ABSTRACT
In 1987 an important study was drafted by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development to provide indicators regarding the future of humanity. This report was called Our Common Future and was the first to define sustainable development as 'a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. For a better understanding of sustainability and its implications, it is common to schematise it as three dimensions: Environmental dimension; Socio-ethical dimension; Economic dimension. Regarding economic sustainability, the principle is that an environmentally and socio-ethically sustainable model of production and consumption should also be economically feasible. System innovations refer to major shifts in dominant 'socio-technical regimes' and the way in which societal functions are fulfilled. They are long-term and complex processes between the social, economic, technological and policy domains. The chapter provides an overview of paths to sustainability as delineated in European and Asian agendas.
