{"id":4801,"date":"2020-04-01T15:46:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xoxo.capsule.ch\/2020\/04\/01\/designing-for-circularity-in-a-real-world-context-understanding-cooperative-benefits-to-foster-individual-action-for-a-regenerative-economy\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T16:47:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:47:20","slug":"designing-for-circularity-in-a-real-world-context-understanding-cooperative-benefits-to-foster-individual-action-for-a-regenerative-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xoxo.capsule.ch\/fr\/2020\/04\/01\/designing-for-circularity-in-a-real-world-context-understanding-cooperative-benefits-to-foster-individual-action-for-a-regenerative-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing for Circularity in a Real-world context: Understanding Cooperative Benefits to Foster Individual Action for a Regenerative Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"What are key skillsets of the next generation\u2019s planners, designers, architects or engineers? The instrumental and social capacities to creatively cope with complexity, within ever changing environments, in a cooperative way surely are amongst them. Systemic Design Labs are ETH Innovedum financed real-world experimental courses that foster such systems, thinking and creative doing skills, embedded in transdisciplinary research.<\/em>\n\n\n

Reviving Community Systems in the Real-world<\/h3>\nHow to revive mountain livelihoods that experienced a breakdown of their economy? How does a community re-organize and grow its economy to become regenerative, low carbon and circular? How does this economy model correlate with local identity and individual behavioral support? How to tackle impacts of climate change which locally are clearly visible, while local climate action does not deliver immediate feedback?\n\nA teaching program of ETH Systemic Design Labs (SDL)<\/a>, <\/span>Master students were invited to develop and design a visualized and partly quantified systems map of \u00abcircular flows\u00bb within a future resilient regenerative economy for Ostana and its surrounding Po River Valley. This block course was offered in direct collaboration with the mayor of the mountain community Ostana in the Italian Piedmont, and in supported by the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>MonViso Institute (MVI)<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\n\nThe Ostana community faced a serious crisis with a population loss from 1200 people in summer (19th century) to no more than five inhabitants by the end of the 20th century. Ostana today is in a reorganization and growth phase, re-designing its social and economic system while preserving local Occitan heritage. Local identity (culture, traditions, visions) is formed by the Occitan culture (food, music, dance, language), traditional stone building architecture, and the magnificent landscape at the foot of Monte Viso. This identity is under pressure to carefully evolve with new needs for modern lifestyles, work, mobility, carbon-neutral buildings, and alike.\n\n\n
\n
\"Building
Building solids in surrounding mesh with sunpath for July and January \u00a9 ETH Systemic Design Lab 2019 students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Demonstration
Demonstration of industrial hemp \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Discussion
Discussion with the mayor \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Forest
Forest hike exploring the community \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Framing
Framing task in Ostana \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Meeting
Meeting the community \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Occitan
Occitan architecture \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Snapshot
Snapshot of the soar analysis tool set up in grasshopper using ladybug components \u00a9 ETH Systemic Design Lab 2019 students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Spiritual
Spiritual experience in the local enchanted forest \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Systems
Systems mapping \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Workshop
Workshop guest lecture by Justyna Swat \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Workshop
Workshop with guest lecture by Anna Rodewald \u00a9 Tobias Luthe, ETH Z\u00fcrich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n

Output: a Circularity Map to Gain Public Support for Cooperative Thinking and Doing<\/h3>\nA circular economy mainly synergizes material flows to eliminate waste, and thereby builds new financial opportunities. But circularity also includes social and ecological flows which often are \u00abside effects\u00bb, but also \u00absteering factors\u00bb of a more regenerative economy. Such extended circularity here translates to mutual learning, evolving local identity, and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions to encounter for climate protection. Optimizing gains in these interrelated three \u00abcurrencies\u00bb (including money) means to understand and (re-)design production and consumption systems while making visible indirect social and ecological benefits, effects that often are not obvious. The goal of the circularity map is to stimulate systemic thinking and increase public support for investing resources into more cooperative systems that are regenerative.\n\nThe maps serve as communication and planning tools for the mayor, inhabitants and tourists to foster ongoing and future innovation processes and identity building for a resilient regenerative economy. They are accompanied by a detailed report on underlying data the students acquired during and after the field work, and will be officially presented in a local public event.\n\n\"The\n\nThe two circularity maps developed by the SDL 2019 students (unfinished draft versions). The first map<\/strong> \u00abOstana\u00bb shows in the background iconic buildings of the community of Ostana, alongside the winding road from the bottom of the village (1200m asl) to the Agriturismo on the top (1650m asl). Exemplified products, processes and infrastructure are connected by three types of \u00abflow\u00bb currencies (CO2eq emissions, local identity\/knowledge, money), that together form basic systemic relations for a circular, regenerative economy. For example, growing industrial hemp would lead to multiple positive feedback-loops, interrelated, by all three currencies. <\/em>\n\n \n\n\"The\n\nThe second map<\/strong> positions the community in the surrounding Po river valley, using again three main types of social\/economic\/environmental flow currencies (social resilience, new economic opportunities, Agenda 2030) to illustrate an extended system of a circular economy. For example, the potential to generate renewable energy by a new type of photovoltaic \u00abstone\u00bb tile on Southern exposed roofs in the entire valley was calculated using a sophisticated elevated terrain model and solar analysis based on Grashopper tools; leading to substantial CO2eq reductions, it would also deliver economic opportunities and build resilience, while affecting local identity of the stone roof architecture. Graphical layout by R. Sonderegger\/PLUS.<\/em>\n

Student\u2019s produced course movie<\/strong><\/h3>\n