Laura Hay

The Sustainability Cycle and Loop: Models for a more unified understanding of sustainability

In spite of the considerable research on sustainability, reports suggest that we are barely any closer to a more sustainable society. As such, there is an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of human efforts towards sustainability. A clearer and more unified understanding of sustainability among different people and sectors could help to facilitate this. This paper presents the results of an inductive literature investigation, aiming to develop models to explain the nature of sustainability in the Earth system, and how humans can effectively strive for it. The major contributions are two general and complementary models, that may be applied in any context to provide a common basis for understanding sustainability: the Sustainability Cycle (S-Cycle), and the Sustainability Loop (S-Loop). Literature spanning multiple sectors is examined from the perspective of three concepts, emerging as significant in relation to our aim. Systems are shown to provide the context for human action towards sustainability, and the nature of the Earth system and its sub-systems is explored. Activities are outlined as a fundamental target that humans need to sustain, since they produce the entities both needed and desired by society. The basic behaviour of activities operating in the Earth system is outlined. Finally, knowledge is positioned as the driver of human action towards sustainability, and the key components of knowledge involved are examined. The S-Cycle and S-Loop models are developed via a process of induction from the reviewed literature. The S-Cycle describes the operation of activities in a system from the perspective of sustainability. The sustainability of activities in a system depends upon the availability of resources, and the availability of resources depends upon the rate that activities consume and produce them. Humans may intervene in these dynamics via an iterative process of interpretation and action, described in the S-Loop model. The models are briefly applied to a system described in the literature. It is shown that the S-Loop may be used to guide efforts towards sustainability in a particular system of interest, by prescribing the basic activities involved. The S-Cycle may be applied complementary to the S-Loop, to support the interpretation of activity behaviour described in the latter. Given their general nature, the models provide the basis for a more unified understanding of sustainability. It is hoped that their use may go some way towards improving the effectiveness of human action towards sustainability.

Functional neuroimaging of visual creativity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The generation of creative visual imagery contributes to technological and scientific innovation and production of visual art. The underlying cognitive and neural processes are, however, poorly understood.

A systematic review of protocol studies on conceptual design cognition

This paper reports the first systematic review and synthesis of protocol studies on conceptual design cognition. 47 studies from the domains of architectural design, engineering design, and product design engineering were reviewed towards answering the following question: What is our current understanding of the cognitive processes involved in conceptual design tasks carried out by individual designers? Studies were found to reflect three viewpoints on the cognitive nature of designing: design as search; design as exploration; and design activities. Synthesising the findings of individual studies revealed ten categories of executive and non-executive function studied across the viewpoints: visual perception; mental imagery; semantic association; long term memory; working memory; selective attention; creative thinking; evaluation and decision making; externalisation; and reasoning and problem solving. The review highlights several avenues for future research, centering on the need for general formalisms, more objective methods to supplement protocol analysis, and a shared ontology of cognitive processes.

The S-Cycle performance matrix: supporting comprehensive sustainability performance evaluation of technical systems

In this paper, we present the first generic framework for selecting comprehensive material/energetic sustainability performance indicators SPIs for technical systems: the S-Cycle Performance Matrix S-CPMatrix. This novel matrix is comprised of 6 generic sustainability goals, 11 SPI archetypes, and 23 corresponding metrics identified from our previously developed model of technical system sustainability the S-Cycle, and is intended to support decision makers in meeting three identified criteria for comprehensive SPI sets: C1 inclusion of indicators measuring performance at all relevant scales; C2 inclusion of efficiency and effectiveness indicators; and C3 coverage of all system sustainability goals. We evaluated the matrix by interpreting and classifying 324 indicators currently applied to assess technical system sustainability performance in the literature, with 94.1% found to be fully classifiable with respect to the proposed goals and SPI archetypes following several refinements. The matrix is applicable to different systems, and may be considered to facilitate the selection of a holistic set of SPIs from different sources and evaluation approaches. Thus, it addresses a need for consistent yet flexible guidance on how to comprehensively assess technical system sustainability performance, mirroring generic guidelines on organizational SPI selection widely available through several international initiatives. In addition to industrial evaluation of the S-CPMatrix, four avenues for future research are proposed: i use of the matrix for systems comparison/benchmarking; ii further investigation of unsupported metrics; iii the nature and measurement of contaminants; and iv assessing the comprehensiveness of current SPI sets for technical systems.

Creative design engineering: introduction to an interdisciplinary approach

Review of the book: Creative design engineering: introduction to an interdisciplinary approach, by Toshiharu Taura, London, Elsevier, 2016, £57.99 RRP (paperback), ISBN:978-0-12-804226-7

Insights into design concept similarity judgements

Similarity has been shown to influence various measures of outcome creativity in combinatorial design tasks, but the role of similarity during the combination of design concepts is unknown. As an initial step towards understanding design concept similarity we review prominent models of similarity processing, highlight challenges with adoption in a design context, and carry out an exploratory experimental investigation of design concept similarity perception. Similarity may be the result of structural alignment processing and similarity ratings appear to vary with the number of commonalities.

The challenges in computer supported conceptual engineering design

Computer Aided Engineering Design (CAED) supports the engineering design process during the detail design, but it is not commonly used in the conceptual design stage. This article explores through literature why this is and how the engineering design research community is responding through the development of new conceptual CAED systems and HCI (Human Computer Interface) prototypes. First the requirements and challenges for future conceptual CAED and HCI solutions to better support conceptual design are explored and categorised. Then the prototypes developed in both areas, since 2000, are discussed. Characteristics already considered and those required for future development of CAED systems and HCIs are proposed and discussed, one of the key ones being experience. The prototypes reviewed offer innovative solutions, but only address selected requirements of conceptual design, and are thus unlikely to not provide a solution which would fit the wider needs of the engineering design industry. More importantly, while the majority of prototypes show promising results they are of low maturity and require further development.