Human Rights Design as a Foundation for Innovation
Lund Innovation District is a global innovation ecosystem that brings together world-class collaboration, research and entrepreneurship within walking distance. Lund also became Sweden's first in 2018 city for human rights. What would it mean to bring these two strengths together, so that the Lund Innovation District finds ways to combine innovation with human rights and existential sustainability? Can inclusive design processes mobilize a wide range of individuals in development, and can it position Lund in a global context as a pioneer in developing an open innovation culture?
The jurist Neshan Gunasekera, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, spoke about the fact that Lund already starts from human rights in his work and that it may now be possible to take another step.
- At a time when trust between the countries of the world is at a low level, the actions of small places can have a great effect. Trust between people, between people and institutions, between generations and trust in ourselves is important. We need to rebuild this trust and this can be an important part of the task for the innovation district in Lund. At the international level, we are not living up to the 17 sustainability goals decided on by the UN, but I think it is possible to reverse the trend at the city level.
Neshan Gunasekera raised the idea of an ombudsman for future generations.
- Future generations should have the same rights as us and it is central to the Sustainable Development Goals that we give them an equal chance to reach their full potential. One idea is to establish an ombudsman for future generations, using the human rights framework already in place in a drive for intergenerational equality. Can Lund take the lead and become the first city with such an ombudsman?
Despina Christoforidou from School of Industrial Design at Lund University She said that she has observed that students in industrial design programs are increasingly interested in sustainability and philosophical issues, and that many of the alumni work for organizations such as MSF. UNESCO Within the framework of the Creative Cities Network, cities are designated Design Cities and there are now nearly fifty of them in the world (Kolding in Denmark and Helsinki in Finland are two of them). Despina highlighted an opportunity for Lund to combine human rights, existential sustainability and design to apply to become a Design City.
- We were able to become Sweden's first Design City and make this extra important by connecting us with a platform for human rights. People in balance are creative, able to cope with challenges and be innovative together.
Bobby Forshell works with the company Punto di valoreIn which the work of values is central. A starting point is a distinction between normative and descriptive values. The normative ones are the unwritten rules in society or in a team that tell us how we should behave. Descriptive values are our personal ones and it is these that can determine how motivated we are.
- The normative values have no or very little effect on the commitment and motivation of people. Personal values, on the other hand, tell us what is important to us and what we strive for and these values have a great effect on commitment and motivation,” explains Bobby. When we practice our descriptive values, we feel meaning and gain energy. Having clarity and insight about one's own values can be crucial for us.
Anna-Karin Poussart is the Executive Director of the Candidacy Storkriket Biosphere Reserve. The ambition is for Storkriket to become one of UNESCO's biosphere sites, which means that it will become an internationally recognized model area for sustainable development. Storkriket is located in the municipalities of Lund, Sjöbos and parts of Eslöv and is an area with very high biodiversity and a truly unique area with the fertile soils and lakes that provide many people with food and water. In addition, the area has a rich cultural landscape and a rich cultural life, which also makes the area unique and interesting. The Great Cricket is therefore an area where many interests meet and where solutions need to be identified together in order to become a model area in the world. Anna-Karin Poussart sees that today's system, in which citizens are sometimes asked even though their answers will not significantly affect the process, represents a problem of trust.
- If you are serious about involving people, you should do it all the way in the decision-making process, otherwise you will lose their trust. We need to find new ways, because when you engage people, you're supposed to engage them for real.
Birgitta Persson works at Future by Lund, among other things with the project IPA (Innovation Portfolio Approach) in which it examines how existential sustainability can be practiced in innovation work.
- Of course, we are working on the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but we see that this is not enough. It is our behaviors that are causing today's climate crisis. We must work on the inner change along with the external to succeed in solving our complex challenges. In this, cities can be a precursor, because there we can meet and relate to each other. In a city we can see how we can collaborate between, for example, individuals, teams and organizations. We need to work together but also set rules for how we do system change together.
Future by Lund has been going back several years, also together with researchers at Lund University, developed methods and tools for collaboration to effectively innovate together.
- Collaboration is difficult and a common situation is that too early in a joint development process, many people think only in terms of their own benefit, explains Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth, CEO at Future by Lund. We at Future by Lund do this in a different way through the portfolio methodology where we design common portfolios — such as one on the theme “Human rights based mobility”. In it we enter what we call the yellow zone, where we think and explore together. Then we can create initiatives, such as projects or events, in what we call the green zone and finally the stakeholders can collect the results of their own activities, and this is what we call the blue zone. (Read more here). The yellow zone is a safe and forgiving place, because it is never a mistake to think together.
Once the series of initial talks on the Lund Innovation District is completed, the discussions will continue with in-depth discussions in various areas.
The steering group for the Lund Innovation District consists of Kristina Eneroth, Vice Rector at Lund University, Pia Kinhult, ESS, and Anders Almgren, Chairman of the Lund Municipal Board.
Previous conversations
Lund Innovation District with the vision “Global impact within walking distance”
The proximity makes Lund's innovation district unique
How can we present the innovation district's capabilities?
Human Rights Design as a Foundation for Innovation
Great interest in creating inspiring places
You can read the full report by Maria Gimenez Grau here.
How do we create exciting meeting places in the innovation district?
Great interest in the work with Lund Innovation District
Packaging, financing and critical mass key components of Lund Innovation District
Creative spaces in Lund provide unique opportunities
“We need to get better at packaging and making the innovation district visible”
What does it take to take Lund Innovation District to the next level?
What makes the talents choose Lund?
New policy changes the playing field in Lund Innovation District
More about Innovation Districts
Link to the page about Lund Innovation District
GIID analyzes how successful innovation districts are organized
How is work organised with innovation districts in Lund?
Lund in international cooperation for the development of innovation districts
Survey of Lund Innovation District
Lund Innovation District survey — 10 interesting results
An inclusive innovation environment is an advantage to develop for Lund Innovation District
Collaboration, meeting places and networks develop Lund Innovation District