Menno Schokker
Motivation of sustainability issues
I am following the graduation annotation for sustainable development. I think it is important to have a proper motivation for everything you do. In this article, I want to share my motivation for pursuing sustainability issues, and in particular the subject of my graduation research. In doing so I get it clear for myself as well.
Studying at the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of TU Delft implies studying subjects that cross technical, social and economic domains. Relieved from the hassle of day-to-day business in practice, this broadens the mind for those who are able. It can ignite interests, passions and an independent mind leading to different paths of life than one is originally nurtured in. For myself I discovered an interest for the global societal trends and how the built environment can use the related possibilities and tackle the related challenges. Digitalisation and globalisation has led to the realisation that while living in a wealthy part of one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we morally cannot ignore what is happening ‘out there’. Be it gender or income inequality, food or energy poverty or permanent climate change, during the course of my study I am ignited to contribute in tackling these global challenges. Being a fanatic mountaineer and outdoor adventurer led to a special interest for the issue of climate change. Besides realising its disastrous implications for certain countries and islands, having seen countless (receding) glaciers and experienced nature in its most pure form, I have grown sincerely aware of the urgency.
Meanwhile, I also grew interested in the organisational processes within the built environment. Especially on the urban and city scale of which challenges are characterised by a complex nature. It has led me to an exploration for ways to contribute to mitigating climate change through the built environment. First, one arrives at two options: a focus on existing or newly built stock. As newly built stock only represents about one percent of the total building stock, the name of the game is the existing stock. Next choice is scale: regional, city, district/neighbourhood or building level? As said before, the complex nature of bigger scale challenges are of bigger interest for me, crossing out the building scale. Regional and city scale quickly becomes a policy or top-down governance question, being both important and interesting, but my preference goes to bottom-up, project related questions. Leaving only the district and neighbourhood level. From here it quickly became clear that the possible solution as of now are the District Energy Systems, representing a diversity of technologies that seek to develop synergies between the production and supply of heat, cooling, domestic hot water and electricity. Diving into this energy system, it became clear that this highly relevant and controversial technology obliges many different sectors that have never collaborated before to initiate, design, construct and maintain projects together. New actors, new business models, new roles, new integrated projects. At the forefront of the new economic paradigm shift due to the digitalisation. In other words, this innovative subject is a concrete example of the transition towards a new economic paradigm that we need so as to address the global societal challenges. This is what motivates me.
Of course, one can not only be driven by idealism and moralism. Eventually, one of the goals of studying is securing a future in one’s own business life. In this regard profiling oneself within this subject seems to be adequate as well.