SOCIAL LEARNING LABORATORY FOR URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
Enrique Campos-Lépez, Luis F. Garcfa-Abussaid, Alena Urdiales Kalinchuk,
J uan Betancourt R. and Ivan Betancourt R.
Aprendizaje Sistémico, S.A. de C.V. and Fundacién CORES.
Saltillo, Coahuila, MEXICO
SUMMARY
This paper describes the experiences gained through the design and
implementation of a learning laboratory (SLLS) aiming to create an interface
among city officials and citizens on issues related with resource management,
standards of living, municipal services and process improvement. SLLS allows
integrated learning for cross-cultural teams on systems thinking, sustainable
development principles and concepts, city processes and services.
Globalization and Sustainable Development
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is the main stream
through which Mexico is becoming part of global flows of economic activity. After
several years of being implemented, NAFTA’s benefits on the overall Mexican
society are the focus of political debate involving government, political parties,
social organizations, citizens, academics and scholars.
On the optimistic side is the opinion that Mexico is gaining spaces in the
global economy. The economy is blooming and years to come will spread its
benefits beyond low-end jobs. Arguments are that global trade became the
dynamic arm of the Mexican economy; it moved from 5% during the seventies to
22% in the late 1997 (1). As a consequence economy is growing, not only in
quantitative terms but also transforming the input-out structure.
On the other hand, critics said that the social and environmental costs are
an unjustifiable burden for the future. Investments are based on intensive use of
environmental resource, offering scarce examples of knowledge based
industries. That process is creating a short-term illusion that will nurture a long-
range nightmare. Growth policies were made without any consideration on
environment and natural resources particularly in Northern Mexico where cities
are expanding against arid environments. Critics add that growth is accompanied
by the intrusion of global criminal networks - drugs, prostitution- creating massive
negative impacts on youth.
An immediate consequence is that NAFTA gave a strategically position to
the northern Mexico; increasing the already existing competitive advantage of the
northern cities reinforced migration from the less industrialized southern regions
of Mexico. Configuring a “success to the successful” archetype.
Unsustainable Cities.
Growth is present but development seems to be far for northern cities that
are facing deep deleterious process. Industrial capital and population flows are
acting against any sustainable future. Social and natural capitals are suffering
deep erosion. Spite of the constant rhetoric to embrace sustainable development
pathways, economic growth is reinforcing an urban culture focused on short-term
results and the emerging of a myriad of problems related with: Unmanageable
streams coming from industrial and municipal wastes; Water resource depletion;
Irregular land use and housing development; Traffic explosion and air pollution;
Delinquency, drug and prostitution and Shrinking of city services. These
“problematiques” are closely tied with the traditional forms for dealing with them.
City’s Management Under Siege
Saltillo is one of the northern Mexican cities suffering of such phenomena.
Located 200 miles south of the US border. Its growth has been based on new
assembling plants (maquiladoras) reinforced by an increasing integration of the
automotive industry, that is moving to a more “just in time” production
approaches attracting a vast array of peripheral suppliers. Non-lineal growth of
Saltillo’s economy and population made to sound as a blasphemy any argument
to promote sustainable development and slowing growth in order to ameliorate
the expected negative long term effects.
Several of the city process and services started to show the
consequences of resource depletion and the crisis in the management and
administration skills. Among the issues faced by city management that are critical
in these times, following are relevant to be mentioned: Obsolescence of
regulations; Vertical policy design and implementation; Low quality administrative
process; Fragmentation of processes; Analytical and symptomatic approaches
and reactive responses; Short term time horizons (no more than three years);
Traditional leadership based upon political control; Obsolescence of
administrative technologies; Participation, communication and trust at very low
levels; Lack of indicators on city capitals, flows and processes.
This situation is shaping the need to reinvent city management process.
Redesign must take in account principles of systems on transformation and
change, particularly adaptation and coexistence has to be emphasized (2,3).
Education might be one of the most effective levelers. However traditional
focus based upon individual skills and isolated learning process is becoming
ineffective. New metaphors for social learning are needed that promote
awareness, principles and social practices on sustainability.
The Need for Social Learning Spaces
Under the light of these previous considerations an experiment was
started in 1999 with the support of Saltillo Major Office. Project included the
design, creation and application of the Social Learning Laboratory for Saltillo
(SLLS). Primary motivation emerges from the perceived need to improve quality
of city’s services. Other interest is to have a more interacting way to work with
communities to generate a common vision on quality indicators and time frame.
At the practical level SLLS mission is to create a new way for collective
learning on city issues, enhancing social skills and awareness on: Synchronicity
between social dynamics and service dynamics; Communication and dialogue
skills; Perception of time horizon; Negotiation and conflict management; Trust
and team learning; Deployment of quality and city services indicators; Collective
reflection on specific issues (water, traffic, sewage, etc.); Modeling and mapping
of city and community issues.
The design of SLLS was based on previous experiences of workshops on
sustainable development (4). SLLS integrates in a common ground: action
learning, systems thinking, sustainable development concepts, city processes
and system dynamics models.
SLLS process consists of a series of four workshops with a total of 40
hours and groups of city officials and local communities. The first workshop
creates aim is to promote trust and improve dialogue skills, it is based on action
learning initiatives; framing is focus on collaboration values. The second
workshop objective is to improve negotiation and conflict management skills and
to dialogue on diversity and feedback issues. The third workshop introduces
concepts on systems thinking, the notions of time, process, structure and
behavior over time; action learning initiatives, games and simulations are applied;
experiences are framed on city services and community issues.
The fourth workshop is a two-day effort where city service process and
community dynamical needs must be synchronized to create a long-term
sustainability performance. Two learning platforms constitute the workshop: a
game on city service process improvement and a simulation (based on a
dynamic model build in IThink) of community dynamic and its process for
development. At the end a final half a day workshop assembled the experiences
includes the concepts of process, long term process and feedback.
Results and Beyond
Up to now one thousand people have participated in SLLS activities.
Surveys performed on participants showed main areas of impact: an
improvement on process understanding, an enhanced time horizon on dealing
with conflict and better team and communication skills. Various actions are on
the way for expanding the application of SLLS: a redesign of the inspection
function on city services and its use on collaborative design of community
projects and critical issues of the city.
Bibliography
1. Davila-Flores Alejandro. Impactos econdmicos del TLCAN en la Frontera
Norte de México (1994-1997). Chapter in the book “i Socios Naturales?. Edited by ITAM
and PORRUA. 177-224.
2. Meadows, Donella. 1998. Indicators and Information Systems for Sustainable
Development.. A Report of the Balaton Group, The Sustainable Institute, Hartland Four
Corners, VT.
3. Bossel, Hartmut. 1999. Indicators for Sustainable Development: Theory,
Method and Applications. International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg.
4. Some of the concepts were based on a workshop on sustainable development
designed by Prof. Dennis L. Meadows.
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