Sustainability principles

Question 1

Recall the 3 pillars of sustainability and illustrate how these link to SDGs

Answer 1

Social justice, environmental quality and economic prosperity. All of them are a base for 17 SDGs

Question 2

Describe the state of the planet in terms of sustainability and give 4 examples of future urban trends

Answer 2

Currently the planet is not that sustainable as there are a lot of environmental problems, social and economical problems. Nature is dying, people are living in poverty etc.
Trends:
(i) increasing urbanization
(ii) increasing population and aging population
(iii) increased climate extremes that can increase deaths and damages in some parts that are not developed enough to adapt
(iv) increasing renewable energy and more efficient technologies - reduced resource use per capita

Question 3

3 ways digitization can help transitions towards sustainable cities

Answer 3

(i) determining which data to gather
(ii) how to gather data, as well as store, validate and analyze it
(iii) ) how to report and share obtained data

Question 4

Explain the concept of responsible futuring and argue why it is crucial to apply digitalization to responsible futuring

Answer 4

Responsible futuring – approach that builds upon the tradition of design thinking. It combines trans-disciplinary practices, responsible design and social involvement for societal impact through for example citizen science. The approach strives to enable creative collaboration and knowledge flow between engineers, social scientists, policy makers and citizens. It values stakeholders’ expertise, yet it stimulates stakeholders to go beyond disciplinary domains to become agents of change.
Examples of Responsible Futuring – climate action and disaster risk reduction // tracking goals for UN-Habitat

One of the goals of responsible futuring is to set common goals between different stakeholders. Digitization can be used to update their inventories and models of previous, existing and future scenarios. Furthermore it can help in monitoring performance and trends.
Secondly, it enables developing integrated knowledge about different themes in the urban landscape, co-producing and sharing knowledge between stakeholders, and developing measures that protect the environment as well as social and economic interest.
Finally, it’s not an end by itself, but rather a means that can increase the accessibility of information and thereby accountability, and contributes to informed discussions on possible future urban planning scenarios.