Search

The topic of pinpointing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in the urban context has been cultivating interests lately from different scholars, urban planning practitioners and policymakers. [...] The ‘Greening Cities: Shaping Cities’ symposium was co-funded by the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DASTU), Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, under the Grant number MPO0DOTA02; European Union’s Horizon 2020 innovation action program under grant agreement no. 776604 (CLEVER Cities project).

Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, it has become increasingly important and necessary to conduct research and teaching activities online. While many universities quickly started the transition to online teaching, most in‐person research activities were typically postponed. However, in order to not significantly delay research, researchers are increasingly seeking to conduct activities, such as workshops, in a virtual setting. Following this initial period of disruption, it is expected that many online or hybrid activities will continue to be used and, in some cases, may replace in‐person interactions due to cost, time, convenience, and environmental concerns after the COVID‐19 crisis has passed. Researchers and/or stakeholders are often geographically dispersed, which independently motivates the use of online or hybrid workshop activities.

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.Urban green spaces provide environmental, economic, societal and health benefits to cities. However, policy and planning interventions aiming to improve usage have often led to unintended consequences, including, in some circumstances, an actual decline in usage. Previous research has identified factors influencing the use of urban green space, more often with a focus on the ‘quality’ and physical features of the space, rather than on the broader social factors. This study aims to unpack the complexity of factors that influence the use of urban green space through the application of Systems Thinking. A qualitative mixed-method approach integrating System Dynamics with rapid ethnography was adopted to elicit the views of local residents in Thamesmead, London. A thematic analysis of interviews was undertaken to systematically map the causal relations between factors, which were compared to wider stakeholders’ views. Our findings highlight the relevance of dynamics and social influences on the use of green space, which include social interactions and stewardship, health conditions, availability of services and amenities. These are factors that are underexplored in the literature and, sometimes, overlooked in urban green space policy by decision-makers. We infer that attendance of urban green spaces requires time, which may be occupied in other practices determined by local conditions and needs. Expanding the spatial and temporal boundaries of investigation, wider than debates on ‘quality’, should, in our view, increase the chances of identifying critical influences and foster an increased use of green space. Wellcome Trust (CUSSH project, ref. no. 209387/Z/17/Z); U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (CAMELLIA project, ref. no. NE/S003495/1).

Data Availability Statement: The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author. Copyright © 2021 Mahmoud, Morello, Ludlow and Salvia. Over recent decades Urban Living Labs (ULLs) have become a common space for co-creation processes' experimentation, whereby new approaches for sustainable urban development are highly connected to support evidence-based policy generation. Europe seems a particular 'hotspot' for this approach whenever it comes to public policy and specifically planning for urban transition. Systemic changes related to urban governance and different public participatory mechanisms, as in the case of ULLs, demand a growing interest from the stakeholders and deliberation in decision-making mechanisms. In this research paper, we analyze co-creation pathways and different shared governance mechanisms in three ongoing European projects: CLEVER Cities, Sharing Cities, and SUNEX projects from a practice perspective. This comparative study investigates stakeholder engagement (1) scales, (2) mechanisms, (3) methodologies of engagement, and finally the co-creation pathway challenges and pitfalls. From the analyzed ULLs' experiences, we identified key principles that suggest relevant clues to enable the consolidation of a forthcoming ULL 2.0 model and related innovation pathways for co-creating urban planning policies. We lastly reflect on the enablers and catalysts of co-creation processes to inform shared urban governance as major takeaways from our research. Funding: CLEVER Cities project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Innovation action programme under grant agreement no. 776604. Sharing Cities project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 691895. SUNEX project has received funding from the JPI Urban Europe/Belmont Sustainable Urban Global Initiative under grant agreement no. 730254.

This article is included in Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health: CUSSH collection. Data availability: No data are associated with this article. Copyright: © 2021 Davies M et al. This paper describes a global research programme on the complex systemic connections between urban development and health. Through transdisciplinary methods the Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH) project will develop critical evidence on how to achieve the far-reaching transformation of cities needed to address vital environmental imperatives for planetary health in the 21st Century. CUSSH’s core components include: (i) a review of evidence on the effects of climate actions (both mitigation and adaptation) and factors influencing their implementation in urban settings; (ii) the development and application of methods for tracking the progress of cities towards sustainability and health goals; (iii) the development and application of models to assess the impact on population health, health inequalities, socio-economic development and environmental parameters of urban development strategies, in order to support policy decisions; (iv) iterative in-depth engagements with stakeholders in partner cities in low-, middle- and high-income settings, using systems-based participatory methods, to test and support the implementation of the transformative changes needed to meet local and global health and sustainability objectives; (v) a programme of public engagement and capacity building. Through these steps, the programme will provide transferable evidence on how to accelerate actions essential to achieving population-level health and global climate goals through, amongst others, changing cities’ energy provision, transport infrastructure, green infrastructure, air quality, waste management and housing.

The Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH) project is a global research programme on the complex systemic connections between urban development and health. Through transdisciplinary methods it will develop critical evidence on how to achieve the far-reaching transformation of cities needed to address vital environmental imperatives for planetary health in the 21st century. CUSSH’s core components include: (i) a review of evidence on the effects of climate actions (both mitigation and adaptation) and factors influencing their implementation in urban settings; (ii) the development and application of methods for tracking the progress of cities towards sustainability and health goals; (iii) the development and application of models to assess the impact on population health, health inequalities, socio-economic development and environmental parameters of urban development strategies, in order to support policy decisions; (iv) iterative in-depth engagements with stakeholders in partner cities in low-, middle- and high-income settings, using systems-based participatory methods, to test and support the implementation of the transformative changes needed to meet local and global health and sustainability objectives; (v) a programme of public engagement and capacity building. Through these steps, the programme will provide transferable evidence on how to accelerate actions essential to achieving population-level health and global climate goals through, amongst others, changing cities’ energy provision, transport infrastructure, green infrastructure, air quality, waste management and housing.

Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Contemporary challenges linked to public health and climate change demand more effective decision-making and urban planning practices, in particular by taking greater account of evidence. In order to do this, trust-building relationships between scientists and urban practitioners through collaborative research programmes is required. Based on a policy-relevant research project, Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH), this project aims to support the transformation of cities to meet environmental imperatives and to improve health with a quantitative health impact assessment. A case study in Rennes, France, focuses on the role of a policy decision-support tool in the production and use of knowledge to support evidence-informed decision-making. Although the primary objective of informing decision-making through evidence-based science is not fulfilled, the use of a decision-making support tool can lay the foundations for relationship-building. It can serve as a support for boundary-spanning activities, which are recognised for their effectiveness in linking science to action. This case study illustrates that the path of knowledge transfer from science to policy can be challenging, and the usefulness of using models may not be where it was thought to have been. Practice relevance The requirements for an effective policy-relevant research programme depend on the establishment of trust. An analysis of the evolution of relationships between cities’ practitioners and scientists shows the need to establish relationships between stakeholders involved in this kind of research. Even if it does not directly support the implementation of transformational policies for health and sustainability, the use of a decision-making support tool can become essential in building trust relationships and later have ripple effects to achieve its primary goals. Moreover, a dedicated team has a key role to facilitate the links between scientists and cities practitioners—to boundary span. Finally, this paper adds to a growing body of work reflecting upon the success of policy–research partnerships. Wellcome Trust (grant number 209387/Z/17/Z).

Surging amounts of waste are reported globally and especially in lower-income countries, with negative consequences for health and the environment. Increasing concern has been raised for the limited progress achieved in practice by diverse sets of policies and programmes. Waste management is a wicked problem characterised by multilayered interdependencies, complex social dynamics and webs of stakeholders. Interactions among these generate unpredictable outcomes that can be missed by decision makers through their understanding and framing of their context. This article aims to identify possible sources of persistent problems by focussing on what captures, shapes and limits the attention of stakeholders and decision-makers, drawing on the attention-based view from organisation theory. The theory describes the process through which issues and opportunities are noticed and how these are translated into actions, by focussing on the influencers at the individual, organisational and context scale. Views on issues and opportunities for waste management were collected in a series of fieldwork activities from 60 participants representing seven main types of stakeholders in the typical lower-middle income Kenyan city of Kisumu. Through a thematic analysis guided by the attention-based view, we identified patterns and misalignment of views, especially between government, community-based organisations and residents, which may contribute to persistent waste problems in Kisumu. Some point to detrimental waste handling practices, from separation to collection and treatment, as the main cause of issues. For others, these practices are due to a poor control of such practices and enforcement of the law. This study's major theoretical contribution is extending the application of attention theory to multi-stakeholder problems and to non-formalized organisations, namely residents and to the new field of waste management. This novel lens contributes a greater understanding of waste issues and their management in Africa that is relevant to policy and future research. By revealing the “wickedness” of the waste problem, we point to the need for a holistic and systems-based policy approach to limit further unintended consequences., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Attention-based view helps understand multi-stakeholder waste management problems. • Our analysis highlighted individual, social and contextual factors driving attention. • Household behaviour and government control are pointed as main source of the issues. • Misaligned scales in issues and moves across stakeholders must be tackled. • We rapport waste management wicked problem to multiple actors and agendas.

Building retrofit is often reported to fail in achieving predicted energy savings, this mismatch in post-retrofit conditions is labeled the &lsquo, energy performance gap&rsquo, and may be due to both occupant behavior and technical issues. In this study, the occupant is investigated through a case study of a recently retrofitted public housing in Milan inhabited by 500+ tenants. Informed by social practice theory and interviews to households, concurrent and interdependent elements in heating space are identified&mdash, including factors of comfort, competences involved and other interconnected practices. Patterns of continuity and change in setting thermal conditions in this retrofitted building emerge. In this respect, key dynamics of the occupants are related to rooted habits in managing heating, social norms of thermal comfort, mastered skills in dealing with technical devices and infrastructure and ways of organizing other routines such as laundry and forms of entertainment when services are limitedly accessible. The results inform plans for energy efficiency through building retrofit in which the integration of the social dimension and practices may contribute to maximizing the impact of the intervention and to limiting energy performance gap.

The Circular Economy (CE) is attracting business, policy and academic interest through potential monetary and environmental savings, by material and product lifetime extension. However, it overlooks the role of consumption in achieving its goals, posing less emphasis on reuse and repair for instance. Focusing on the ‘inner’ CE loop of repair could unlock underaddressed potential, especially if developed in conjunction with emerging sociotechnical changes of distributed production. These are considered adaptable, flexible and resilient which exploit the power of networks. In this paper, we propose that distributed production (through open design) can be leveraged to foster the wider uptake of repair practice and business. To this end, four scenarios are represented in which design is a strategic tool to foster repair, at different scales and level of peoples’ engagement.

Post-occupancy evaluations of building energy performances after retrofit often show values of energy use higher than calculated during the design phase. This performance gap is due to different factors, among which the user behaviour plays a crucial role. In the context of public housing, in particular, the techno-centric approach which is usually adopted during all the work phases tends to omit the involvement and information of the inhabitants, leading to ways of living not consistent with optimal uses of the building services and components. To tackle this limit, EnerPOP, a project funded by Politecnico di Milano, is developing a methodology for reconciling technical and social aspects in the refurbishment of public housing assets. A case study is adopted to experiment and optimize the methodology, engaging tenants of a public residential building in Milan, deeply renovated in 2014 and inhabited by 500+ people originating from over 30 different countries. The paper reports interim findings, after one year of activities, both in terms of knowledge of the building and its inhabitants and early results in terms of energy saving and social cohesion.

Sensorial and emotional loads, which are strongly correlated to the acceptability of fabrics to users and the pleasure users derive from them, represent a decisive factor in the application of textiles. For the past few years this research group has been investigating modalities to define and predict sensoriality on the basis of objective parameters and tests. In the current phase of research a broader panel of test subjects has been constituted to verify and further investigate previous results. The panel includes professional figures, foreigners, blind people and laypeople. As well as this, the adoption of experimental mechanical tests aimed at replicating users’ skin properties and procedures in valuing the hand of fabrics has led to new findings and further improvements. Reliable results have been obtained for the prediction of sensorial properties such as softness, smoothness and lightness on the basis of specific objective tests. The most novel contributions derive from investigations in the field of neurosciences. Panelists were monitored in their physiological parameters (skin-resistance and heart-rate) and sight directions (eye-tracking) while assessing fabrics to identify task difficulty rankings and exploratory paths.

In recent years, ‘sharing cities’ has spread globally, starting in 2012 when Seoul declared its intent to pursue sharing economy strategies [...]

This paper explores the relationship between people's feelings about dirt, and an apparent reduction in the lifetime of vacuum cleaners. The short life-spans of vacuum cleaners is a significant environmental issue. In addition to the waste generated, they have an impact on climate change: vacuum cleaners account for the second largest embodied greenhouse gas emissions of electrical goods in the UK after televisions, largely because of their high sales volumes.\ud \ud Drawing from qualitative and quantitative research undertaken for the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the paper demonstrates that one motivation for vacuum cleaner replacement is the increased enjoyment from dirt removal that a new vacuum cleaner may provide. The paper also shows that premature disposal can occur once a product becomes dirty and visually damaged, and whilst functional, is perceived to be less effective. Solutions to premature disposal were explored through the co-creation of design concepts and design features were tested via an online survey.\ud \ud Vacuum cleaner users were clustered into four cleaner types; Spartan, Minimal, Caring and Manic. Overall, respondents reported that improving the ease of maintaining vacuum cleaners would be the most effective way to help them to increase their vacuum cleaner's longevity. Across all cleaner types maintenance levels were low, although Caring and Manic cleaners were significantly more likely to undertake such tasks. Motivations for disposal were similar across cleaner types and we found no evidence that Caring and Manic cleaners disposed of their machines earlier because they were 'worn out.'\ud \ud We discovered that Caring and Manic cleaners spend the most on their vacuum cleaners, vacuum more often and are the most likely to replace their machine after the shortest period. Those willing to do 'a lot more' to help the environment were significantly more likely to want to 'keep the floors in my home spotlessly clean' and significantly more likely to indicate that they preferred their vacuum cleaner to look new. Consequently, the paper proposes that design interventions to increase vacuum longevity should be targeted toward Caring and Manic cleaners and concludes with key design recommendations for these two cleaner types.

It has been estimated that by 2030 the number of people who are wealthy enough to be significant consumers will have tripled. This will have a dramatic impact on the demands for primary materials and energy. It has been estimated that with improvements in design and manufacturing it is possible to maintain the current level of production using 70% of the current primary material consumed. Even with these improvements on the production side, there will still be a doubling of primary material requirements by the end of the century, with accompanying rises in industrial energy demand, if the rise in demand for goods and services is to be met. It is therefore clear that the consumption of products must also be explored. Product longevity and using goods more intensively are two strategies which could reduce the demand for new goods. If products last longer, then manufacturing output can concentrate on emerging markets rather than the market for replacement goods. There are many goods which are infrequently used, these seldom wear out. The total demand for such could be drastically reduced if they were shared with other people. Sharing of goods has traditionally been conducted between friends or by hiring equipment, but modern communication systems and social media could increase the opportunities to share goods. Sharing goods also increases access to a range of goods for those on low incomes. From a series of workshops it has been found that the principal challenges are sociological rather than technological. This paper contains a discussion of these challenges and explores possible futures where these two strategies have been adopted. In addition, the barriers and opportunities that these strategies offer for548AIMS Energy Volume 3, Issue 4, 547-561.consumers and businesses are identified, and areas where government policy could be instigated to bring about change are highlighted.

Each year in Italy, millions of tons of fruits and vegetables are harvested, packed and transported to national and foreign retail outlets. Packaging is an essential component of this system, but what is its environmental impact? This study takes into consideration the delivery from the field to the retail outlet of 12 types of fruits and vegetables grown and harvested in Italy and sold in Italy and Europe. The study compares two different packaging and distribution systems: one-way with corrugated boxes and reusable with plastic containers. A number of different scenarios were generated by combining the most diffused packaging sizes with the most important production and selling locations for each type of fruit and vegetable and by considering the specific route required to perform the transportation with each distribution system. The environmental impact of each system in each scenario has then been analysed using the life cycle assessment methodology. Two algorithms and a number of coefficients were derived to simplify data collection and impact analysis for all scenarios. This provides an easy tool to evaluate the potential environmental burden of the two alternative distribution systems in a specific scenario by taking into consideration only a few variables (such as size of packaging and transportation distance). These algorithms and coefficients are presented in the work, along with the process that led to their generation and with considerations about the main critical environmental aspects for both distribution systems. The work aims to suggest possible design solutions that can make each system more sustainable. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Amateurs committed to self-production (i.e. DIY) are reshaping the relationship between production and consumption, leading to a ‘new DIY age’ (Hoftijzer 2009). The spreading of this trend suggests scenarios in which non-professional people are, or will be, able to create artefacts supported by innovative technologies, networks and, perhaps, companies with new business models. Easy access for consumers to the production system could lead to inefficient resource use and increased waste, however, and so the sustainability of this trend has been debated. Nonetheless, recent research by Salvia (2013) envisages this contemporary self-production phenomena as a ‘window of opportunity’ to foster positive environmental and social impact, through activities intended to prolong product lifetimes, e.g. re-using, re-pairing, re-purposing and re-appropriating—collectively named RE-DIY. This chapter addresses the role of design as catalyst for sustainable RE-DIY. Four scenarios portray the possible role of professional designers as educators or facilitators in the relationship with RE-DIY practitioners, at both a global and local scale. On the basis of a review of the current ‘state of the art’, cases of design-led sustainable initiatives promoting RE-DIY are explored to highlight the potential and feasibility of novel relationships between producers and consumers. Finally, barriers to the evolution of RE-DIY towards sustainable patterns are identified and discussed, and triggers for scaling up this practice on a broader societal level are proposed.

Phytotherapy has been used to treat patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). We evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of combination therapy between Serenoa Repens (SeR), Lycopene (Ly), and Selenium (Se) + tamsulosin versus single therapies.PROCOMB trial (ISRCTN78639965) was a randomized double-blinded, double-dummy multicenter study of 225 patients between 55 and 80 years old, PSA ≤ 4 ng/ml, IPSS ≥12, prostate volume ≤60 cc, Qmax ≤15 ml/sec, postvoid residual urine (PVR)150 ml. Participants were randomized group A (SeR-Se-Ly), group B (tamsulosin 0.4 mg), group C (SeR-Se-Ly + tamsulosin 0.4 mg). The primary endpoints of the study were the reduction of IPSS, PVR, and increase of Qmax in group C versus monotherapy groups.The decrease for combination therapy was significantly greater versus group A (P 0.05) and group B (P 0.01) for IPSS and versus group A (P 0.01) for PVR from baseline to 6 months. A greater decrease in IPSS was observed for Group C versus group A (P 0.01) and increase in Qmax versus group B (P 0.01), from 6 months to 12 months. At one year, the changes of IPSS and Qmax were greater for Group C versus monotherapies (each comparison0.05). The proportions of men with a decrease of at least three points (each comparison P 0.05) and decrease of 25% for IPSS (each comparison P 0.01) were greater for Group C.SeR-Se-Ly + tamsulosin therapy is more effective than single therapies in improving IPSS and increasing Qmax in patients with LUTS.

The aim of this paper is to verify and evaluate the variable emotional response in interacting with a well-defined matter, fabrics, through different sensorial channels in order to allow designers to set or select textile parameters according to the emotion they would like to evoke in a specific sensorial condition. The purpose is to create a universal and scientifically-based culture and language as a core for a quality control system of two fundamental elements: “hand” and comfort. The research concerned several aspects of sensorial experience of textiles through the selection of the most influential sensations in textile applications and their relative possible correlation to mechanical properties. A group of subjects in different sensorial modalities was utilized in order to analyse transfer and anticipation phenomena. Interesting deductions have been drawn by comparing objective parameters and correlated subjective sensations thereby opening up the potential to design emotional experience of textiles.

Sharing economy is envisaged as an opportunity for economic, social and environmental impact, by enabling people to maximize the idling capacity of their assets. The key change of the contemporary trend regards the boundaries and types of connections that sharing economy is reshaping. The phenomenon is evident at urban scale, where digitally literate citizens may benefit from being connected through online platforms to strangers and their assets. Nevertheless, the integration of sharing in urban routines is influenced by individual perceptions, social practices and local dynamics. This paper introduces insights from a participatory process for the development of sharing urban services in the demonstration area of Milan ‘Sharing City’. Local citizens and stakeholders were engaged in workshops, focus groups and roundtables intended to mapping, understanding and assessing sharing services for daily practices (especially mobility, food provision and waste management, energy efficiency and the environment, social inclusion). This participatory process provided nuanced feedback on sharing, raising issues related to how such initiatives are known, perceived, used and integrated in their routines. This paper describes the most relevant themes emerged throughout the participatory process, to infer that sharing implies the negotiation of multitude elements, most notably citizens’ digital literacy, convenience, trust, social interactions.