World Student Community for Sustainable Development

Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden – March 17-20, 2004

by Philip Michael Sheehy

What makes a city sustainable? How can our society develop solutions to the problems associated with rapid urbanization? What types of initiatives — local, regional and global — are plausible? What can students do?

The answers to these questions do not come easily. The World Student Community for Sustainable Development (WSC-SD) brought together more than 60 students from 17 countries for their Annual Meeting (AM) in Gothenburg, Sweden with the hopes of sparking student interest in the topic of “Sustainable Cities.†For 3 days, the attendees explored sustainability and sustainable development in the context of cities. Discussions at the AM were guided by paper presentations, workshop presentations, and poster presentations.

The AM started on the evening of Wednesday March 17 with a warm reception from the student community from Chalmers, as attendees registered and mingled amongst themselves, while waiting to be seated for dinner. The evening offered a relaxed setting for students to get to know each other before the opening of the discussion sessions the following day.

After the first evening of relaxed and informal discussion, the meeting took a more serious tone as presentations began on the morning of March 18. Bengt Olof Hansson, a representative from SKF — the financial sponsor of the 2004 Annual Meeting — started the meeting with a brief introduction to the company, while focusing on the fundamental aspects of the company, including the its history, their code of conduct, and existing projects related to sustainability. Mr. Hansson concluded his remarks with words of encouragement for the WSC-SD, as he emphasized the need for change, and the importance of setting lofty goals to facilitate change.

After Mr. Hanssonâ€^TMs opening remarks, the AM attendees split into two groups to participate in the first workshop session. Students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) presented an interactive workshop on sustainable cities entitled Cambridge 2020: A Local Perspective, while students from the University of Tokyo presented a workshop entitled Sustainable Product Design in Japan that explored eco-design and development in the context of consumer products. A detailed summary of workshop presentations is available online at AM 2004: Review of Workshop Sessions.

In the afternoon, Mr. HÃ¥kan Persson presented the Sustainability Policy of SKF. His report included the methods and practices that SKF employ to attract the right customer, employee and investor. He focused on initiatives that promoted the companyâ€^TMs environmental responsibility, safe workplaces, and transparent policies.

Mr. Perssonâ€^TMs presentation was followed by the first paper session of the AM. Mahak Sabouri and Ketan Pednekar, both from Chalmers University of Technology, presented a feasibility study of implementing an anaerobic digester for bio-degradation of waste in Amalpuram, India. The digester was part of a larger system designed to efficiently manage waste in the city while generate methane for energy use. Ms. Sabouri and Mr. Pednekar also argued that the implementation of the digester is one step in establishing an ethos embracing sustainable development for the small city.

Shifting the focus from urban to rural India, Shahid Nanavati from MIT examined rural development as a means to alleviate the stress on megacities such as Bombay, Delhi, and Madras. He started by emphasizing the Indian governmentâ€^TMs current focus on investing in the development of cities, while neglecting rural areas. Mr. Nanavati presented the results of a case study involving the successful community based development of a local economy by connecting 6 rural villages in a simple nodal framework. The markers of success were clear and powerful: migration to cities was on the decline, regional hospitals and schools once forgotten were again operational, and local trade was thriving.

The focus shifted from India to Iran as Mahban Ketabi (Shahid Behehti University) presented current traffic and pollution problems in Tehran. Ms. Ketabi framed the air pollution problems facing Tehran in terms of a rapid increase in population, insufficient public transportation infrastructure, and an extraordinary increase in the number of passenger vehicles. She focused on improvements in the Tajrish district — a historically rich part of Tehran — via subway line completion and extension, diverting traffic to streamline traffic patterns, establishing a scenic footpath as part of a plan providing more green space, and maintaining/reviving the cultural heritage of the district.

Iderlina Mateo-Babiano from the University of Tokyo concluded the first paper session with her exploration of improving pedestrian-friendly areas in cities as a method for achieving sustainability. Perception and route choice surveys of pedestrians in the Quiapo Commerical District in Manila, Philippines were used to establish qualitative characteristics of an enhanced walking environment. Results of the surveys were also used to develop recommendations for making walking a more attractive alternative.

After a busy first day, students from Chalmers organized a trip to the scenic Marstrand Island of Gothenburg. The short trip provided an excellent opportunity for attendees to continue discussions started during the workshop and paper sessions, and gave students their first opportunity to unwind after a long day.

The Presidents of the Student Communities (SCs) started the meetingâ€^TMs second day of activity with brief summaries of their groupâ€^TMs activities over the last year. A detailed summary of each groupâ€^TMs activities can be found in the Annual Report 2004. The reports from the SCs were followed by presentations on the outcomes of the first workshop session and the second round of workshops. Students from UT and EPFL presented Communication for Sustainability, a workshop designed to improve the efficiency and productivity of communication within the WSC-SD. Meanwhile, students from St. Petersburg State Politechnical University presented Studentsâ€^TM Involvement in the Development of Ethnic Tolerance in Sustainable Cities, a workshop designed to promote cultural sensitivity as a means to increase cooperation and action within each SC. Both workshops are described in more detail in the aforementioned AM 2004: Review of Workshop Sessions.

The second day of the meeting was concluded by a stellar classical music performance from the young members of the Suzuki Group. Attendees were treated to several classical musical sets performed on the violins of the prodigious youths — an appropriate way to end a day of intense discussions.

The third and final day of the AM started with the second paper session. Michelle Huang of Yale University presented a study of past and present practices in Kathmandu related to waste management as a means to promote organic waste recycling. She emphasized that current trends in solid waste management, food security, chemical fertilizer use, soil fertility and environmental/public health suggest that a closed loop model for waste management is necessary for urban development. She concluded with a model for organic waste recycling buoyed by participatory governance.

As an alternate means of waste management, Maria Olsson from Chalmers presented a study of the use of wood pellets as a means to heat residences. Wood pellets are compressed sawdust and shavings that are by-products from sawmills and joinery mills. Laboratory burnings and collected samples from chimneys indicated low emissions of hazardous compounds. Although an overwhelmingly promising alternative to conventional fossil fuel burning, Ms. Olsson was careful to point out that some new biofuels (other than wood pellets) might be chemically complex with pollutants and higher amounts of mineral nutrients, with the potential to generate hazardous compounds.

One of the intricacies of the complicated Kyoto Protocol — the clean development mechanism (CDM) – was analyzed by Ai Hiramatsu from the University of Tokyo. The CDM is a flexibility mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. The mechanism must be validated such that it will reduce GHGs compared with a baseline (a predictive value) and that it will contribute to sustainable development of a developing country. Ms. Hiramatsu examined the introduction of solid waste incineration with electricity generation into three model cities: A, B and C. The study concluded that even when the same technology is introduced, the emission reduction varies depending on the current conditions of and the future plan of the city.

The paper session was concluded by Krishnan Sriram from MIT, as attendees shifted their focus to urban transportation systems. Mr. Sriram presented the results of a case study of the development of MIT ShuttleTrack, a real-time vehicle location identification service for the MIT operated shuttles. While giving a brief overview of existing tracking of vehicle fleets, Mr. Sriram also demonstrated the success of studentsâ€^TM sustained efforts to generate change. The presentation was concluded by a brief examination of the benefits of extending the vehicle tracking efforts demonstrated on MITâ€^TMs campus to an entire public transportation network.

After the paper session concluded, best poster awards were given to the following poster presenters: Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, University of Tokyo, Sustainable Urban Districts in Developing Country: Alternative Solutions in Transport ; Aaron Holdway, Queen’s University, Jack Warner, The College of William & Mary, The Sustainability Triangle: A Model for Sustainable Cities ; and Naoyuki Mikami University of Tokyo, Nurturing Interdisciplinary Cooperation for Sustainable City.

The day — and the AM — concluded with two discussion sessions. The first session was spent exploring the outcomes of the second workshop session (available in the AM 2004: Review of Workshop Sessions), and the second session gave attendees a chance to step back and take a more general look at the outcomes of the entire meeting. All of the participants were separated into 3 groups and asked to think about short-term and long-term goals of the WSC-SD. The results of this brainstorming session are summarized in a separate document entitled Goals of the WSC-SD: Gaining Strength.

The AM concluded with former President of the WSC-SD, Eri Saikawa of Indiana University introducing the new President of the WSC-SD, Philip Sheehy from MIT. Next yearâ€^TMs AM will be hosted by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

All the members of the WSC-SD would like to thank SKF for their generous sponsorship of the 2004 Annual Meeting.

- Philip Sheehy (MIT) and Daniel Eherer (ETHZ)