Theory and Practice of Designing a Social Environment for

Sustainable Development

E. V. Aleshina

, A. I. Zverev

and S. M. Karachkov

Ural Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration,

Yekaterinburg, Russia

Keywords: Social Project, Design Methodology, Social Community Environment, Project Cycle, Participatory Design,

School Environment.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the theoretical and methodological foundations, as well as the practice of applying

the project approach to creating a social environment for sustainable development. The social environment is

presented as a set of conditions for the actors-interested parties interaction and development, as well as their

solutions to a wide range of sustainable development problems (personal, socio-group, social, etc.). The

theoretical and methodological basis of the research is a number of scientific approaches: activity-based,

system-based, project-based, participatory, and environmental. Their complex use makes it possible to

establish the relationship between the concepts of "social environment", "design" and the management theory

general provisions, to achieve the necessary systematization and theoretical generalization levels. The article

considers the participation of an active subject, the project development initiator as a key moment in the social

design process. The foundations are laid for the creation of a theoretical concept and specific management

decisions on the social environment formation. The educational environment in a secondary education

institution is taken as the example in the process of developing a project. In this example, the project is

considered as a "creating opportunities project" through the prism of involvement, interested parties

representatives active interaction in the process of designing the school social environment. The article

substantiates the inclusion of the participatory environment among the social design priority areas, as one of

the key conditions for the development of the application field. As an example of the environment design

technology practical application, the author's complex of the project annual cycle, which was implemented in

the MEI GES No. 13, Noyabrsk, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, is considered.

1 INTRODUCTION

Today, the concepts of "project", "design", "project

approach" are firmly established and are widely used

in the modern sociological theory and the social

management practice. However, it should be noted

that the conceptual incompleteness of the project

approach as such is manifested not only in the

absence of an unambiguously interpreted concept of

"project", but also in the ambiguity of the concept of

"design" (Makovkina, 2016). An insufficiently high

level of generalization leads to the fact that none of

the approaches can provide a complete theoretical

picture of the existing design practice. As a result, the

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research goal at this stage is, on the one hand, to

combine various theoretical approaches to design

within management and present them as

complementary, not mutually exclusive, and on the

other hand, to compare theoretical calculations on the

specific management practices analysis example.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

As a theoretical and methodological basis for the

analysis of such an urgent problem as the

environment design, a set of research approaches was

used. These approaches were highlighted by the

400

Aleshina, E., Zverev, A. and Karachkov, S.

Theory and Practice of Designing a Social Environment for Sustainable Development.

DOI: 10.5220/0010669300003223

In Proceedings of the 1st International Scientiﬁc Forum on Sustainable Development of Socio-economic Systems (WFSDS 2021), pages 400-405

ISBN: 978-989-758-597-5

author in the current domestic and foreign literature

analysis. Within the activity approach framework, the

participation of actors, the project development

initiators was analyzed. It is a key point in the process

of social design, the initiation of social changes

towards the sustainable development, etc. Within the

framework of the system approach, the social design

structure and organization were studied, the

significant interrelations of elements and system-

forming factors were identified. The project approach

application from the management theory perspective

allowed to lay the foundation for future creating of

specific management decisions theoretical concept

and direction on the social community environment

formation in the process of developing the

appropriate management project, as a type of

prescriptive knowledge, future changes complex

target image, involving a program of specific actions

for its implementation. The participatory approach to

the social design allowed, in turn, to consider the

project as a "creating opportunities project" through

the prism of involvement, the interested parties

representatives active interaction in the social

community environment designing process. The

"Opportunities", on the other hand, suggest that the

project is aimed at encouraging managing entities to

improve the social life conditions, to participate in

such social initiatives, inspired by this process. The

use of the environmental approach in the study made

it possible to include the social community

participatory environment analysis among the social

design priority areas as a condition for sustainable

development at the theoretical level. It undoubtedly

serves as a significant point in the issues formulation

in this article.

3 RESEARCH RESULTS

The Design the Social Community Management: the

Practical Application Characteristics and

Possibilities.

To date, one of the most frequently encountered

definitions in the literature and used in the design

practice is the definition of a project as "a set of

interrelated activities designed to achieve within a

given period of time and with budget set tasks with

clear goals". Despite the fact that many aspects of the

above-mentioned concept interpretation of "project"

and "design" are certainly true, justified and logically

interrelated. Such a position cannot be considered

indisputable, since in this case the "project"

phenomenon is taken out of the management theory

context. Instead of taking into account the

management theory and methodology, the attention is

focused here on the project time limitations, its target

nature, objectivity and validity, determination of the

prospects for the project development in the future,

etc. It should be noted that the formulations and

characteristics developed in this way can be summed

up for almost any type of management activity, not

only for social design. However, the design, in our

opinion, has a clearer specificity than noted above. In

addition, such a position takes into account and

substantially discloses the project activities external

management. That is, the management entity that

initiates the project creation, sets the certainty of

actions for the actors in accordance with the project

and provides them with the opportunity to implement

their plans. In our opinion, this understanding takes

into account the actors ability to self-organize and

self-manage to a lesser extent. After all, the initiative

does not come from them, actors are more often

perceived as subjects of implementation, performers,

etc.

According to another well-known definition given

by the well-known Russian sociologist Zh.T.

Toshchenko, "the social design is an activity related

to the definition of options for the new social

processes and phenomena (sustainable) development,

purposeful changes in social institutions"

(Toshchenko, 2015). Zh.T. Toshchenko, in our

opinion, draws attention to the managerial, activity-

based nature of design, and also notes the goal-

oriented nature of this managerial detail type. Indeed,

any management decision adoption implies the goal

and formulation means the target image construction

for its subsequent implementation in practice.

Therefore, the goal as a type of management decision

is a target image that has the following characteristic

features (Kostin and Kostina, 2017): 1) it records

various aspects (or their totality) for changing the

organization in the future, its future parameters; 2) it

also involves the development of actions aimed at its

implementation. At the same time, based on these

features, we can conclude that the management

decision implies the formulation of two possible

target images types, i.e. the final goal, which

describes the organization parameters in the future, as

well as the intermediate goal (means of

implementation), which records the necessary

managers actions. J. B. Queen, calling the final

images the main goals, defines a "program" as "a

step-by-step sequence of actions aimed at achieving

the main goals" (Kelly J., 2018). Thus, the program

sets the technology for achieving the goal in the

process of making a management decision (Kostin

and Kostina, 2017).

Theory and Practice of Designing a Social Environment for Sustainable Development

401

When analyzing a program, it is important to take

into account the following aspect: the target image

that should be implemented always replaces the

previously objectified image in the organization. This

means that project actions by their role can be

described through the concept of "changes". In this

case, a change is understood as a change in the

organizational activity conditions.

As a complex target image, the project allows to

organize the executive activity, to ensure the

necessary results achievement (Bel'dieva, 2020).

Thanks to the design, the organization of the

management entity and the managed entities

activities is carried out (Reznik, 2020). The project is

developed by the management subjects, who rely on

the problems that are relevant in their opinion, as well

as social norms and behavior rules in a certain area

(YUr'eva, 2018). It also develops an information

management program for the changes project

implementation. The managed entity initiates the

program implementation (Karpunin., 2020). It is

worth noting that the activity project consists of a

specific heterogeneous management decisions

complex, among which we can note the following:

goals, norms, assessments, artifacts images, subjects

(Gvozdannyj., 2020). In this case, the management

object is a human activity, organized by the

management program, which is developed in

accordance with the activity project.

The management activity goal is, therefore, to

organize human activity in a particular area in the

direction of implementing the changes project in

accordance with the developed actions program.

The Participation as the Design Fundamental

Core.

In the scientific literature, the term "participation"

refers mainly to the categories of "participation",

"complicity", "involvement" (See the works of such

authors as R. Akoff, D. Njeru, M. Deng, K. Dayer, A.

Amos, M. Moon, and others (Akoff, 1981)).

For example, as K. Dayer notes, "the participation in

the strict sense of the word should be understood as

the people involvement in the existing organizations

management activities, both formal and informal"

(Dayer, 2018). In a general sense, according to A.A.

Denikin, "the participation implies that a person

becomes responsible for his or her own future, and

increasing the "social capital" role" (Denikin, 2018).

Speaking less abstractly and more schematically,

the participatory design specifics are as follows. The

design subject-initiator forms a set of conditions for

the interested parties representatives involvement of

the main (possible) group actors in the group

development process of target images organization in

the future (final goals), as well as a set of means

(intermediate goals) and the appropriate participatory

projects creation (complex target images). The

initiator develops the participatory environment

project (set of conditions) in the organization, and

formalizes and details it within the corresponding

plan framework, which also assumes a clear program

for implementing the conceived environment

complex target image.

The educational environment participatory design

distinctive feature in the school will be the

development of such solutions that expand the

opportunities range for the design subjects involved

by the initiator (initiators) from among the interested

parties. Thus, within the methodological

participatory-project approach framework, the

effectiveness of possible ways of the organization

image collective development by the potentially

interested persons, the external management and self-

government combination, is achieved. The

involvement of interested parties-representatives of

the main group actors (children, their parents,

teachers, managers, social partners, and other actors)

in this process, implies the following: 1) taking into

account the opinion/personal position of the project

participant in the development process; 2)

recognizing the project participant right and

providing various opportunities for developing an

individual organization future image.

Thus, through the participatory technologies, the

school future individual images are developed. Then

they are formed into a collective image containing

many visions of persons both interested and directly

involved in changing the school organization. Being

connected with the school functioning (which implies

the social norms assimilation, as well as knowledge,

skills and abilities) – the interested parties are, in fact,

socialized through the participation in the

participatory design. At the same time, not only

children, but also adults are socialized, while

elaborating certain life situations within the

framework of school life, school relationships.

According to the authors' idea, the social design

can be considered as a management activity, as a

result of which, an active environment that ensures

the sustainable development through the

development of a project cycle using the participation

principle can be created.

School educational environment as a subject of

sociological analysis and object of design.

Nowadays improving the education social status

is a vital requirement. One of the main issues

identified in the Concept of the second-generation

Federal State Educational Standards (FSES) is

WFSDS 2021 - INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

402

whether a particular education system is adequate to

the individual needs, expectations, and abilities of a

particular child (Federal'nyj gosudarstvennyj

obrazovatel'nyj standart). Today, education, as a

value-oriented process, is put at the forefront of

school education, along with learning. The concept

success or failure central element "on the ground" is

the "school environment", "microclimate", "way of

life" state. In other words, it is the school environment

that determines the possibility of personal

development of all educational activity subjects.

The concept of "environment" in various

interpretations is present in various schools and

sociology areas, which in one way or another the

society structure, social processes, and subjects social

interaction is considered at various social reality

levels. The ontological aspect of the social

environment analysis involves the study of the

interaction processes between the social subject and

its social environment. According to P. Sorokin,

when studying the interaction processes between

social subjects and their environment, the value

component of the social subjects interaction with their

environment gives the interaction a socio-cultural

character and puts it in the center of the sociology

attention (Sorokin, 1992). In fact, developing these

ideas, T. Parsons considers the societal community

internal and external environments (Perenos, 2002).

In the scientist's view, the environment is the action

system integral attribute, which must be taken into

account and controlled. Here, it is important to note

that it is the school, in addition to specific knowledge,

skills and abilities transmitted from generation to

generation in the process of education and

upbringing, that implements the individual

socialization, inculturation functions. In turn, C.

Vagt, F Aschemeyer, M. Rosabal-Coto, S. Storm, H.

Keller, I.G. Belyakova, M.R. Moskalenko and others

(Vagt, 2020) develop these ideas by studying the

relations in the educational environment, and

recognize that the environment acts as the most

important socialization channel for the individual.

The individual, once in a certain environment,

assimilates or denies the institutionalized value

preferences supported by the social control system in

a particular community or organization. Thus, foreign

and domestic scientists and researchers, with all the

variety of the environment interpretations, agree on

one thing. They all more or less recognize the fact that

the environment as a set of social phenomena

supposes the presence of a certain subject formed by

this environment and, at the same time, actively

involved and influencing it by their actions. To

summarize, the "social environment" can be

interpreted as a set of conditions that create

opportunities for the subjects to carry out certain

activities types that contribute to or hinder the

achievement of the expected results. The interaction

with the environment can be both positive for the

subject, increasing the personal potential and the

activities effectiveness, and negative, reducing or

even destroying the subject potential. Thus,

methodologically, the environment design in the

organization is associated with the "potential

opportunities" concept. The current understanding of

the school environment influence on socialization is

narrow, since it does not take into account the

children and adults mutual creativity potential, the

influence on the children upbringing not only in the

school, but also in the family climate, the interaction

potential between parents and teachers and the school

and their inclusion as full participants in school life.

Meanwhile, at present, parents are usually limited

to only indirect control over academic performance,

through the participation in parent-teacher

conferences. Also, such a narrow understanding of

socialization and education does not pay enough

attention to the children, parents and teaching staff

inclusion in solving various problems. Not only

school, but also personal (relationships with other

social groups representatives), social (improving the

school education effectiveness through interest,

empathy, involvement of all interested persons

(actors), connecting the school to solving patriotic,

cultural, moral, ideological, and other tasks). The

analysis of the scientific literature has shown that in

some works, the authors overcome the narrowness of

the common understanding regarding the school

education organization as a socialization tool. Thus,

M.P. Artamonova notes that "the school environment

educational sector under consideration includes all

types and forms of purposeful and specially organized

joint activities of actors to translate and assimilate

these norms, values and knowledge in the sign-

symbolic forms corresponding to this cultural and

educational environment in the communication

interactions course" (Artamonova, 2014). It is these

components that together have a socializing,

formative, active influence on the actors personality,

on the persons interacting in this environment

personality". However, it is important not only to

theoretically identify the importance of purposeful

and specially organized joint activities of actors for

the translation and assimilation of these norms, values

and knowledge in the appropriate educational

environment, but also to develop approaches to the

implementation of this concept in practice, in relation

Theory and Practice of Designing a Social Environment for Sustainable Development

403

to the school activities. This, among other things, is

the novelty of the author's approach.

4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The purpose of designing the social community

environment on the school environment example is

to identify and create various opportunities with the

wide range of interested parties involvement as

subjects, actors. The initiator designs the creation

process. The actors, realizing the environment

possibilities, are involved in the design of events

within the community, various kinds of "mini-

projects", etc. The motivation for the actors

interaction, in our opinion, can be the opportunities

realization, the "success situation" creation, the

communication environment acquisition. So, the

teacher is considered as the starter of most

educational initiatives at school. In our opinion, it is

necessary to expand this framework, making all the

educational process subjects a source of initiative,

"burning", new ideas, non-standard courageous

decisions. As follows from the above, the

peculiarity of this approach applied in school social

and managerial practice is that the participatory

projects actors can be not only students, but all

participants in the relationship can be parents,

teachers, administration representatives, as well as

other interested persons, social partners involved

and located in this environment. Here it is important

to understand that such an environment is no longer

focused only on children, as it is often interpreted

(the "educational environment", etc.), but it covers

and develops all the educational process subjects.

Its quality changes, the potential for setting and

solving problems increases, and so on. Accordingly,

the participatory environment creates a wide range

of opportunities. Thise are:

 The opportunities for establishing relationships

between subjects, understanding motives, and

coordinating views (group solidarity) in the

course of joint activities;

 The opportunities to consolidate the efforts

related to changes, in the course of joint

initiatives group implementation (team

building);

 The opportunities for expanding one's own

views and enriching social experience,

personal growth in the course of intergroup

interaction;

 The opportunities to implement own initiatives,

ideas (self-realization, self-expression,

creativity) in the course of intra-school events

participatory design;

 The values situational assimilation

possibilities, behavioral patterns focused on

social activity in the course of joint activities

within a specially created situation (the

situation of success).

At the same time, the participatory environment

can be considered not only as a condition necessary

for creating opportunities for the actors sustainable

development, but also as a means of such sustainable

development.

5 CONCLUSION

As shown by the analysis of theoretical,

methodological and practical problems of the

environment formation on the secondary schools

educational environment creation and development

example (institutions of secondary education), the

main task is the following. Today, it is necessary to

develop a suitable technology for creating an

environment that would take into account the

specifics of the administrative subjects and the object

(whether it is schools, or other organizations, as well

as larger communities, such as cities, etc.). In our

opinion, the social design can be put forward as such

a technology. It is the design that makes it possible to

develop a complex target image of changes in a

particular social community, in our case, a school, in

the existing problems context, as well as taking into

account its educational orientation. The development

and subsequent implementation of the school

educational environment image as a set of conditions

for creating opportunities for sustainable

development in the applying management design

technologies process, in all interested parties (actors)

interaction, will ensure a departure from direct

socialization, to indirect education. This is a condition

for the student "natural" school environment

formation, the possibility of the actions activation

stage independent passage by students, the life

interest manifestation and strengthening, to create a

basis for gaining the democratic behavior and

interaction experience. A significant role in the

environment formation is played by the social design

as a comprehensive technology for the

implementation of the Federal State Educational

Standard and school programs of students education

(self-education), development, self-determination

and social formation. Summing up the analysis of

theoretical and methodological approaches to the

social community environment design study on the

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404

school educational environment example, it is

necessary to note that the practical problems of social

management in the educational field determine the

need for further development of the educational

environment theory and methods of its design.

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