The effective application of the principles of comprehensive anticipatory design science* to the conscious design of our total environment in order to help make the Earth's finite resources meet the needs of all humanity without disrupting the ecological processes of the planet.
Richard Buckminster Fuller, 1967
*broadened by M.O. from R.B.F.

Self-organization of society - it is a natural process, but the mind invades in it with mind`s ability to foresee and to the choice of manner.
Nikita Moiseev, 1997

Personal accomplishments of any kind should only be judged according to the benefits which they create for others. Such deeds deserve to be honored only when they have made a contribution to the public good. Werner von Siemens, 1872

In light of sustainability, the focus of environmental policies and strategies has progressively shifted toward the product-service interface in which social needs and wants are to be met within societal and environmental limits... Thus, there is an increasing need for new strategies to approach the challenging development of sustainable systems. Such strategic approach implies the understanding and re-consideration of the dynamic socio-economic structure.

In 1997, the Environmental Program of United Nations proposed a novel concept to address sustainability in product development. The Sustainable Product Development (SPD) is a concept that has been introduced to reconsider the relations between production, the environment and society. The concept is conceived at the broad field of human needs, technological and economic instruments that the satisfaction of needs implies...

In the innovation process, evolutionary theories have been used to explain the role of technological development in the adaptation of products and services to dynamic environments.

In the evolutionary perspective, innovation can be either incremental or radical. In an incremental process, innovations are driven by imitative implementation of technologies. Innovation is then commonly associated with quality improvement of existent processes, products or services. Radical innovations, on the other hand, are discontinuous events, generally resultant from deliberate R&D and the consequent generation and flow of new knowledge.

Although radical innovation is fundamental for the generation of new knowledge, it has been indicated that the improved use of the existent knowledge - the creative imitation - is more important for the development of economic systems. Technological adaptation plays an important role in the environmental context, since the transformation of resources and energy in the economic process broadly depends on the state of technological knowledge.

The evolutionary approach to innovation is particularly useful when determining the lock-in non-optimal technologies in innovative trajectories that generates unnecessary social and environmental costs. Overall, an evolutionary approach to environmental innovations provides the logistic framework to observe adequately the dynamism at the product development process and its potential link with sustainability.

A New Eco-Design Strategy to Assess Sustainable Environmental Innovations.

- Sergio Jofre, KiyotakaTsunemi and Tohru Morioka / Department of Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of

Engineering, Osaka University.

- Proceedings of EcoDeslgn2003: Third lnternational Symposium On

Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing.

- Tokyo, Japan, December 8-11, 2003, EcoDesign2003/1C-3

Once upon a time we got an idea to turn the Maslow`s pyramid over to show an increase of value and dominance of its higher levels during the personality development at life period, in contrast to the impression caused by the original Maslow`s pyramid (by the way, did not drawn by Maslow himself) standing on a "broad" base of primary needs.
We also see a pyramid, but standing on a narrower basis. This pyramid can be very metaphorically called a "tree". Over time, we have strengthened in the view that this image is closer to the Maslow's estimation of needs evolution on the formative period of man life.

We have in mind the analogy that the roots of the physical or biological existence of man are the primary needs, but the phenomenon, which actually makes man a personality, distinguishing it from the animal, is forming a crown of this "tree" - the higher needs, meta-motivations (according to Maslow) of modern personality.

Similar parallels can be made for the development of society and for environmental progress.

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only on how to solve the problem. But when I am finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.
Richard Buckminster Fuller

We proceed from the assumption that the world is developed by inventors and innovators.
To ascend to the level of a mastership in modern innoventions, it is necessary to acquire the qualities shown in
the diagram.
One needs knowledge and understanding of science, technology, arts and ethics. One has to be socially active and
to develop the qualities of designer and artist.
To do this, you need to understand both pragmatism and beauty of artifacts, to cultivate such preferences that
correspond with the requirements both beauty and utility.
On any aspect, a combination of talent, knowledge, skills, conviction and belief, is necessary.