROBUSTNESS OF SYSTEMS
GIVE SPACE TO NATURE IN THE CITY IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF URBAN LIFE
ORGANIZE NETWORKS FIND SINERGIES BETWEEN CITIZENS REDUCE WASTE PROMOTE ECOLOGICAL WAYS OF PRODUCTION
SHARE TOOLS & EQUIPMENT REDUCE THE DEMAND FOR PRODUCTS.
EAT ACCORDINGLY TO NATURE REDUCE THE IMPACT OF OUR NOURISHMENT
FORSEE A LEVEL OF SUFFICIENCY REDUCE OVER-CONSUMPTION
USE THE OTHER CLEAN ENERGY SOURCES REDUCE THE DEPENDANCE OF FOSSIL FUEL USE WHAT ALREADY EXISTS REDUCE THE NEED FOR NEW THINGS
ORGANIZE OURSELVES IN A NEIGHOURGHOOD SCALE ADAPT TO THE EACH LOCAL SITUATION
IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne 48
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ANNEX 1.5 PROPOSED EXERCISES FOR SESSIONS 1 Here we propose a series of excercises related to each session card for you to do with your class. You may choose and alter them as you wish, or invent your own!
1. PROBLEMS... SESSION CARD 1.1
Assignment: Each problem listed below (black) is shown to the entire class, one by one. The students are invited to guess the answer (orange). The answer and question remain on the board. The good reply is compared to their own to see how close/far they where. The consequences and implications of these problems are raised and discussed. All the class participates 15 minutes session.
2. PRINCIPLES... SESSION CARD 1.3
Assignment: From the problems presented in exercise 1 -or others that you propose- we will try to find certain principles characteristics of a more sustainable lifestyle. The students are invited to find their own way of identifying them. The objective is to guess the principles listed here below and to write them down on the board or notebook as a reference for next steps. All the class participates 30 minutes session.
3. CASES...
SESSION CARD 1.2
Assignment: A list of cases, listed here after, are presented in images either on a screen or printed. The students are invited to find out and imagine what does each initiative presents, how it works and which are the interesting features in social and environmental terms. You will find the images to photocopy in the INNITIATIVES section or download it from the LOLA website at: http://www.sustainable-everyday.net/ lolaprocess All the class participates 30 minutes session. Proposed cases to use: Food Purchase Group Nurseries at home Second hand Materials Old age Community Old age home Walking Bus Urban Hitchhiking
Annexed infomation... 4. COMPARE A LIFECYCLE SESSION CARD 1.4
Assignment: The lifecycle of a product is explained to the class. (You can find more information about a lifecycle in the previous pages) The different stages are identified and written in the board. These stages are written in a size showing the impact in relation to the system. They are asked to find the differences in impact and advantages (economically, environmentally and social) between already shown initiatives and some standard daily life actions. 30 minutes session. All the class participates.
A LIFECYCLE
EXTRACTION of natural resources • Transport PRODUCTION of consumer goods • Energy • Raw material • People working in assembling • Waste + pollution • Biproducts • Packaging • Transport DISTRIBUTION of consumer goods (retail stotes) • Maintenance (if it is food for example) • Space / Energy
STEP 1 CONSUPMTION AND USE • Transport • Processing • Ready to use • repeareble • Disposable DISPOSAL • Transport • Into land fills or recyclying COMPARE: book exchange with buying books; vegetable box delivery with going to the supermarket; Living together or co-housing with elderly living alone; Carsharing with owning a car; Second hand material with buying new material.
4. CRITERIA...
SESSION CARD 1.2
Assignment: Criteria are needed to identify and discriminate which are new sustainable lifestyles. Revising the innitiatives discussed previously, guide your students on finding and selecting which are the criteria’s to know if an initiative qualifies to be investigated further. Then compare them with the ones on the Reporter book. 20 min session All the class participates
IN PROGRESS... LAST UPDATE April 2008. send contributions to lola@solutioning-design.ne 50
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