- Energy from renewable sources: 13% share worldwide
- Suikerriet: plant bottles van Coca Cola en Heinz → bio-based:
- made from plants but not biodegradable
- Mos (op muren van gebouwen): Neemt CO2 op, isoleert, levert rijkere omgeving op,
meer biodiversiteit, houdt vocht vast→ koelt de omgeving
- Waterpleinen: dienen als extra berging na harde regenbui, minder overstroming in
de riolen → dient als pleintje als het droog is
Nieuwe business modellen waarbij consumenten ook producten worden: ‘’prosumers’’
→ lees Design for Sustainability guide als je geïnteresseerd bent
,Reader Chapter 1 - SDG’s
Visions of sustainability
- are critical for…
- guiding design targets
- setting priorities
- measuring success
- are qualitative/ quantitative
- involve many factors that are interconnected and interdependent
- will help you guide your critical thinking and judgement
Sustainable Development definition:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs.” (World Commission
on Environment and Development, 1987)
Earth Overshoot Day = the day when humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year.
Triple Bottom Line = more detailed definition of sustainability
→ Organizations should measure sustainability by their environmental, social, and economic
impacts (People, Planet, Prosperity)
Benefiting the…
- planet & economy = viable
- planet & people = bearable ( → always requires
external financial support)
- people & prosperity = equitable
- people & the planet & economy = sustainable
A product or service is only sustainable if it benefits
all three bottom lines.
The SDG Compass
consists of 3 steps:
1. Defining priorities: concerning materials,
production, distribution, use & reuse, recovery & disposal…
→ what positive/ negative impacts do you value most?
2. Setting goals: turn negative impacts into positive impacts
3. Integrating: put the plan into action. integrate sustainability into the core business
and design process.
Critique
There are 14 socio-economic SDG’s and 3 environmental SDG’s. Trying to achieve the
socio-economic goals could lead to extra pressure on the planetary boundaries, moving the
world away from the three environmental SDG’s. → INTERCONNECTED
,SDG’s build on the idea that existing economic growth and technological innovation is
needed for sustainability. → maybe we need an alternative economic model: stressing
de-growth or green growth → CHANGE THE SYSTEM
Reader Chapter 2 - Planetary Boundaries
The Planetary Boundaries Model…
- quantifies the environmental sustainability metrics on a planetary scale
- is a risk model: shows how we are increasing the risk of reaching potential ecological
boundaries or “tipping points”.
- depicts the proposed safe operating space for humanity for nine planetary systems
- central is the green zone: very little risk of eroding the earth system
We are causing a sixth global extinction wave→ could be as impactful as the asteroid that
killed the dinosaurs.
9 Earth system processes:
● Climate change = results from increased CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere due to human activities (deforestation, burning fossil fuels)
→ Leads to rising global temperatures, extreme rainfall, sea-level rise, etc.
→ Rise of temperature has never been higher→ Earth system processes in the red.
● Novel entities = the burden of synthetic chemicals and other ‘novel entities’ on the
environment. Estimated 350.000 different types of manufactured chemicals on the
market (plastics etc.). → Humanity has exceeded the ‘novel entities’ safe planetary
boundary→ Earth system process in the very red
● Stratospheric ozone = shields the Earth’s surface from much of the sun’s harmful
ultraviolet radiation. Ozone levels have been recovering→ The Earth system process
is in the green.
● Atmospheric aerosol loading = ultra-fine particulate matter floating in the air
(smoke etc.). → damages human-, animal- and plant health. Black carbon also
makes climate change worse: absorbs heat. Sulphur has a cooling effect: reflects
sunlight.
● Ocean acidification = the pH of the sea water decreases, caused by the increased
uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. Leads to a decrease of the calcium carbonate
saturation→ less available for organisms to build and maintain shells and skeletons
etc. → negative impact on many marine species→ Earth system process on the edge
of green.
● Nitrogen and phosphorus = nutrients for plant growth and used in fertilizer. Rests
end up in water and soils, this strongly affects local conditions and reduces
biodiversity. ‘Dead zones’ are algae blooms that kill fish and other aquatic life.
→Earth system is in the very red.
● Freshwater change = affects the functioning of global freshwater systems. Green
water is water available to plants (rain). Blue water is freshwater in rivers and lakes.
Soils are drying out so the green water boundary is in the red.
● Land-system change = relates to deforestation and other natural habitat destruction
to convert land to agriculture or other uses. Changes biodiversity, climate and
ecosystems. → Earth system process in the red.
, ● Biosphere integrity = consists of biodiversity (BII) loss and extinction (E/MSY).
Setting a boundary is hard, does not exist yet.
All the boundaries are interrelated → climate change makes it harder for species to survive
so species go extinct which leads to more biodiversity loss etc.
→ The extent to which the boundaries are already reached or not yet reached do not imply
that the reached boundaries should get more attention than the not yet reached boundaries.
Novel entities are not more of a problem than Ocean Acidification for instance. All problems
are important.
2 core boundaries:
1. Climate change
2. Biosphere integrity
→ Would result in a new state of the whole Earth system if boundaries are crossed
The SDG Wedding Cake
- The Planetary Boundaries consist of the ‘biosphere’ SDG targets.
- Without the biosphere part, the whole cake collapses
- So: planet first?
Criticism on the Planetary Boundaries Model
- Boundaries may be misused by policymakers to “justify prolonged degradation of the
environment up to the point of no return.”
- The model is expert driven and technocratic→ who decides on the precise values of
the boundaries? → should this be more democratic?
- The model lacks the attention for basic human needs and values → this leads to the
doughnut framework which is both safe and just for humanity.
Doughnut Economics Framework
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