ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the different socioeconomic settings and potential strategies for sustainable product development and design in less industrialised countries (LIC). Improving the socioeconomic and industrial development of the South and the East is an important pillar in designing a sustainable world. Sustainable development is a goal both for industrialised countries and for LICs; there are different development paths to achieve this goal which have to reflect the different socioeconomic potentials, eco-geographies and cultures of individual societies. Ecological impacts are driven mainly by the exponential growth of technology and product supply, which are resource-inefficient, despite their acknowledged progress in closing production cycles. The series of environmental management standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the ISO 14000 series, primarily reflects the organisational structure, size and economic potential of companies in the more industrialised Northern countries. As most of the gross national product is produced in the local market, there is relatively little environmental pressure from the international market.
