ABSTRACT
In order to address the sustainability challenge and associated complexities, a profound, radical transformation of our development model is necessary. Over the next few decades we must enable ourselves to move from a society wherein well-being and economic health are measured in terms of growth to a society where we are able to live better, consuming far less. It is increasingly acknowledged that we have to urgently move towards socio-technical systems that are capable of operating within the planet’s limits while ensuring that this move follows pathways that are ethical and just. Against this backdrop, this chapter introduces the beginnings of the design for sustainability field and presents a brief summary of its evolution. The designerly concern about the human impact on the environment (and society) can be traced back to Buckminster Fuller’s writings, with the first seminal work considered to be Victor Papanek’s book Design for the Real World. Despite these early contributions, sustainability in the field of design only started to become a systematic concern in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From a redesign and impact reduction approach in the beginning, the design for sustainability field has evolved to its current cutting edge, that is, design for sustainability transitions.
