Assignment 3

Question: Think up a SES in which you are an active part and which has a public good character. Describe the different elements as defined by Ostrom. Also define the stage of the adaptive cycle in which the SES currently is in.

I have chosen the internet as a SES to examine. Whether the internet is a public good is debatable. When one wishes to have an internet connection at home, one needs to pay for this. But at some places the internet is offered as a free service, such is the case in some NS trains and in some restaurants for example.  The internet phenomenon is so widespread nowadays, especially in the Western world. People are expected to have access to the internet, that’s what makes its public good character. Also, the Belastingsdienst expects people to fill in their forms online. This latter argument made D66 plea for making the internet a basic right for Dutch citizens. So in the future the internet could be truly a public good.

Framework SES 

So, what are the different actors for this SES? In the framework of Ostrom the actors Resource Units, Resource System, Users and Governance System are distinguished. In the case of the internet the Resource Units would be packages of (digital) information, either sent of received. This can be measured kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, etcetera. Inherently connected with the amount of data is the speed at which the data is sent. So also the speed of the connection is a Resource Unit here. The Users are the people actually surfing on the internet. It is hard to estimate how many people use it, but it is probably more than half of the global population. People in the West most likely have their own connection, and most people in developing countries use internet café’s to go online. The Resource System is the infrastructure of the internet itself. This is a vast network of cables, servers, routers and even satellites.

To determine the Governance System of the internet is a harder task. The beauty of the internet is that no one really owns it. Governments and private parties do own parts of the pathways, but never the whole. If a pathway, or cable, were to be removed then the information stream would simple follow a different path over the network. So no government or company can claim the internet. Apart from the physical parts of the internet, there are parties that function as ‘watchdogs’ over the internet. In Holland the foundation BREIN is an example of this, the task of this foundation is to prevent Users from using ‘illegal’ software or data. Furthermore, in some countries the freedom to use the internet is more limited than in the West. It is well-known that in China the ‘Great Firewall’ exists, filtering all politically-sensitive information. So in these countries the Governance System is more prominent then in the West.  

Adaptive Cycle 

Looking at the Adaptive Cycle, I believe that the internet is still in the Growth phase. Every day, more people from all over the world are being connected to the internet. Furthermore, the people that already were connected use it every more intensive. Files are being sent and received faster than ever, and the files themselves are getting bigger in data. The smartphone is a good example of a more intense relation with the internet, people are online every part of the day nowadays.

                A move towards the Conservation phase is still far away. The next big trend is already upon us; the cloud. Instead of storing data in the computer, the data would be accessible via the internet. In fact, TU Delft computers are already using this service. If there is no internet, one cannot work on these computers.

Taking the Adaptive Cycle into account, the future holds two outcomes for the internet. One is that it reaches the Conservation phase. Theoretically, one requirement for the internet to be in this phase is that every individual in the world would have a permanent connection. Looking at resource scarcity, I don't see this happen quite yet. Another outcome could be that the internet skips the Conservation phase and enters the Release phase right away. This would be the case when the energy demand for keeping servers online cannot be met anymore. The degree of Release is determined then by the shortage of energy, probably. But for now we can still enjoy the internet, as this blog proves.

Assignment 2

1.       My newsitem is about the failed rescue attempt of three persons stuck in Libia, by the Dutch military. The article is stated below.

De diplomatieke vertegenwoordiging van Libië in Den Haag wilde donderdag niet reageren op de aanhouding van drie militairen in het Noord-Afrikaanse land. De ambassade heeft nog niets gehoord uit Libië over de kwestie en wil daarom geen commentaar geven.

De militairen probeerden zondag bij Sirte twee mensen te evacueren onder wie een Nederlander. Voor de actie was geen toestemming gegeven door de Libische autoriteiten. De militairen vlogen met een helikopter vanaf het marine-fregat Hr. Ms. Tromp naar Sirte waar ze gevangen werden genomen door een gewapende groep regeringsgezinde Libiërs.

In Libië vecht het regime van Kaddafi voor zijn overleven. Het oosten van het land is in handen van opstandelingen.

(Source: DePers 03/03/2011)

Rational decision-making account

The rescuees were sought after by the Kadaffi regime, and therefore they were in grave danger. They would not be able to get out of the country except by help from outside. It was therefore decided by the Dutch government that the Dutch military would rescue them. The rescue operation could only be executed from the sea as the Libian military controls the land. Time was of the essence, and so the commanding officer of the Hr. Ms. Tromp ordered that the rescuees were to be picked up by a helicopter because this was the fastest option for overseas transportation possible.

Bounded decision-making account

The state of the rescuees was unknown, as well as the situation on-site. But there was a rumor that the rescuees were being pursued by the Kadaffi regime. Due to the hazardous situation no extra intelligence on the matter could be gathered in time. In such a situation the deployment of a helicopter is standard procedure.

2.       Learning experiences on EMS exercise

The EMS exercise got me thinking about who should be responsible for ensuring sustainability within the company. Traditionally, every department has its own role to play. As sustainability is an effort across a company, no department really carries a responsibility for it. If any department were to be responsible, it would be the management. They are the people who decide how the company operates and where investments go to. But they are also usually the people who have very limited (technical) knowledge on the products they produce, let alone how to change operations towards a more sustainable nature. The people with most technical knowledge are those working in production, they know the products and production facilities. But these are also the people only concerned with one task: keeping production going. Change is not incorporated here. The design department gives the production department designs, inspired on the output of the marketing department. These are in turn instructed by the management. So the ones with most technical knowledge are furthest away from actually being able to changing the system, and vice versa.

                It is therefore key that sustainability is addressed in an interdisciplinary manner. With all parties around the table change can happen in a responsible and correct way. Input and output must be aligned with one another, and the meetings should be held on a regular basis.

Assignment 1

1. What are your first impressions with the social science perspective on industrial ecology, and how do they relate to earlier experiences with the social sciences?

I believe that the social sciences play a major role within the field of industrial ecology. At this point in time nations run their economies on energy and products that pollute the environment and strengthen the greenhouse effect, while depleting valuable resources. This path towards development will lead to a dead end, sooner or later. The field of Industrial Ecology is concerned with getting the economy, or metabolism, of a nation on a sustainable path.

       But what is a nation? A nation without its society cannot be called a nation, a nation is its society. So in trying to get a nation on a sustainable path one should persuade the society to do so. This is where the social science has its massive role to play. All the tools to make a society sustainable are present, but if the tools aren’t used it just won’t happen.

       My background is in Industrial Design, where social sciences are used to market a certain product or service. Although this subject is only a small part of the program, I did learn how a certain group or society adopts a new product. And how this process can be speeded up. This could be used to make a society ‘adopt’ sustainability. Moreover I learned how products and/or services relate to the user, this knowledge can be used to think about ways to make a consumer consume in a more eco-friendly manner.

2. Choose your own industrial ecology-inspired puzzle and think up three alternative explanations for it.

An interesting industrial ecology puzzle for me is: Why do people keep eating loads of meat while they know it is bad for the environment?

Possible explanations:

1.      They don’t care.

2.       They find the taste of meat too good to give it up for the sake of the environment.

3.       They would like to switch to a more vegetarian diet but find it too expensive to eat meat-replacers. (Or: meat is simply too cheap)

4.       People derive their status from eating meat. Going vegetarian would make they seem like a softie or hippie.

5.       Individuals would like to switch to a vegetarian diet, but their environment refuses to do so. This could be a status issue, but could also be a practicality.

6.       People don’t see the consequences of their actions and so remain immune to arguments in favour of vegetarianism.

7.       People believe that eating meat is an essential part of their diet, and thus find their health more important than the environment.