Silvia D'AMbrosio

The concept of the 15-minute city is a promising model to transform modern cities towards sustainability and resilience. However, the possibilities and accessibility to walking in the urban neighborhood depend on various factors. The average citizen could not be considered a reference to planning and making our cities. If cities are for all, different perspectives and opinions should be included, especially those who are less capable or have limited access to them. One of the under-considered groups for city-making is the children. This paper presents a pilot research project that aims to engage children in urban exploration to assess the level of walkability to identify opportunities for developing more inclusive urban scenarios and environments. Based on the literature review on proximity and walkability and the relation between children and city-making, a class of 21 students (11 y.o.) has been involved to observe and assess the neighborhood's walkability and imagine a preferred one collectively. From the research results, discussions and reflections emerged. Children have their ways of interpreting the different walkability assessment factors, which might be highly linked among them. The research results bring discussions and reflections on emphasizing human perspective and perception of the city's walkability assessment criteria. Besides, the engagement approach and tools for urban observation and investigation are tested as an effective way to activate relationship building among stakeholders, who could collaborate better to care for the city where citizens, especially the children, live in.

The connection between sustainability and the future has its roots in the early days of environmental movements. The report 'The Limits to Growth' (Meadows et al., 1974) highlights how sustainable action implies wide-ranging, systemic considerations and forward-looking thinking. This is also reflected in the definition of Sustainable Development provided in the Report 'Our Common Future' (WCED, 1987). Working for sustainability, in fact, usually means taking a long-term approach, which also ties in with radical and socio-technical innovations. In recent times, however, the world has faced complex systemic social, technical, and environmental challenges, which will be increasingly interconnected and interdependent. Systems theory allows us to rethink such phenomena as isolated elements and complex systems made up of many interacting parts (Vargo et al., 2017). Placed in a timeline, it is possible to highlight how changing events are getting closer and vertical, showing us a new vision of time and the future. Scenario Building is a widely used method in design to generate future visions. By applying a systemic lens to this methodology, this paper aims to provide a new awareness through which it can emphasise the relationships that a new future implies and underlies. The analysis has made it possible to define new characteristics of Scenario Building that emphasise its relationships and spatio-temporal connections. These new considerations converge in the Design for Sustainability Transitions perspective, showing how the designer, thanks to the connections capacity and envisioning, plays a crucial role in transforming a socio-technical system (Ceschin & Gaziulusoy, 2019).

Information about the paper titled "DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: A THREE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL APPROACH" at IATED Digital Library