ABSTRACT
The matrix of human needs and satisfiers was developed as a tool to structure a series of seminars or workshops with communities and groups of people to improve the satisfaction of needs. This chapter discusses the utilisation of Human Scale Development (HSD) workshops to explore avenues for sustainable development (SD) at the local level. The three phases that define exploratory or diagnosis-oriented workshops aim at first identifying negative satisfiers, second suggesting synergic and singular satisfiers and last co-creating strategies to overcome society's challenges, through endogenous initiatives and with the support of development agents. The chapter focuses on the analysis of interdependence between human and ecological systems unveiled through the constellation of synergic and singular satisfiers identified by participants in the Utopian matrix and discusses devising sustainability. Participants in community workshops could join stakeholder workshops representing residents and contribute to the discussion on convergent sustainable satisfiers with institutional representatives and policy-makers.
