Notes from the Smart Sustainable 2010 Symposium

by Leonardo Benuzzi Last November 15, 2010, the Mobile Experience Lab - Design Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in collaboration with the New York office of the Italian Trade Commission, held the Smart Sustainability 2010 Symposium. Delegates at the symposium discussed future opportunities to creatively use information and communication technologies, as well as sustainable energy systems to improve the quality of interactions among people, architectural space and local environments. The symposium was organized around the “three-pillar” or “triple bottom line” sustainability concept developed at the 2005 United Nations World Summit. This three-pillar model places equal importance on environmental, social and economic considerations. The  sustainability model embraces three requirements: that natural capital remain intact, Environmental Sustainability; that development be financially feasible, Economic Sustainability, and that the societal cohesion be maintained, Social Sustainability. Environmental Sustainability

• Building technologies
• Clean technologies
• Energy systems
• Smart grid systems

Economical Sustainability

• Corporate responsibilities
• Innovative business models and opportunities
• Alternative currencies
• Transformation of the Energy Industry

Social Sustainability

• Mobility
• Social Innovation
• Social resources
• Triggering collaboration and cooperation

There symposium included a presentations by local stakeholder Green Home Alliance regarding its activities. Progetto Manifattura discussed incubation and innovation, and CNR-IVALSA presented its Modular House.