Monat: März 2022

In the last couple of weeks, I delved into the topic of energy issues and what it means for social design. Through the municipality project, we are currently working on, I realized that the effort to achieve energy reductions and the awareness of the need for a strategy is largely present. However, stakeholders from the municipality claim that at the moment the knowledge about the exact status, the goals, and the strategic approach is missing. But, in practice, what does a strategic approach and a well-defined strategy mean? And why is there no energy strategy in the municipality, despite the fact that efforts to change things appear to be underway?

When looking from a manager’s point of view, a strategy is an action to attain one or more of the organization’s goals. Whereas planning is a part of the managerial process, strategy is a part of decision-making. In the process of planning a strategy, it is crucial to consider the context and its stakeholders constantly while making decisions. (Juneja. P, n.d)

So, in the case of Emmen’s missing energy strategy it might be that nobody takes full accountability in making decisions. Since this project engages stakeholders primarily in a social context the lack of clearly defined roles and task responsibilities might be contributing to this issue. That is where I believe the approach of social design  may help to make decisions with people rather than for them. Because change can only happen if everyone is dedicated to the same goal and works together to achieve it.

By Chantal Jaun 

Sources:

Juneja, P (n.d) Strategy – Definition and Features, P Management Study Guidehttps://www.managementstudyguide.com/strategy-definition.htm

Before I started my studies at the University of Lucerne in Emmen I heard people refer to the municipality as „Emmenbronx“ which definitely gave me a wrong impression of the place. However, when I walked through the town, I realized there was a lot more to the place than I had previously assumed. According to the people I talked to, Emmen has taken a significant stride forward in terms of connecting people and creating a green and welcoming environment. However, a center, such as a place to go with green spaces, cafes, or small shops, is still lacking. Of course, there’s Südpol, which is a great spot to hang out with friends or have a drink in summer, but I wouldn’t say it’s a location where people of various demographics come together.

As I interviewed residents and analyzed the environment, I discovered that most people are unaware that the Emmenpark is public, and that the elderly, in particular, are discouraged from staying in the park because it is mostly used by HSLU students and therefore by the younger generation.

Overall, I believe it would be great to be able to create social cohesion among people of various demographics, such as age, ethnicity, and professional background, in order to foster a sense of belonging and community. Residents may feel more linked to the municipality, and thus more eager to assist in making a change.

By Florine Witzig

Our team took a walk from the Viscosistadt up on the Gerliswilstrasse to the Sonnenplatz. On the way, we stopped by some information signs to reading about Emmen. 

My impressions 

Previously I have only been running by the river in Emmen, which I found really nice, but the general impression of the municipality isn’t the best. It’s a lot of traffic, constructions, loud airplanes, old building electricity cables hanging over the roads and it gives me an industrial and a bit sad vibe. It feels like the town has lost a bit of its shine over the years. I got positively surprised by the Sonnenplatz, there they had a mall with a big Migros, people walking around, flowers, a pretty coffee place, and the yellow church. I also found it positive that the busses run on electricity, even though the cables are quite ugly.  

Approaching people 

At the Sonnenplatz my teammates approach an old woman, and because of the language barrier and corona, I kept some distance and watch the conversation. Later, they told me that she have been living there for over 60 years and that she had really seen Emmen change over the years. She was also aware of the energy project but didn’t know what exactly it was. She told us that she uses geothermal energy in their house. What surprised us was that she was really stressed despite her age. 

What I take with me 

I think it was interesting to walk through a town and just try to understand the people and the surroundings. That’s something you rarely do, and it got me thinking in other ways. I asked myself „why?“ a lot of times, and I also tried to understand the municipality from their eyes. Overall it was fun to see more of Emmen because I have a better understanding of the area and it makes the project more tangible to work with. 

/ Lin Ivarsson

 

Eight years ago I worked at Emmen Center and now I study at Viscosistadt. Nevertheless, I can’t say that I have explored the Emmen area more deeply. Since I am currently thinking about moving to Emmen over my study period (for convenience and more affordable rent than in my current place of residence Rotkreuz), the task of exploring Emmen comes just in time. This week I had two apartment viewings.

The way to the first apartment led me across Emmen. Walking through Gerliswilstrasse, feels like being abroad. It is multi cultural, noisy and the environment is poorly maintained and dirty. Being Greek, I’m used to colorful and noisy areas and I like them too. However, I would not choose this street as a place to live. The further I walked, the more diverse the buildings became. It is not only a cultural mix but also a mix of very different buildings. And so different were the two apartments I visited. The neighborhood of the first apartment was rather gloomy, not well maintained but close to nature. The area was deserted, although there were countless apartment blocks there. On the contrary, the second apartment. It was located on the opposite side of Emmen. The area was highly modern and clean. There were children playing and adults talking. Is there a community in Emmen after all? It fascinated me that neighborhoods a few minutes apart could be so different.

There is definitely something going on in Emmen. There is a lot of change going on and accordingly, you see a lot of construction sites, which deteriorate the image of Emmen. It is known that Emmen has a bad reputation in the surrounding society. However, when I look at the new neighborhoods, I see Emmen’s potential to prove its reputation wrong in the future.

 

Author: Nikoletta Temelkou

About experiencing new feelings, looking into private gardens and talking to strangers

Thinking of Emmen, in my head were always just military aircrafts, industrial buildings and a lot of traffic. Normally I just knew the main street close to our school in the Viscosistadt. Studying in this industrial zone surrounded by grey buildings I always had a feeling of being in a robotic-like town.

By walking through the streets and seeing people bringing their groceries back home while pushing the stroller in front of them or having a quick chat in front of the Volg supermarket showed me that this town has more heart than I thought. Walking through the smaller neighbourhoods reminded me of my own hometown, where everyone tries to have a nice garden and children are playing outside with their scooters. I can see that the municipality of Emmen is interested in offering every age category enough options to satisfy their needs and wishes. Even though that this means to have several hairdressers, but whatever…

I think Emmen is doing a good job by trying to improve their energy issues for the future. Unfortunately, I got the impression that some residents living there are not really commited to this topic or don’t get informed well enough of what is going on in their hometown. Talking to two woman on the street, I got the feeling that they are more interested about the location itself and the opportunities they got of the municipality, such as nice walks, close shopping possibilities or an indoor-playground for their children.

Through spending some time in Emmen, walking around and talking to people I’ve got some deeper insights about this town and the project for social design became more tangible and real for me.

Written by Katja Dietschi

Thursday morning me and my colleagues from social design “Municipal” project, went on a 2-hour walk to experience Emmen – a municipality in Switzerland.

We started going up the main street. There were many hairdressing/beauty salons, supermarkets, a gym, graffitis on the walls and quite a few cafes, mostly asian. Businesses’ signboards were large, vivid and “screaming”, with many details – maybe to attract more people. Planes, trucks, buses, cars were passing by all the time, creating disturbing industrial noise and dust – maybe that’s why most windows in houses near to the road were closed.

Unlike the main street, the sleeping quarter was quiet, almost with no people around. We pointed that

• there were many “privat” signs, so people seemed protective of their properties, wanting to clarify that something is theirs;
• rubbish bags were left on the street near the road;
• many rubbish sorting places were located nearby;
• some people seemed to have storage and parking issues.

Afterwards, we observed an ordinary school/ kindergarten. It had separate buildings for kids of different age and a playground. Unlike this school, another school we encountered wasn’t open, but we saw an old-fashioned Soviet type hall through the glass door – for me it looked a bit sad.

As we were returning to the Hochschule, I was wondering about my Emmen experience. It wasn’t very uncomfortable but wasn’t delightful as well. I felt like I didn’t get to know this municipality very well, but I for sure saw some social design issues to think about.

Personal Background on Emmen
I have no deep personal connection to Emmen. I am there only at Viscosi 745, the train station, or in Lidl at Seetalplatz. Additionally, I once visited a friend who lives in Emmen, was there at a Holi Gaudy festival at least six years ago and in the past few months been to all kinds of large furniture shops. I asked this friend if she could share her experience of growing up in Emmen, but she has not yet replied. 😄
I have never really seen Emmen as more than just fulfilling these few needs. Therefore, it was good to get out of my box and stroll through the city.

What was difficult
For me, it is hard to get the true impression of a place only based on little time spent there, as it is only my limited perspective. Another barrier is that I do not feel comfortable approaching strangers, which creates a dilemma as one would need the inputs of locals to get a better understanding. Nevertheless, I tried to observe and listen during our visit.

What did I like
The experience of exploring Emmen helped me train to put biases aside and observe on a neutral level. It was nice to get outside and explore the environment that the energy project will affect. I also found myself reflecting on my knowledge about my energy consumption. Why do we not care more about energy consumption? Why do we not feel responsible for engaging with this topic? Why do we not learn more about energy consumption in school? What does it take for me to engage and co-design my municipality?

Julia Ahlberg

„There are some changes in energy policy, but I don’t know exactly what they are about,“ said the elderly lady my team and I approached at the bus station at Sonnenplatz.  The woman has lived in Emmen for over 60 years. She has worked and raised children there, but what is happening and changing in the community does not seem to interest her. Her statement summarizes the impression I got of Emmen pretty accurately.

As we walked up Gerliswilstrasse, we saw several hair salons, some of them almost next to each other. You get the feeling that everyone runs their own business without arranging each other. In a well-designed city structure, this would not be the case, because it makes no sense to set up a street full of competing service suppliers. To me, this is a sign of a lack of cooperation and no sense of community. It seems that there is little communication or planning happening within the municipality. Wouldn’t it make more sense to set up one or two bigger barbershops instead of several small ones to tame the citizens‘ overgrown beards?

The infrastructure of the community and the short interview with the elderly lady resonates very well with what Emmen writes in its „Gemeindesteckbrief“. Everyone does their own thing and has no consideration for the others, so more cross-regional cooperation is hard to achieve. After exploring the community, I realized that Emmen has to start improving its own collaboration before trying to achieve better teamwork with other municipalities.

Lisa Kraan

Author: Jamilah

It was a Friday morning, around noon when I sat down to enjoy a
delicious coffee and cheese pastry in Buchman, Emmen centre. As I looked around my eyes were met with a variety of different people, from elderly people to families with small kids, couples, and groups of young people, predominately all immigrants. Each one of them was sat in Buchman for a different reason but connected by a space that’s reliable, affordable, convenient, and for the most part safe. It’s fair to say this was the impression I got from walking around Emmen, there isn’t a lot to offer but there’s
enough to be comfortable. Although, it’s not as aesthetically pleasing as Buchman since Emmen is an industrial stomping ground. I noticed a lot of greyed tones, interconnected paths, a 10-minute walk connecting Emmen centre with the train station (great new discovery) and there is only ONE bar to enjoy an alcoholic beverage (I know this because I went looking for it on Friday evening).

 

As I sipped my coffee, I thought, I really enjoy sitting inside
Buchman because you can always count on receiving consistent service – from the food to the coffee – and enjoy a brightly lit ambience. It then made me wonder how much energy would be required to create such an atmosphere and would anyone care if there was 30% less light. I hadn’t really considered the impact of wasted energy within shops and cafes until then. Walking through the shopping centre, this thought remained active, and my awareness sharpened. I quickly googled, does Emmen utilize renewable energies to power the shopping centre? Sadly, no information was available. I then tried, are there solar panels on the roof of the Emmen shopping centre? I receive a similar response. Hmmm, maybe one day Emmen could be an industrial stomping ground that brings together immigrant communities and pioneers in green light innovations. The city of Emmen in the Netherlands is already doing a great job! I think there are some lessons to be learnt.