Arguing for Accountability
Oxford Brookes University (Gipsy Lane Campus)
In The Name of 'Sustainability': An Indigenous Rights-based Critique of the Current Sustainable Development Discourse View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tanya Haldipur
This paper investigates the human rights violations that have occurred as a result of the global push for green energy, whilst questioning whether climate solutions can be achieved without sacrificing Indigenous lives. By analysing the historical and current relationship that Sweden, New Zealand, Australia and Canada have with their Indigenous Peoples, it explores recommendations for ethical conduct in future progress. A deeper investigation into other Indigenous Peoples complex circumstances is needed to move forward with truly sustainable development that considers the diversity in customary practices. Through a mixture of second-hand research, case studies and first-hand interviews with Indigenous Activists in Sweden, it has been possible to elicit the common experiences of oppression as well as the diversity in customary Indigenous practices around the world. Thus a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution is not suitable. Instead, the findings show that there needs to be a mixture of international and national legislation, education and awareness surrounding the historical and current oppression of Indigenous Rights, accountability from States for this oppression as well as their inaction in protecting Indigenous people from the impacts of climate change. Thus the 'politics of indigeneity' is explored as a concept for a new co-habitation between western nations and Indigenous Peoples, one that is rooted in sustainability. Lastly, we must neither view Indigenous Peoples as victims or as saviours. They are ultimately human beings who have the right to enjoy their own lives. But there is no doubt that the rest of the world can learn so much from them.
Inclusive Design and Actual Space Performance: (Un)expected Role of Design Decisions in Enabling Social Inclusion View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Catalina Morales Maya
Inclusive and accessible design was at the core of the 2012 Olympic efforts (London Legacy Development Corporation, 2012). This approach did not only extend to the Park and the Games’ venues at the time, but to all aspects of the built environment, and into the urban re-development that came after as part of the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. To this effect, the LLDC built a guidance document to support all the stakeholders involved in this coordinated effort (LLDC, 2013). In this area, the new residential spaces, therefore, were planned, designed and constructed, applying high-level Inclusive Design provisions consistently, and to an uncommon scale for an existing urban area. These conditions, then, provided a unique opportunity to explore how these design provisions are performing when spaces are in use. Accessing their performance from the users’ perspective, is the area around which the author’s primary research revolves. In conversations with the residents, architectural design’s key role in the level of inclusion achieved at multiple scales was made clear, but not only in the expected and quite direct aspect of space definition. The findings suggest a more nuanced role of design decisions, especially around intangible dimensions of space, that can positively or negatively impact crucial social aspects, such as inclusion and integration. Using the concept of affordance, first proposed by Gibson in 1979, and its current conceptualisation and application in design (Chong and Proctor, 2020), this paper explores these findings using the researcher’s technical knowledge and participants' reported experiences.
