Reimagining Sustainable Living by Hanne Österberg [NL] // CONVERSATION

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The conversation hosted by Hanne Österberg will reimagine innovation, focusing on services that enable individual choices when it comes to smart, sustainable and healthy homes and lifestyles.

Energy efficient buildings are at the center of major policy plans all over the world. How can private companies foster a transition towards more environmentally friendly technologies for our houses? And how can we begin to shift discourse from solely sustainable housing to sustainable living? At the end of this session, participants would have used known facts and figures to identify gaps and build a mindmap of solutions and ideas.

During this ongoing global pandemic, people are evidently placing higher values ​​on health wellbeing over financial profit. We are all in a unique moment in history to reflect on how sustainable our lifestyles are.

Hanne Österberg, Exploration Lead at the Chief Innovation Office of the ING Bank in the Netherlands, is a design management professional with 15 years of experience from both the consultancy and the client side.

Hanne’s reflections concern public awareness towards practical ways of sustainable living. She asks herself what her company, active in this sector, can do to motivate people to make changes in their houses to become more energy efficient. She realizes that the private sector, along with the government and individual citizens, have a role in successfully carrying out this transition. Given her role within a private institution engaged in this sector, Hanne acknowledges the role private actors have in fostering awareness among citizens on this topic.

 

Related Untitled Agenda themes : Reimagining climate, Reimagining economy, Reimagining cities

Photo: Hanne Österberg, linkedin.com/in/hanneosterberg

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Re-imagining an Anti-Racist World by Fred Brown [US] // CONVERSATION

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As the world becomes more interconnected than ever, slow adopters of collaborative problem-solving techniques run the risk of being left behind. By 2050, seventy percent of the world’s population will live in an urban corridor. With the confluence of population growth and the desire to live in urban corridors, there is an increased risk for vulnerable populations with the need for new, rapid development to accommodate growing communities. These populations can be supported by centering equity in the work.

Implementing an Equity Framework necessitates the understanding of equity, the practice of institutional assessment and the intention to address structural inequities because of systemic racism.

  • Equity means fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all people. It requires the purposeful identification and elimination of barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups.
  • Institutional Racial Equity assessments tease out tangible practices demonstrating adherence to principles and behaviors which foster systemic shifts in organizational culture. These lead to the cultivation of cross functional teams that outperform homogeneous ones.
  • Structural Racism is a system of beliefs and practices that, through omission or commission, move people to perpetuate damages against marginalized groups whether or not they intend to. Its foundation consists of social, economic, and political paradigms that require systemic thrusts to move institutions from optimization to cultivation of ecosystems, with human beings at the center.

The proposed ecosystems model seeks to promote racial equity analysis through the creation of new experiences within institutions, leaders, managers, staff, and customers. These would lead changes through innovation and producing viable wireframes that are agile and iterative. We believe that fostering ecosystems will lead to a shift from traditional systems to change models to co-designed models based on a Human Centered Design approach. Organizational and institutional leadership should be particularly involved in experimenting with this idea of ​​re-creating an anti-racist world.

Fred W. Brown Jr. is President & CEO of The Forbes Funds [TFF], a philanthropic organization focused in strengthening the management capacity and impact of community non-profits in the Pittsburgh area. The Forbes Funds (TFF) has a 35 year history of advancing well-being by helping human services and community-based non-profits build their management capacity, increasing the impact of their mission work.

In 2020, The Forbes Funds’ board approved a racial justice equity framework for all of TFF’s work. This framework includes investing in diverse leadership, increasing the capacity of minority-led organizations, and developing scenario planning and collaborative capacity of organizations within the region. Since the onset of COVID-19, TFF has held nearly 1,000 virtual meetings and engaged nearly 11,000 individuals in the region and across the state, Nation, and globe.

 

Twitter handle: @FredBrownPgh   @TheForbesFunds
Website:  https://forbesfunds.org/

Related UNTITLED Agenda Theme: REIMAGINING human, REIMAGINING power

 

Photo: Fred W. Brown Jr., twitter.com/fredbrownpgh

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Björn Müller, STRIDE the unSchool [CH] // PEOPLE

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The concept of innovation is still deeply associated with technological innovation as motor for societal progress, emerging out of a competition of ideas. But is it possible to shift this perspective to social innovation, a process of learning collaboratively how to live better together? How might we involve mainstream stakeholders in the process of turning innovation to a public level in order to build dedicated infrastructures, and make it more accessible by communities?

Björn Müller @bjObj0
Co-founder and manager at STRIDE the unSchool,
an education provider and think tank supporting individuals, organisations and cities to turn social innovation into a transformative process of learning, stride-learning.ch

 

What could be reimagined now?

At the moment, we witness at the same time too much and not enough novelty. On one hand, there’s a whole infrastructure, from incubators to accelerators and competitions, dedicated to bringing innovation at a global level. But on the other hand, the fundamental issues and problems for which the world is suffering are not addressed, therefore we don’t see any concrete and deep change.

For this reason social innovation seems to be an opportunity. Is there a space or infrastructure to do social innovation across different sectors, not confining it to any sector?

How could we experiment with innovation as such?

Everything starts with challenging a very modern way of understanding innovation which is tied to the idea of continuous growth. This is coupled with the belief that a good life is reached by ever-increasing access and range into the world, making life as easy and fast as possible. Conversely, innovation can deal with a much more life-affirming side, based on participatory and collaborative aspects, putting life at the center, for example in our political, economical and social agendas.

How could social innovation be supported and look like in ten years’ time?

We can imagine a world where social innovation could be publicly supported by states and therefore having the chance to launch social experiments and endeavors at a different scale. Mainstream actors could be involved in shifting their orientation or innovation efforts to contribute in building a sustainable and meaningful lifestyle. In doing so, it is also possible to move away from the concept that makes innovation revolve just around technology. Innovation could then reconnect to its Enlightenment roots, turning it into a force of bettering (quality of) life for all.

 

Image: Björn Müller, twitter.com/bjObj0

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Mikko Laakkonen, PAM [FI] // ALLIANCE

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At the moment trade unions probably have slightly less influence in the civic discussion and have progressively lost their relevance. Mikko is proposing to get back to people and make them feel empowered by unions that can safeguard their rights on a professional level.

 

Mikko Laakkonen @mlaakkonen
Member of Palvelualojen Ammattiliitto (PAM),
The biggest trade union in Finland helping people working in private service sectors, pam.fi

 

 

What could be reimagined now?

We can reimagine the role of trade unions in the civic discussion, reaffirming their position within the society as strong advocates for social improvements. These days the unions are facing some difficulties in coping with changes in the society, because people have a broader range of uncertainties and they still don’t have a concrete way to tackle them.

How could we experiment with the role of the trade union?

Tackling insecurities can be done through the collectiveness of the trade unions, which is the basis of the union’s action. A union is its members, so how is it possible to use this collective identity of a group of people? By being a meaningful partner for them and supporting collaboration among both single members and partners, whom they usually do not work with. 

How social innovation could be supported and look like in ten years’ time?

Trade unions could be also interpreted and implemented as a democratic platform to ease civic discussion and collect feedback from people.

 

Image: Mikko Laakonen, twitter.com/mlaakkonen

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Anthony Zacharzewski, The Democratic Society [BE] // ALLIANCE

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Anthony Zacharzewski hopes that Untitled will be a place where to reimagine democracy. What if a renewed participatory system allowed for a better inclusion of civilians?

Anthony Zacharzewski @anthonyzach
Founder and president of The Democratic Society,
A non-profit organization focusing on civic participation and new models of governance, www.demsoc.org

 

What could be reimagined now?

Thanks to the profound experience in the political and administrative fields, Anthony decided to found the organization with the aim of imagining a new type of democracy, which may lie in unusual places or is not connected to the classic 19th century schemes. To achieve this, he believes it is important to re-design the timing of participation within contemporary democracies, which often offer political elections every few years or online consultations in rare events (such as referendums).

Examples of recent system changes can be found in Belgium, where some administrative areas have set up assemblies for the representatives to meet four times a year, in order to discuss and better understand the problems affecting those regions. In a similar way, but on a different scale, Poland operates at city level. While we are still in the early days, it is a sign that democracies are at the beginning of a systematic change, which will inevitably force them to honor the pacts made for decarbonization.

What could the new democracies look like in ten years’ time?

Anthony’s hope is that issues such as climate change will not remain just temporary trends, but will increasingly include a human dimension, thanks to a renewed participatory system at the civil level. Therefore it is necessary to understand how to bring democracies closer to people’s everyday life by setting up new organizations, which promote collaborative and participatory actions within the population and its representatives. In the next ten years, it is expected and hoped that these ways of managing local communities will be consolidated and rooted in other global democracies as well. For example extra-European countries, such as African governments, which have seen fast growth in the last decade and offer tremendous potential.

Image: Anthony Zacharzewski, demsoc.org

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Elina Iida Sofia Hirvonen, Freelance Journalist [FI] // PEOPLE

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Social media has reshaped forever the way we communicate and get information. Nevertheless, the actions of the big companies behind them often raise a lot of criticism: what if social media belonged to the people?

 

Elina Iida Sofia Hirvonen @interneiti
Freelance journalist, for example
for Ylioppilaslehti, Helsingin Sanomat and Image.

 

What could be reimagined within the social media world?

Elina criticizes the entrepreneurial side of it, wishing that these platforms could belong to the people and not to companies: the current structure influences how information is spread among the population and does not foster equality. Current social media structures and algorithms are making profit out of people’s most intimate feelings and experiences, and it’s creating conflicts and affecting the media as well. 

How would Untitled help to develop your vision?

Elina sees Untitled as an opportunity to discuss how the ideal social network should be built, debating on which instruments would be necessary to undertake challenges such as ensuring privacy for all the users.

Who needs to join the Alliance to make this envision true?

Involving informatic experts for consultancy would allow to realise the technical side of the idea.

Image: Elina Iida Sofia Hirvonen, @interneiti Instagram

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Nadia EL-Imam, Edgeryders [BE/SE] // PEOPLE

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Nadia EL-Imam of Edgeryders thinks that part of the issue of institutions not being able to navigate the turmoils, like pandemic and climate crisis, is the excessive reliance on small groups of experts to solve messy interconnected problems. 

Nadia EL-Imam @edgeryders
Co-founder of Edgeryders
Resilience.edgeryders.eu

 

 

 

Why are you participating in Untitled?

My own motivation for getting involved in this initiative is having seen how quickly things fall apart during times of war, even in affluent, seemingly stable societies. Going from buying our groceries in a posh shop the one day to standing in bread lines the next because supply chains were cut off.

It happens so very quickly and the true costs of the damage plays out on so many different levels.

There are signs this understanding has started to “land” as a consequence of the ongoing pandemic.

During the first phases, institutions and companies all over the world were taken by surprise, unable to quickly adapt to the new reality. This does not bode well for our ability to navigate the turmoil that is sure to accompany climate crisis, ecosystems stress, geopolitical hostilities. Why?

I believe part of the issue is an excessive reliance on small groups of experts to solve messy interconnected problems – which is like expecting a neuron trying to fix things that exist at the level of the brain. Another is an impulse to behave as though the world around us can be tamed to obediently fit into neat boxes and processes of our design. And where it does not, attempt to make it so. When the models break, we are at a loss for how to move through the world in new ways.

My own family managed to weather the storm in no small part because we were embedded in a huge network of diasporas that spanned the globe. They are highly diverse in the sense that they deploy a broad range of approaches to meeting material, social and existential needs.

This is something I could contribute to the gathering and what comes after.

What could be reimagined now?

The community and organisation I helped build, Edgeryders, is working to extend the space of economic models that are conceivable and deployable to build a successful, fair civilisation, while preserving the planet’s ecological balance. Inspired by science fiction, we nurture and support new, radical ways to think about the economy and economic policy.

Conceivable: We are using techniques from modelling, speculative fiction, economic history, anthropology and design to broaden the space of “conceivable economies.”

Deployable: There’s already a “mutant population” of economic agents that operate in the current economy, while aspiring to a more long-termism one. Edgeryders has been learning from these agents, in order to come up with policies to thrive and grow further.

See Edgeryders on video.

Photos: Nadia EL-Imam

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Ontological Politics

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Any social or political envisioning is constrained by an invisible frame: by the implicit values and views on which it is created, most importantly its view of the nature of human beings.

A big vision begins with a vision for the “Being” of human beings. We need to go back to basics if we are to rediscover our imagination and create possibility for ourselves and our societies. Any social or political envisioning is constrained by an invisible frame: by the implicit values and views on which it is created, most importantly its view of the nature of human beings. For example, much of modern economic and political thought rests on the assumption that you or I know what we want (think markets, democracy etc). However, most wisdom traditions teach us that discovering what we want is actually very hard and takes deep practice and reflection.

In this session, participants will enquire into the nature of “Being” for human beings and how this would translate into a big vision for humanity and a new framework for progress. A mixture of play, embodiment and reason will be used in this workshop like session.

The session is led Sylvie Barbier and Rufus Pollock, the co-founders of Life Itself. Sylvie Barbier is a performance artist, entrepreneur and educator who loves to create powerful embodied experiences.  Her life ambition is to become a witch! Rufus Pollock is a researcher, technologist and entrepreneur. He has been a pioneer in the global Open Data movement. He is the founder of Open Knowledge. Formerly, he was Shuttleworth Fellow and Mead Fellow in Economics at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge and is currently an Ashoka Fellow and Fellow of the RSA. (Bio source: Life Itself)

Website: Life Itself
Twitter: @forlifeitself @rufuspollock

Related Untitled Agenda Theme:  Reimagining human     

 

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Dan Lockton from Imaginaries Lab [NL] // ALLIANCE

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Imagining new ways of living through imaginaries and mental models – that is what Dan Lockton focuses on in his work. Imaginaries Lab led by Dan is one of the founding members of Untitled.

Dan Lockton @danlockton @imaginari_es
Interaction designer, Assistant Professor, Future Everyday, at TU Eindhoven’s Industrial Design department. Dan has previously worked at the Royal College of Art (UK) and Carnegie Mellon University (US).

What could be reimagined now?

Dan’s aim is to experiment with alternative ways of life and other life models. Design methodologies are involved in analyzing the correlations between social and environmental benefits. This can be done by defining connections between varied fields such as behavioral and decisional sciences, or human-computer interaction and cybernetics.
How can we live in a more sustainable way? Which lifestyle patterns impact our environment the least and which ones offer a potential solution?

How could we experiment with alternative life models?

The challenge here is to turn alternative futures into tangible realities, something that does not yet exist but is treated as if it were already among us. Potentially, “living laboratories” could be created where communities of people are immersed into different realities, worlds with rules and structures different from those we are used to. By doing so, it is possible to closely observe the alternative models proposed, making them directly accessible to people.

How do you imagine the “living laboratories” will be in ten years’ time?

To date, we’ve seen this kind of experimentation only at a mere technological level, for example within our homes with IoT and smart homes. But if the experimentation was conducted within “living labs” instead, shifting the focus at a social level, the scale could be extended, for example, to entire districts within cities. The “labs” could actually be visited and experienced by communities of people, to better understand their flaws and strengths. Social models are often discussed at a national and administrative level but appear vague and evanescent at a practical level. For this reason, they are perceived by people as distant, both temporally and mentally. Therefore concretizing solutions and allowing people to make their contribution in a participatory way could fill this gap.

Image: Dan Lockton, design.cmu.edu

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Maisa Immonen [FI] // PEOPLE

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Maisa Immonen is a Helsinki-based 3D artist and visualist. In her art she creates characters and scenarios, through which she explores emotions and identities. Her interests include the themes of shame and self-assurance and how these are associated with the representation of self and performativeness.
Maisa draws inspiration from vibrant colors and organic textures. She uses 3D technology to illustrate the shapes and forms that are created by the uncontrollable force of nature.

Maisa was the designer of the fantastic filters we used to able participants and hosts to ‘dress-up’ virtually during Untitled  festival 2020.

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