Abstract
Researchers and designers are increasingly advocating wider and fairer participation in recycling. However, many people are still excluded from this meaningful social participation. For example, visually impaired persons (VIPs) still face many barriers to participating in recycling independently. Since 2015, a series of studies has been conducted to explore the possibility of VIPs participating in recycling. Through a case study of designing recycling facilities for VIPs, this paper explores and discusses the difficulties and limitations that the visually impaired experience in participating in recycling, despite technological advancements that claim to help people with disabilities. It also identifies some directions for researchers and designers for future studies and professional practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Borg, F., Winberg, M., Vinterek, M.: Children’s learning for a sustainable society: influences from home and preschool. Educ. Inq. 8(2), 151–172 (2017)
Casaló, L.V., Escario, J.J.: Intergenerational association of environmental concern: evidence of parents’ and children’s concern. J. Environ. Psychol. 48, 65–74 (2016)
City of Greater Geelong (2017). http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/bins/news/item/8d53d97920f52ef.aspx
Druin, A.: The role of children in the design of new technology. Behav. Inf. Technol. 21(1), 1–25 (2002)
Geyer, R., Jambeck, J.R., Law, K.L.: Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci. Adv. 3(7), e1700782 (2017)
Largo-Wight, E., Johnston, D.D., Wight, J.: The efficacy of a theory-based, participatory recycling intervention on a college campus. J. Environ. Health 76(4), 26–31 (2013)
Letsrecycle (2018). https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/mgb-waste-systems-produces-bin-lid-for-the-blind/
Matthies, E., Selge, S., Klöckner, C.A.: The role of parental behaviour for the development of behaviour specific environmental norms – the example of recycling and re-use behaviour. J. Environ. Psychol. 32, 277–284 (2012)
Peterson, K.: (2014). https://globalnews.ca/news/1689544/braille-to-help-visually-impaired-calgarians-with-recycling/
Ramirez, A.R., González-Carrasco, I., Jasper, G.H., Lopez, A.L., Lopez-Cuadrado, J.L., Garcia-Crespo, A.: Towards human smart cities: internet of things for sensory impaired individuals. Computing 99(1), 107–126 (2017)
Sanders, E.B.-N: From user-centered to participatory design approaches. In: Frascara, J. (ed.) Design and the Social Science, pp. 18–25. CRC Press, London (2002)
Siu, K.W.M.: Accessible park environments and facilities for the visually impaired. Facilities 31(13/14), 590–609 (2013)
Siu, K.W.M.: Innovation for diversity and fairness: inclusive design of recycling facilities for visually impaired people. Int. J. Community Divers. 12(1), 51–65 (2013)
Siu, K.W.M.: Open space for the visually impaired: open or exclude? Int. J. Civic Polit. Community Stud. 10(1), 7–21 (2013)
Siu, K.W.M., Wong, M.M.Y.: Promotion of a healthy public living environment: participatory design of public toilets with visually impaired persons. Public Health 127(7), 629–636 (2013)
Siu, K.W.M., Xiao, J.X.: Public Facility Design for Sustainability: Participatory Action Research on Household Recycling in Hong Kong. Action Research, 30 March 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750317698027
Acknowledgments
The authors thank The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) for its research fund support for the study. The authors also acknowledge partial support from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council’s Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (RGC 35000316) during the data collection and the preparation of this paper. The Eric C. Yim Endowed Professorship provided financial support for the data analysis. The authors also thank the visually impaired participants from the Hong Kong Blind Union, PolyU, and other NGOs and social service organizations for the visually impaired.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Siu, K.W.M., Lo, C.H., Wong, Y.L. (2020). Inclusive Design for Recycling Facilities: Public Participation Equity for the Visually Impaired. In: Ahram, T., Karwowski, W., Pickl, S., Taiar, R. (eds) Human Systems Engineering and Design II. IHSED 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1026. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27928-8_47
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27928-8_47
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-27927-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-27928-8
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)