The Societal Impact Methodology - Connecting Citizens,Sustainability, Awareness, Technological Innovations & Co-creativeCity Visions.Keeffe, G., Martin, C. L., & van den Dobblesteen, A. (2017). The Societal Impact Methodology - ConnectingCitizens, Sustainability, Awareness, Technological Innovations & Co-creative City Visions. In L. Brotas, & S.Roaf (Eds.), PLEA Proceedings - Design to Thrive (Vol. 2, pp. 2791-2798). NCEUB.

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The Societal Impact Methodology – Connecting Citizens, SustainabilityAwareness,TechnologicalInterventions&Co-creativeCityVisionsCraigLeeMartin1,AndyvandenDobbelsteen1andGregKeeffe21DelftUniversityofTechnology,FacultyofArchitectureandtheBuiltEnvironment,DepartmentofArchitecturalEngineering+Technology;

2SchoolofNaturalandBuiltEnvironment,ArchitectureandConstructionManagement,QueensUniversityBelfast(UnitedKingdom);

Abstract: Sustainabilityneedsprofessionals andmethodologies that canbring thearchitecturallyqualitativeandscientificallyquantitative together to reveal the latentpotentialofour citiesandpeople.Theseexpertsmusthavethenecessarycommunicationskills,personalitiesandbackgroundstofirmlyplacecitystakeholdersattheheartofthislocalandglobalchallenge.Thisapproach,developedduringtheCity-zenProject‘Roadshow’(a European Union FP7 funded initiative to develop and demonstrate Zero Energy Cities), began life as apowerfulbutoversimplisticidea.Ithassincedevelopedintoarealizable,mobile,intense,creative,amenableandprovenapproachthatsupportscitiesintheireffortstowardcarbondescent.Themethodologycontinuestoevolve ‘city-by-city‘byembracingdiverseclimates, cultures,economies,existingurbanmorphologiesandbuilding typologies. It has been successfully applied in Amsterdam, Belfast, Izmir, Dubrovnik andMenorca.Upcoming destinations will be Sevilla (Spain), Roeselare (Belgium) and Klaipeda (Lithuania). A team ofinternationallyrecognizedexpertsinsustainableurbanism&architecture,carbonaccounting,energypotentialmappingandadvancedtechnologiestravelwiththeCity-zenRoadshowtofacilitatethisapproach.Thispaperwill describe the Societal ImpactMethodologywith reference to previous outcomes, activities, experiencesandadetailedexplanationoftwomutuallydependentandinspirationalparallelworkshops.Keywords:Societal,Methodology,Impact,Sustainability,Vision.

Introduction

TheCity-zenRoadshowtravelswithateamofinternationallyrecognizedexpertsinthefieldof energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and theirneighbourhoods. Itwill visit 10 cities in totalover a4-yearperiod, citieswhoare seekingexpertguidanceonhowtobecomesustainableandwishtomovetowardsenergyneutrality.TheoverallaimoftheRoadshowteam,whoareknownasthe‘Roadies’,istoworkcloselywithpeoplefromthehostingcity,whethertheybecityleaders,neighbourhoodassociations,energyplanners, architects, academics, students andof course the citizens themselves asillustrated in Figure 1. The event stays in each hosting city for 5 days, pre-Roadshowpreparations taking at least 2 to 3 months. Local stakeholders are welcomed andencouragedtojoinandtotakeownershipofthefinaloutcomes.Outcomesthatwillallowthecitiesresources,theirpeople,knowledgeandrenewableenergypotentialtobedirectedeffectivelybyfirsthighlightingtheneighbourhoodslifestyleandenergychallenges.Finally,

on the last day a definitive sustainable ‘City Vision’ or ‘Island’ Vision (in the case of theMenorcaRoadshow)ispresented.

(a) (b)Figure1.(a)TheRoadshowinvestigatesEnvironmental,EconomicandSocialaspectsofeachRoadshowcitytodevelopa‘CityVision’thatisspecificallytailoredtorespondtoplace.(b)TheRoadshowteambringstogetherallstakeholders,itfacilitatesthis5-Dayeventtoproposeasustainable‘CityVision’thatis‘owned’bytheCity.

This paper will describe the underlying approach known as the ‘Societal ImpactMethodology’undertakenbefore,duringandaftereachCity-zenRoadshow.Itwillincludeabrief explanation of the ‘City Visions’ that resulted. City engagement is an exciting andthought-provoking prospect. Many questions arise at the beginning the journey. MakingfirstcontactwithaprospectiveRoadshow location,conductingpreparations,explanationsand agreements is far from an exact science. There can be many political, cultural andlanguage obstacles to overcome. The outcomes must have the power to inspire andpotentiallyberealisedpost-Roadshow.Thefirstquestionsarewho is ‘theCity’?Whatarethecity’ssustainableexpectationsandcurrentagendaiftheyindeedhaveone?Whatistheenergy demand, current and future? Where are the urban challenges, are they purelyenergetic, spatial, administrative or a combination of all? Does the ‘City’ even realize oraccepttheyhavechallenges,despiteitswanttobesustainableandtocollaborate?

Toanswerthesequestionsandmanyothers,theRoadshowteambegantheprocessofidentifyingthecitiesthatneedandwantourcollaboration.Firstcontactwillbedescribedin ‘FIRSTCONTACT’,whichprimarily describes aneducationalworkshop studio, knownasthe SWATStudio,whichoccurs in themonths leadingup to theRoadshow. This student-focussedworkshopfacilitatesanextendedanddetaildiscussionwithcitystakeholders.‘FIVEDAYS’describesthemethodologyonaday-to-day‘themed’basisthatguidestheevolutionofthevisioninwhichexpertinputwouldbedeliveredatkeypointsthroughoutthefivedays.‘PARALLEL’ will visually communicate what activities took place. It must be noted that aRoadshow is not intended to be a one-way streamof information and ideas, instead themethodaimstoactivate,convinceandopenlyinviteandencourage‘theCity’tobepartoftheprocessatanylevelthattheyfeelcomfortablewith.Themethodincludesgoingoutofthestudioandintothecommunitytoengagewithvariousinitiativesandtomeetandtalkwith their members. The final outcomes of the Roadshow are graphically presented in‘VISION’.Thisbrieflydescribesdesignstrategiesanddetailproposals thatarequalitativelyspatial and quantitatively energy focused, both combining to make the vision itself. TheSocietal Impact Methodology selects Roadshow cities that have diverse climates, urbantypologies, economies, culturalbackgroundsetc...Under certain circumstances citieswithambientpoliticaltensions,suchasBelfastandIzmirhaveandwillbeselected.

Aims,Goals&TargetAudience

TheexperiencesofeachRoadshowwilladvancetheSocietalImpactMethodology.Itistheintention that the approach is capable of implementation in all cities to help co-create acity’s sustainable vision. Vision ownership is key. Proposals developed exclusively by theRoadshow team, and not by themultidisciplinary city stakeholders, would physically andmetaphoricallyleavewiththeRoadshow.To identify, reachand collaboratewith city ‘decisionmakers’ and thosepassionateabouttheirownneighbourhoodsandlifestylesasweallmovetowardenergyneutrality.Itisvitalthatalegacyremainsinwhichallparticipatorygroupscontinuetoexchangeknowledgeandspeakwithasinglevoice. Inthiswaylaterresearchbidscanbeheardmoreeffectively. Inaddition, such a local network to be strengthened by connections to a global family ofRoadshowcities,whereexperiencescanbesharedwiththoseabouttohostaRoadshowinthenearfuture.ThisGlocalnetworkbeingacatalystforfurtherresearchandrealisationofsustainableinterventionsprojectsacrossthewidercommunityofEurope.

Themostimportanttargetgroupareinhabitantsoftheneighbourhood,cityandwiderhinterlandof thehostingconurbation.Forpracticality ‘citizens’aredefinedascommunityleaders, influencers and those passionate in how their day-to-day lifestyles andsurroundings will be affected by their ever-growing dependency on finite fossil fuels.Companiesandstart-upsinthefieldoftechnologyandsustainabilityareencouragedtobeactiveparticipantsduringtheRoadshow.TheRoadshowandpre-RoadshowS.W.A.T.Studioengagewithstudentsfromacademicinstitutionslocatedinthehostingcity.Akeyobjectiveis reach 600 students across the EU by visiting local universities, colleges and secondaryschoolsduringthe5-Dayevent.Studentsarethefuture.Ithasbeenmutuallybeneficialideato combine the energy and enthusiasmofMaster’s students from theDelftUniversity ofTechnologywiththatofthestakeholdersandstudentsofeachhostingRoadshowcity.Thestudent SWAT projects, and more significantly the close relationships that were forgedwhile collaborating on them, lay the foundation on which later to build the Roadshow.Promotion,fullparticipationanddisseminationcontributesignificantlytooverallsuccess,asa consequence the Roadshow and SWAT Studio leader will encourage a municipality tograsptheopportunitytodosoandallayanyreservationsorfearstheymayhave.It isnotthe intention of the event to criticize a cities lack of sustainability, as specialists we areawareofmanycomplexglobalandlocallevelobstaclestoenergytransition.TheRoadshowwillworkwiththemunicipalityforthebettermentofall.

FIRSTCONTACT:Pre-RoadshowPreparation(SWATStudio)

WhatisSWAT?

SWAT (Sustainable Workshop Architecture + Technology) is a Masters level studentworkshopwhereBuildingTechnologystudentsfromtheFacultyofArchitectureattheDelftUniversity of Technology develop and propose innovative, sustainable, contextuallysensitive urban design interventions. A key ambition of the workshop is always todemonstratethat,throughbuildinginterventionsatallscalesrangingfromfaçade,building,street, neighbourhood and district, that sustainable lifestyles are possible within existingcities. The SWAT is a precursory educational event to the later specialist Roadshow. InBornova, (Izmir)at theUniversityofYasar, SWAT forgedpre-Roadshowrelationshipswithkeycitystakeholders,allowingprojectsitestobeevaluatedandselected.ThispreparatorySWATvisitoccurredinBelfast,DubrovnikandmorerecentlyinMenorca(March2017).The

outputsofeachsustainableworkshopwouldbepresentedonDAY1oftheRoadshow.TheSWATmadepositive connectionswithacademic andmunicipality leaders and sustainableenergy and smart city entrepreneurs. In Croatia, the Development Agency of Dubrovnikwould take the leadandhost theevent fromthis connectionanextended linkwasmadewithcityleadersandstart-upcompanies.

SWATinBornova(Izmir)&Belfast(UK)

Figures 2 and 3 represent typical outputs and collaborations during the Izmir andBelfastSWATStudio:

(a)Pedestrianonlystreets,coolingstrategiesforstreet&façade.

(b)‘Themed’Publicspaceswithwater-coolingandcollection.

(c)CommunityPVarrayprojectsiteat‘AtaturkMahala’.

Figure2.SelectionofSWATWorkshopdesignproposalsoutliningfuturevisionsforBornova(Izmir).

(a) (b) (c)

Figure3.(a)TheBelfastSWATStudio.(b)&(c)StudentproposedinterventionsBotanicAvenueneighbourhood,studentspresentingtheirfinaldesignstothecommunitywiththelocalmediainattendance.Relationshipsmadewiththelocalcommunityoverthe2-weekworkexemplifiesthejointaimsofSWATandRoadshow.

FIVEDAYS

Process

Figure4overleafillustratestheschematictimelineandtimetableoftheRoadshowthattookplace inearlyAugust2016inBornova.Ascanbeseenunderthe‘Pre-RoadshowAnalysis’,the SWAT Studio began 2 months prior to the Roadshow start. Both the SWAT and theRoadshowweredevelopedtobeintensivebyoptimizingtime,simplifyingcommunication&explanation, and maximising participation. Components (lectures, site excursions, designworkshopsandmini-masterclasses)withinthe5-Dayperiodwerestrategicallytimedatkeypoints topush forward sustainablepropositions and to later evaluate them.Theoutputs,synchronised with specific Roadies specialisms in energy and urban design, werequalitativelyspatialandquantitativelyenergyfocused,andcombinedtoformtheCityVisiononthefinalday(DAY5).

Figure4.SchematicoftheSocietalImpactMethodforDubrovnik.FirstcolumnrepresentsPre-RoadshowpreparationsbeginningwiththeSWAT.DAYS1to5relatetothestagereferredtoasthe‘Roadshow’.

DailyActivities&Roadies‘Out&About’

DailyActivitiesIn Izmir, a typical daily scenario would involve Architects, Municipality members, PhDstudents, academics and energy consultant’s visiting the Roadshow studio base at theBornova Archive & Museum, a venue donated by Bornova Muncipality. The 5-Dayprogrammewasdevisedinsuchawaytoencourageparticipantsto‘drop-in’and‘drop-out’so that theRoadshowWorkshops andMini-masterclasses could fit into their professionaland family schedules, a strategy that would increase city involvement and bolsterinvolvementlaterintheweek.InBelfast,theintroductory‘Pitches’onDAY1wouldbeheldatTheColinCommunityHub,astudiobasedonatedbytheColinpartnershiplocatedintheheartoftheprojectneighbourhood.PechaKuchastylepresentations(PechaKuchameaning‘chit-chat’ in Japanese, is a format that keeps presentations concise and fast-paced,facilitatingmultiple-speakerevents) informed theparticipantsofwhat toexpect.Belfast’sstakeholdersalsocontributedonthedaywithpresentationsthatoutlinepast,presentandfuture aspirations for their city. This would be critical input that helped identify theenvironmental and political context. For Belfast, a key contributor was Clare McKeownphotographed inFigure3(a)deliveringaPechaKuchaPitch.Clare’s roleas theSustainableDevelopment Manager at Belfast City Council would give the Roadshow and solidfoundationonwhich tobuild, comparable roles inBornova (Izmir) andMahón (Menorca)wouldparticipateintheirrespectiveRoadshows.

TheSocietalImpactMethodaimstofosteranintensiveworkingenvironment,yetone,whichallowsadequateflexibilitytoensuremaximumparticipationofstakeholders.Itmustbe respectedandappreciated that all stakeholders are likely tohave full time jobs andafamilylifebeyondanyRoadshow,theyarenotfinanciallysupportedtoattend.Thereforeitis one of the roles of the Roadshow and SWAT leader (Dr Craig LeeMartin, TUDelft) tostrike a balance during negotiations between conveying the urgency of being part of theprocessbutnottoanextentthatitalienatesprospectiveattendees.WhilsttheSWATStudiois underwayon locationmanypreparations anddiscussions takeplacewith stakeholders,herevariousvisualdescriptorsareusedtocommunicateofwhatoccursduringaRoadshow.

Typical co-creative and intensive scenarios from aworkshop session, as depicted infigure 5(b) are incredibly effective in translatingwhat is to come. Colouredmarker pens,rolls of tracing paper, laptops and notebooks are the tools of choice for the Roadshow

participants.Activitieshave the sameaim,energyneutrality,howevereach component isenjoyablydiverseandoffersnewperspectivesandskillsonhowtoattainit.Whilethetwoparallel workshops run continually over the week participants sign up to play a ‘SeriousGame’.Withtheappversionunderdevelopment,Dubrovnik’sstakeholdershadthechanceto‘Role’playananalogueversionasseeninfigure3(c).Thisallowsthemtohaveplayfulfunand experience the cause and effect of energy strategy decisions made at the regional,neighbourhoodandfamilyhouseholdscale.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure5.Intensivescenarios.(a)PechaKuchapresentationssetthebackgroundcontextandpaceoftheRoadshowfromtheoutset.(b)DowntothebusinessasWorkshop2investigatesenergydemandandpotential.

(c)Itsboth‘Serious’andaplayful‘game’,theGo2ZerogamedevelopedbyTUDelftandDNVGL.

Out&AboutThesocietalimpactmethodacceptsthechallengeofalimitedtimeframeandbudget,yet,itseekstobreakfromthestudiosettingventureintothecommunityateveryopportunitytopromotesustainabilityandtheaimsandoutcomesoftheECfundedCity-zenproject.Day4oftheBelfastRoadshowtookplaceinStColmsSecondaryHighSchoollocatedintheprojectneighbourhoodofColin (WestBelfast).Herethespecialist teamworked interactivelywith14-year students, demonstrating how cities can be more energy efficient. The studentsbecame active participants the project and contributed with sketches that would beincluded in the final City Vision presented on Day 5. In Bornova, the team visited thearchitecture students of Yasar University to give seminars on urban sustainably and todescribethelatestdevelopmentsofDAY4oftheIzmirRoadshow.

PARALLEL

Introduction

Workshops1and2 rundaily inparallel throughout theweek,onarrival stakeholdersareguided to select one workshop depending on their interests or specialisms, howevermigration to each is recommended in order to get a full overview of energy and urbanstrategies and their implementation. At the end of each day the workshops meet tosummarisetheirfindingsandtoagreeonthenextdaysorthateveningsobjectives.

Workshop1:Spatial&SocialSynergiesTheaimofWorkshop1beingto inspirepeopleto imagineamoresustainablefuture,onethat embraces thebest of new technology in away that is life enhancing. Theworkshopencourages freethinking and open-ended discussions about how things should be. It asksstakeholdersto imaginenewlife-stylesandthentodevelopstrategiestoachievethem.InthecommunitiesofColin(Belfast),AtaturkMahallesi,Bornova(Izmir)andGraz(Dubrovnik)

theworkshopbeganwithanenvisioningsessionaboutthefuture,andquicklymovedontodesigningtheinfrastructurenecessarytoachievethesevisions.Oncetheinfrastructurewasdevelopedaphasedstrategywouldbeproposedtoachievethesegoals.ThedesignpartoftheSocietalImpactMethodhasclearobjectivesinthatitaimstokick-startcarbondescentthrough the development of a series of options for the neighbourhood. The scope washolisticandarguablyoverchallengingforatypicalconsultancyteamtoresolve,howevertheRoadshowteamofferedaservicethatiscurrentlyunmatched.

Theworkshopidentifiedlocalandglobalchallenges,andrespondedtothematvaryingscales under five infrastructural themes; Mobility, Green, Energy, Water and Food. Forexample at the street scale in Izmir, studies highlighted current anti-pedestrian featuressuchasdangerouscrossroads,unusedandineffectivepedestrianroutes,lackofpavementsandgreen in familyparksetc.… It laterconcluded that thepedestrian isdisadvantagedatevery scale in favour of the car. Two green infrastructural routes that promoted green,passiveandactivesolartechnologies,bike/electricpublicvehiclesandpedestrianusewouldlatermeetthischallenge.Itwasempathizedthatsustainableurbandesignoccursatseveralscales,andcanbeencouragedbycreatingaseriesofpoliciesthatembodygoodbehaviourasillustratedinfigure6a.The‘CityVision’acceptedthatillegaldevelopmentisimpossibletopreventinIzmir,henceitwasnecessaryfortheresidentstoworkwithittobuildsustainableinfrastructure for the city. Here, compliance would be granted to people who createcommonbenefits.Oneexamplebeingtheimplementationofa‘LandSwap’strategywheresmallvacantlandparcelsinthecitywouldbeswappedwithCity-ownedlandelsewhere.

Workshop2:‘EnergyPotentials&FutureStrategies’AswithpreviousRoadshowcities theaimofWorkshop2was tomakeanEnergyMasterPlan.FortheneighbourhoodofAtaturkMahallesi(Izmir)thefirststepswouldbetoidentifyexistingandimplementablesustainableinterventionstogetherwiththeactionsthatwouldleadtoazeroenergyneighbourhood.Theobjectivesweretomaptheareasenergydemandandpotentials.Thisalsoinvolvedasocial,political,economicandclimaticalanalyseoftheregion. Other than the Roadshow element of the City-zen project, the content andmethodologyofWorkshop2formsthebasisofanotherworkpackage(WP4)oftheCity-zenproject, inwhichageneralurbanenergytransitionmethodologyisbeingdevelopedbaseduponpreviouslyestablishedmethodologicalframeworkssuchasenergypotentialmapping,carbon accounting, multimodal system analysis and integrated urban planning concepts(Broersma et al, 2015). A shortened version of this methodology was applied withinWorkshop 2 in the first 3 Roadshows allowing the WP4 methodology to benefit fromRoadshowexperiences.

The vision for the Ataturk Mahallesi neighbourhood would be energy efficiencymeasures(buildingretrofit)wouldbebeingcombinedwithrenewableenergyprovisionandstorage in a mutually coherent strategy. Each combination of energy measures wasquantified and dimensioned for the specific location; starting from initial energy demandandCO2emissions(step0),andendingwithfullzero-energysystemsasshowninfigure6b.The scenarios are finally connected with a vision of integrated sustainable urbandevelopmentandproposedinthe‘Spatial&SocialSynergies’(Workshop1).

VISION

The‘CityVision’takestheformofthreeoverlappingpresentationsonDay5.Thefirstbrieflyoutlines the objectives of the City-zen project generally, and specifically the ambitions,

formatandactivitiesoftheSocietalImpactMethodtowhichtheRoadshowisthevehicle.Thesecondandthirdpresentationsformthemajorbodyofthepresentation,thisbeingtheintegrated outcomes of both Workshops. The presentation of Workshop 1 would bequalitative in nature and includes urban planning intervention proposals at theneighbourhood scale, togetherwith spatial, social and building regulation strategies. Thethird and final presentation would be more quantitative focused on energy strategies,scenariosandcarbonoffsettingmeasures.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure6.CityVision.(a)Workshop1.Anti-heatislandgreeninfrastructure.(b)Illicitgoodbehaviourstrategy&allcitizensbeingwithin200metresofa‘Pocketpark’.(c)Workshop2.Sustainablewaterlandscape,drinking

waterconsumption,rainwatercollectionandwastewaterproduction.

FutureDevelopmentoftheSocietalImpactMethod

The Societal ImpactMethod has successfully reached out to, and collaborated with, citystakeholders across Europe. It’s internationally wide reputation as an innovation andimpactful event model is growing. It recently became an example of EC ‘Best Practice’.BuildingupontheupcomingvisitstoMenorca,Sevilla,RoeselareandKlaipeda,theEChaswill extend its reach with 2 additional cities, making 10 in total until 2019. In addition,interpretersandstudent‘facilitators’willjoinfutureevents.Thekeytosuccesshasbeentoidentify,reachandgainthetrustofcityinhabitantsand‘decisionmakers’.Toachievethis,anexchangeofknowledge,experienceandcommitmentcontinuestobecrucial.Aspartoftheextension ‘revisits’willbeplannedtoguidecitiesonspecificaspectsof theirvision ingreaterdetail.Incasescasenofutureplanshavematerialized,areturnwouldascertainthereasonforanyinactivity

References

Broersma, S. and M. A. Fremouw. (2015) The City-zen approach for urban energymaster plans. In: The 5th CIB International Conference on Smart and Sustainable BuiltEnvironments(SASBE),9–11December2015.UniversityofPretoria,Pretoria,SouthAfrica.

TheCity-zenProject:http://www.cityzen-smartcity.eu/city-zen-crossed-interviews-tu-delft-and-queens-university-belfast/

TheEUSmartCityInformationSystem:http://smartcities-infosystem.eu/newsroom/interview/craig-lee-martin-city-zen-sustainability-needs-people-who-bring-qualitative-and