On 12 July 2016 at 16:29, Ursula Tischner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I try one more time to explain what I meant with my first post regarding
> this matter
> and then I leave you to it….as I am too busy saving the world…. ;-)))))
>
> To answer some of the questions / remarks others have posted in reply:
> .... [truncated stuff]
>

Awesome post Ursula. Thanks for all the links. I was only aware of a few;
I'll add the others to my "to pursue" list.

I'm a very strong advocate for sustainability in everything, but as I come
at it from a decidedly systems-y point of view, I tend to have a slightly
different way of expressing things.

I do believe that addressing global-scale problems is something designers
can do. After all, we can model these systems - cultures, societies, etc -
albeit at a rather coarse level. And to seek to alter the systemic
behaviour of cultures and societies is something that can be addressed as a
"design problem."

Nonetheless, we are each elements in other, smaller systems, and we have to
act on and react to forces being exerted much closer to home.
I cannot, for instance, in good conscience give up my job at a university
to take up the cause of global systemic change because I have obligations
to my family, and the change they would have to withstand would be too
great for them to bear.
So I find other ways to contribute, ways that might not be as obvious, but
that are as good as I've got.

The notion of rate of change is especially important. This also goes a bit
to the question of the current refugee crisis in EU and similar
circumstances.
It's not a crisis because of the *number* of refugees; it's a crisis
because the *rate of arrival* of refugees is higher than the EU can
systemically endure given its current structure. And like any system pushed
beyond its capacity to deal with "inputs" and "outputs," it will become
brittle and eventually shatter.

If we want to EU to remain sustainable, then it needs to alter its
structure.
If we want the Earth to remain sustainable (for humanity), we'll need to
alter the structure of the global societal system.

This does not necessarily obviate, however, an admittedly small improvement
that might accrue, via the design of smart baby diapers....

\V/_  /fas

*Prof. Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.*
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://deseng.ryerson.ca/~fil/
ORCID: 0000-0002-3689-5112 <http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-5112>
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."


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