Online Lightning Talks and Online Posters
Lightning talks are 5-minute "flash" video presentations. Authors present summaries or overviews of their work, describing the essential features (related to purpose, procedures, outcomes, or product). Authors are welcome to submit traditional "lecture style" videos or videos that use visual supports like PowerPoint. After the conference, the videos are made available on the network's YouTube channel.
Poverty Alleviation in a South African Township: Sewing for Survival
Online Lightning Talk Elizabeth Kempen, Mariette Strydom, Thea Tselepis
A decline in formal employment in the South African clothing and textile industry since 1994 has been linked to an increase in informal clothing manufacturing micro enterprises (CMMEs). Informal CMMEs are both income and job generating alternatives for unemployed people in the townships of South Africa. It is estimated that townships and informal settlements are home to almost 60% of the unemployed people in South Africa. Informal economic activity is estimated at a value of 20% of South Africa’s total gross domestic product, which suggests that significant economic activity is taking place between these informal businesses and their ‘no-income’ customers. The contribution of small and micro businesses to economic growth may be limited, but these informal CMMEs provide employment to at least the owner and up to five part-time employees who are able to generate an income and provide for their families. A gap in the literature, in particular about informal CMMEs, necessitated this study. A qualitative case study revealed that informal CMMEs contribute to the economic sustainability and social upliftment of their communities. With very limited resources these informal CMMEs provide unique, one-of-a-kind, personalized garments that cannot be bought in clothing retail stores, to township customers with limited budgets. Furthermore, micro-organizations, such as informal CMMEs, have the potential to accommodate sustainable clothing practices through small production quantities, the use of locally sourced raw materials, minimizing production waste, upcycling of garments and influencing customer’s garment choices towards quality rather than quantity.
The Limits of Seeking Coffee Sustainability Through Democratization of Supply Chains: Problems with Requiring Corporations to Assume State-Like Accountability
Online Lightning Talk Spencer Beaudette
The democratization of coffee supply chains has the promise of simultaneously solving two problems in the international coffee industry. Causing coffee farmers and workers to have democratic representation in the deliberations of roasters and corporations would not only help to equalize the power disparity between the global coffee-consuming North and the coffee-producing South, it would also encourage sustainability since unsustainable practices most directly harm coffee farmers and workers. However, I argue that such democratization plans are theoretically unsound. First, in democratic theory the relationship between a citizen and state obligates democratic representation, whereas the relationship between a corporation and its workers makes democratic representation only supererogatory. Further, while Northern consumers can be reasonably expected to pressure corporations to avoid the most grievous of human rights abuses, they have neither the ability nor the inclination to lobby on behalf of farmers’ interests so as to truly democratize coffee supply chains. Finally, democratizing coffee supply chains requires us to think of corporations as a kind of quasi-state. Whether or not we regard that consequence as desirable, it shows that democratization does not fit contemporary international trade. Exploring these issues with democratization is the aim of this paper. This does not mean that we should abandon all attempts to democratize. A less than perfect solution may still produce concrete improvements. We should merely understand that sustainability and justified power relations in international coffee cannot be totally achieved through democratization of existing informal and plural powers. We will need other solutions.
Sustainability of Rental Businesses in the Apparel Industry in Japan
Online Poster Hyunyoung Lee, Yuka Sakamoto, Yasuyo Yoshizawa
Approximately half of the 2.8 billion items of clothing that entered the apparel market in Japan in 2017 remain unsold, which brings the excessive supply into question. On the other hand, many people own a large amount of clothes, indicating the level of consumption is already high. It is estimated that there are approximately 100 items of clothing per person in Japan that are hardly worn. Various solutions have been suggested to address this situation, including clothing rental as a counterpoint to so-called fast fashion. The spread of the sharing economy, which is one form of the circular economy, has been promoted by the development of information and communication technology and the spread of smartphones. Clothing rental can lead to the effective use of clothing resources, and is an example of the sharing economy. However, the clothing rental sector’s degree of contribution to the sustainability of the apparel industry is likely to change significantly. For example, discarding clothing that has been rented once does not lead to the effective usage of resources. Therefore, as the first step for the improvement of the sustainability of the apparel industry, we analyze the rental business model of the apparel industry in Japan from the viewpoint of sustainability using interviews.
Designing for Net-Zero: An Effective Sustainable Planning Model for Residential Development in the United States
Online Lightning Talk Haleh Moghaddasi
With integrating the planning and design of certain sustainable indicators (building, power, and transportation), Net-Zero Development (NZD) is possible, particularly in tempered climate regions. The purpose of this study is to generate a land use model for Net-Zero Residential Development (NZRD) generally applied to tempered climate zones in the U.S. but specifically to north Georgia to identify the planning and design measures necessary to achieve NZRD. A notable residential development at Serenbe, in the south of Atlanta, is going to be analyzed to promote its developmental potentials toward NZRD. The outcome will be an effective model achieving NZ performance for sustainability, through investigating and integrating sustainable indicators such as 1) density, 2) mixes of use, 3) diversity in housing, 4) use of renewable energy systems, 5) in-place transportation, 6) pedestrian network, 7) land preservation and development, and 8) agriculture.
Second-hand Movement: Environmental Activism or Democratized Consumerism
Online Poster Mozhdeh Babagoli
This paper provides insight into Canadian circular economy and second-hand fashion practices. While the circular economy literature emphasizes wise exploitation of natural resources and sustainable consumption, conducted surveys show that primary motivations of second-hand economy participants are economic or pragmatic. Apparel and garments dominate in Canadian second-hand economy and constitute around 40% of total exchanged goods. This paper argues that we are witnessing a democratized fashion movement; the circular economy provides a platform for more inclusive consumerism. Non-durable and semi-durable consumer goods have been turned into transferable properties to increase accessibility. Recirculated commodities could satisfy the consumerist demands and material aspirations of various segments of the society. Different age groups also address each other's materialistic and altruistic needs. However, environmental awareness seems to be slowly and gradually increasing.
Comfort and Sustainability in Low-cost Housing: Opportunities and Contradictions in Mexican and Chilean Desert Climates
Online Poster Christine Vohringer, Esteban Estrella Guillen, Holly Samuelson
In Mexico and Chile, passive strategies (e.g., thermal mass), are missing from the rhetoric of developers, policy-makers, and designers, leading to a noticeable gap in the application of sustainable practices between high-end and low-cost housing. The absence of design for comfort in this context leads to people living in uncomfortable conditions and/or relying on the use of costly, energy-intensive solutions such as air conditioning, especially in desert climates. Furthermore, multiple, frequently opposing objectives such as maximizing comfort and minimizing cost complicate the matter. How can comfort be prioritized in low-cost housing in different desert climates, and what are the opportunities and contradictions for sustainability in such context within the current financial, political, and construction frameworks in Mexico and Chile? This paper aims to answer these questions through a multi-perspective sustainability evaluation framework measuring comfort, economic, and environmental aspects. Two low-income houses located in Hermosillo, Mexico and Copiapo, Chile were modeled using DesignBuilder. Different tectonic configurations and energy conservation strategies were evaluated through thermal and energy simulation, cost, and carbon emissions calculations. Emphasis was given on accurately representing the reality of low-income housing in each region. Results illustrate the importance of having an integrative view when assessing building performance and considering the local practices and culture surrounding buildings. Several opportunities and contradictions are identified within the current frameworks in each region. Alternative strategies and construction systems that provide significant comfort, economic, and environmental benefits for minimal investment are shared, such as wood construction in Chile and adobe construction in Mexico.
Assigning Moral Positions Based on Ontological Meanings to Develop Personal Strategies to Stop Littering Practices in a Public Housing Complex
Online Lightning Talk Angel Omar Aldape Garcia
This study explores the main existing ontological elements that emerged from residents’ discourses in San Buenaventura public housing complex located in the State of Mexico, Mexico. Residents had the opportunity to propose their own course of action, or strategies, as a potential solution to solve the waste pollution problem in communal areas through talks and gossip assigning moral positions onto things, institutions, other residents and onto themselves. The theoretical framework used in this study was based on two constructionist theories: positioning theory and site ontology. The results suggest that the participants assigned moral traits of responsibility to other residents regarding the problem of the neglect of the outdoors green areas and waste pollution problems as well as the lack of environmental education. Common threads of moral responsibility were assigned by the majority of the residents to four ontological elements of their socio-physical reality which were used to discursively construct a personal strategy to stop littering practices. These ontological elements were: a) Rubbish bins, b) Residents, c) Pets and d) and the local government.
Viva La Nannalution!: Crafting Social Movement Learning with the Knitting Nannas Against Gas and Greed
Online Poster Larraine Larri
Knot the Gate! Keep Calm - Hug a Nanna! Never underestimate the power of a Nanna! Viva La Nannalution! These emblems and iconography have been used to build agency through the craftivism of the Knitting Nannas Against Gas and Greed (KNAG). This movement of women are synonymous with successful nonviolent anti-fracking and climate crisis protest. They present a different Australian eco-activist approach engaging older women, a group not usually visible or vocal due to both age and gender stereotyping. Using the metaphor of knitting they form ‘Loops’ – over 30 since start-up in 2012. As their name indicates, KNAG adopt the knitting (and other arts and crafts) to learn through ‘crafty’ processes and start conversations inspiring and connecting people thus contributing to social change towards transitioning away from fossil fuels. Over seven years this movement has used crafting and graphic arts as a tool for activism, informal environmental adult learning, and growing their social movement. Through data drawn from active KNAG members in Australia a range of crafted forms, memes, and iconography are discussed in order to analyse how this contributes to “Nannagogy” i.e. KNAG social movement learning processes. The relationship to feminist new materialism and the transformative power of micropolitics is considered. Part of a larger PhD research project involving gender and identity in eco-activism, the article concludes with an assessment of the Knitting Nannas use of crafting as a feminist methodology in creatively articulating feminist politics and the implications for gender and identity in social movement learning theory.
