Conference Agenda

Participatory approaches to innovation aim to address persistent failures of technology to respond to end-user needs and context. Here, we present the results of a transdisciplinary project aimed at co-developing new technologies for water quality monitoring in remote locations in developing countries. Drawing from critical social science, we developed and implemented a suite of approaches to engage community members and other regional stakeholders in an innovation process that is simultaneously social and technical. Part of our community engagement activities involved the sampling and molecular analysis of drinking water sources from two communities on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. The results revealed evidence for temporal variations in the extent of faecal contamination from different sources. This analysis was used to help frame discussions about microbial contamination, water quality and health, which, along with other structured conversations, led to technical and institutional specifications for water quality sensing. These co-developed specifications were striking, contradicting widely assumed requirements for handheld, rapid, mobile devices. Informed by these specifications, a device for monitoring colorimetric changes in response to microbial growth was designed and built. This device was able to quantify growth of faecal coliform indicator species Escherichia coli inoculated into sterile media. Subsequently, we showed the device could detect E. coli inoculated into sterilised river water. The limit of detection was as low as a single E. coli cell in 100 mL of liquid. Detection at this low concentration was achieved in 16 hours, meeting a specification requirement established through the co-design process.

In this paper, we aim to facilitate regional development through collaborative meta-governance processes, involving municipalities, energy companies and more actors. The case in point involves increased electrification through the development of local energy systems in a sub-region comprising 15 municipalities and 21 grid owners, and is an exemplary case where a transdisciplinary engineering approach is not only suitable, but the only path forward. The complex problem landscape comprises interdependencies across different roles, such as politicians, civil servants, and engineers at energy companies, where autonomous entities act independently. We employ a design science research approach to create artefacts to support the meta-governance mechanisms needed to accelerate social change processes. One artefact is a system dynamics simulation model to analyze scenarios considering electrification of vehicles and implementing large wind and solar energy units to enable establishing new industries. We provide brief overviews of how three artefacts assist in visualizing 1) roles, 2) structures, and 3) scenarios to the decision-makers, to facilitate in various transdisciplinary decision-making processes in regional development. In the discussion, we synthesize our learnings into a model to support mitigating powerlessness in this complex multi-stakeholder context. Finally, we lay out future research to further contribute to the social change and regional development we believe is necessary.

Abstract. Snowmaking and snow storage are increasingly used as climate adaptation strategies in ski resorts all over the world, including in the Arctic. While the decrease and decline of the number of snow cover days is slower than in the Alps, snow security is decreasing particularly in the beginning of the skiing season in October-November. As there is a 30-times difference between minimum and optimal conditions in the energy and water consumption in snowmaking, it makes sense to optimize the timing of snowmaking for ensuring that snowmaking won’t turn into maladaptation.

Climate services are user-friendly ways of providing relevant climate information for end-users (European Commission 2015, WMO 2014). Our team co-designed a climate service prototype for winter tourism centres in Northern Finland in 2017-2020 by a transdisciplinary co-design process involving climate science, modelling, tourism research, and practitioners including snowmaking professionals and environmental experts from a pilot enterprise. The versatile co-design methods utilized included e.g. visual methods and workshops, and co-evaluation of the prototype. The resulting climate service prototype SnowApp provides a reliable 4-week forecast on snowmaking conditions and hence it is a decision-support tool for ski resort management. The prototype is applicable in other geographical locations, too, and for other snow dependent businesses.

Keywords. co-design, climate service, climate change adaptation, winter tourism industry

The transition towards circular economy (CE) across industries requires an overarching perspective that acknowledges the interplay between numerous stakeholders, that together create a dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of our current economic growth landscape. CE inherently involves e.g. technology providers, SMEs and end-users. Therefore, to establish effective CE practices among these actors, this study suggests a novel framework for developing decision-making tools. Through literature review, organising workshops, and analysing standard tools used in CE, like KPIs, risk analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis, etc., this research aims to capture the multidisciplinary challenges and dynamics faced by stakeholders of the circular business model. Through bridging requirement management techniques from product development practices and CE principles, a framework for effective decision-making processes was developed. The framework effectively balances diverse stakeholder requirements, addressing uncertainties and multi-ownership challenges through product life cycles. This framework can be used to validate current decision-making tools and systematically develop new ones as needed. By facilitating collaboration around the circular transition, this framework not only reduces the environmental impact of economic growth, but also encourages society to move towards more collective efforts to achieve sustainability. Finally, this article highlights the importance of a transdisciplinary approach in a systematic and effective transition to CE