In this issue

Solving wicked problems in Alaska using design thinking

What does climate action sound like?

Global sustainability jam

Changing shopping practices in NSW

A woman of influence, a couple of champions and more

The Wrap is the monthly newsletter of the Institute for Sustainable Futures

E: isf@uts.edu.auW: www.isf.uts.edu.au

T: +61 2 9514 4950F: +61 2 9514 4941

Postal address:PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007

Street address:Level 11, UTS Building 10235 Jones StreetUltimo NSW 2007

THE WRAP:NEWSINSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES NOVEMBER 2014

Solving wicked problems in Alaska using design thinking

Through a global search, ISF has been selected as part of an international team to research, develop, and test innovative and affordable technologies to provide basic water and sewer service to remote Alaskan communities.

More than 6,000 rural Alaskan homes lack running water and adequate sanita-tion. Many more depend on aging and deteriorating pipe and haul systems that are expensive for the State to construct and very expensive for communities to operate and maintain. The extreme environmental condi-tions (-50°C to 26°C), lack of access to some resources most of us take for granted (e.g., roads, maintenance, disposal), very high costs and intermittent availability of other resources (e.g. energy), as well as challeng-ing socio-economic conditions in these com-munities combine to make this a seriously wicked problem.

What sets this project apart from earlier attempts to provide these basic services is the recognition by the Alaskan government

of the need for a ‘design thinking’ approach – one that goes well beyond the technology and seeks to engage much more meaning-fully with the needs, practices, and prefer-ences of communities – and this is ISF’s contribution.

The ISF team, led by Professor Cynthia Mitchell and including Dr Dena Fam, Ms Katie Ross, and others will be working closely with local indigenous community members including residents, elders, coun-cils, local government and decision makers to determine social acceptance of alternative water and sanitation systems, identify eve-ryday practices in water use and the capac-ity and skills necessary to use, operate and manage a new system.

The ultimate aim is to collaboratively develop a system that ensures long-term acceptability, maintenance, and economic viability and in the process foster new busi-nesses or activities that reuse residuals to improve the quality of open space within the community, therefore improving both envi-ronmental and public health.

Figure 1. Factors potentially influencing the final technological design and community engagement

THE WRAP:NEWSINSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES NOVEMBER 2014

What does climate action sound like?

From Shostakovich to Midnight Oil, music and musi-cians have historically played an important role in instigating social change and pushing progressive agendas. Their harmo-nies and lyrics have inspired action and infuriated politicians for several centuries – and continue to do so today.

As the need to ensure action on climate change grows ever more urgent, it appears that climate action will become the defining issue of our era. For the music industry – and for cul-tural activities more generally – there is an opportunity to take up this historical role and push forward to ensure that adequate and timely action occurs.

Researchers at ISF have recently joined forces with the team at Green Music Australia to produce a scoping study about cli-mate action within the Australian music industry. Fiona Berry

and Laura Wynne, led by advice from Chris Riedy, conducted an Australian-first look into opportunities for climate action in the industry.

The research aimed to understand the current landscape of the music industry, including mapping the stakeholders involved and their links with other stakeholders. Further, it aimed to identify current actions being taken within the indus-try to improve carbon emissions and environmental impact, and potential future actions that could be taken within the industry.

The researchers spoke to a large number of representatives from key sectors within the industry, in order to understand the industry landscape and key opportunities and barriers to climate action. These interviews allowed the researchers to develop a list of key influential stakeholders in the indus-try, as well as key sectors responsible for climate impact. Understanding these elements of the industry will allow future efforts to encourage action to be targeted towards stakehold-ers and industry sectors that are likely to yield the greatest outcomes.

The research resulted in a report for the industry that out-lines current actions, barriers and opportunities, and next steps for work in this area.

View/download the full report is available from the ISF web site.

On the weekend of the 21-23 November, the Global Sustainability Jam takes place in Sydney, simultane-ously with 60 other events around the world. The Sustainability Jam is a global event for people interested in turning their ideas into projects and to develop design-based solutions that can make our shared future more sustainable.

The Sustainability Jam was started by service designers in Germany and the event is focused on using the design thinking process to develop products,

services or networks that can lead to increased sustainability. Design was origi-nally only used when developing prod-ucts but today, it is more often used as an approach to fulfilling broader societal needs. Designers have begun designing solutions for better public services that improve the life of the world’s poorest and create solutions to challenges in our local communities which can lead to long-term economic or environmental sustainability. The idea of the Global Sustainability Jam is to explore how design thinking pro-cesses can be used to design a more sus-tainable future, particularly at a local level

Tanja Rosenqvist, a current PhD stu-dent at ISF, will be participating in the Sydney Sustainability Jam to support the participants through the journey of the design thinking process. Her research

examines how design can be used to improve the long-term sustainability of public services in developing countries with specific focus on Indonesia. Before joining ISF, she was lead designer at an international NGO based in Cambodia where she designed waste management, water and sanitations services in Asia and Africa.

The Global Sustainability Jam is a fun, hands-on, engaging and creative environment. It is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about design thinking as a problem-solving tool, who want to learn how to get their ideas into action, or who just want to meet interest-ing people from the Sydney area. More information about the event and how to sign up can be found at http://sydneysustainabilityjam.org/.

Global Sustainability Jam

THE WRAP:NEWSINSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES NOVEMBER 2014

What do you do when you go shop-ping for electrical appliances or hard-ware? Do you think about energy efficiency or sustainability when you choose what to buy? What influences your choices?

Associate Professor Chris Riedy and a team of ISF researchers are using a novel approach to explore these and other questions in their evaluation of the NSW Government’s Smarter Choice Program. The team is using a theoretical framework called social practice theory to reinterpret previous evaluations and guide new data collection.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage engaged ISF to conduct the social practice evaluation of its Smarter Choice Program. Smarter Choice is a retailer part-nership program delivered in NSW that seeks to influence consumer purchasing decisions towards more energy efficient household appliances, and more sus-tainable hardware choices. The Program delivers training and materials to sales staff in electrical appliance and hardware stores so that they are more able to engage customers in conversations about energy efficiency and sustainability.

Social practice theory draws attention to the ways in which individual purchas-ing decisions are embedded in a broader social and material context. A social prac-tice is a recognisable, routine pattern of activity observed and enacted in everyday life, such as cycling, eating, or shopping. A social practice is made up of three integrated elements: materials, skills, and meanings. Without all three of these ele-ments, the practice can’t take place.

Consider the practice of driving. Obviously, you can’t drive unless you have materials such as a car, roads, road signs and so on. You also need particu-lar skills, like being able to steer, park, drive at night, drive in the rain, or drive a manual car. More subtly, a practice won’t take place unless you derive some meaning from it. You might drive to get where you need to go, because you enjoy the sense of freedom it brings, or because you love the feeling of acceleration. You might hate driving because of the traffic. Those meanings are an integral part of the practice.

For the Smarter Choice Program, we are interested in shopping practices. We are looking at material factors, such as the

way the available products are placed in the store (e.g. their prominence), the nature of the signage, the attractiveness of the appliance, the store layout, and access to cost comparison calculators that shape the purchasing practice. We are also look-ing at customer skills, such as knowledge about options and their impacts, the ability to do life cycle calculations, the social skill to navigate the conversation with a retailer and knowing how to use a particular type of appliance (e.g. a front loading washing machine vs a top loader). Finally, we are considering the meanings or values that buyers bring with them and these vary within the population. For some, the purchase is a chance to buy security through protection from elec-tricity price increases, for others it is an opportunity to show off the latest smart appliance in their home, for still others it is a way to demonstrate their ecological credentials.

For the Smarter Choice Program, it is not just customer shopping practices that matter. We are also examining pro-gram delivery practices, and retail sales practices. The social practice evaluation is using previous evaluative research, a consumer survey, consumer focus groups, and interviews with retail staff and pro-gram delivery staff to map out these three practices. The evaluation will identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the program, or develop new initiatives to shift these practices.

So next time you go shopping, think about how materials, skills and meanings shape what you buy.

Changing shopping practices in NSW

Several of our researchers have recently been recognized for both the quality of their work and their personal dedication to creating change towards a sustainable future.

Nicky Ison was nominated in the Young Leader category of the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence awards.

These awards acknowledges the signifi-cant contribution that women are making to achieve change in their local communi-ties, business and society more generally. The Young Leader category is for young women who demonstrate a capacity to influence and act as catalysts for change.

Nicky was nominated for her work as founding director of the Community Power Agency as well as the range of sus-tainability energy research projects she manages at ISF.

Chris Dunstan and Prof. Stuart White have been shortlisted for the WME Leaders Awards which recognise the environ-ment and sustainability champions within organisations, “individuals who go the extra yards, who inspire those around them, and who have the audacity to hope for something beyond business as usual.”

Chris was nominated in the Energy and Carbon category for his work as Research Director at ISF and as CEO of the Australian Alliance to Save Energy (A2SE). Stuart was nominated in the Urban and Industrial Water category for his leader-ship at ISF and being an early champion of sustainable water use, including the role of efficiency and integrated solutions.

The UTS Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Research Excellence recognise the outstanding contribution made by UTS academics, their partners and support staff towards research each year. A/Prof. Damien Giurco’s work with CSIRO on the Wealth from Waste project was recognised with an award for Research Excellence

through Partnership. A/Prof. Juliet Willetts was highly commended in this same category.

PhD candidates, Bronwyn Cumbo was one of twelve finalists in this year’s heats for the UTS Three Minute Thesis competition. This competition challenges research higher degree students to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance in just three minutes for a non-specialist audience.

The videos for have just been pub-lished so set aside 3 minutes to have a look at Bronwyn’s highly polished presenta-tion “Connecting children to local natural places using digital tools’

In the meantime, Bronwyn has been busy presenting at the ‘Tech Market Place’ being held at the World Parks Congress on 15th November and the OzCHI confer-ence, being held at UTS in the first week of December.

THE WRAP:NEWSINSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES NOVEMBER 2014

Dana Cordell (a 2013 Women of Influence) and Nicky Ison at the 100 women of influence awards

A woman of influence, a couple of champions and more