Sustainable Design

Global Challenge for Sustainable Design Sustainability is a systemic concept. It relates to the relationships between cultural, economic, environmental, institutional and social aspects of human existence. It organizes decisions to allow for current economic needs to be met while preserving biodiversities and ecosystems to maintain quality of life for future generations. Sustainability calls for humans (as civic creatures): • Respect and care for the community • Improve the quality of life • Conserve Earth’s vitality and diversity • Minimize the depletion of non-renewable resources • Change personal attitudes and practices to keep within the planet’s carrying capacity Design is the source of permanent innovation in our worldwide community in cultural, economic, environmental, institutional and social terms. The worldwide development into a global information and communication society of the 21st century is already taking place at full speed. In this era visual design is going into a megadimension: visualisation - total and global. Achieving sustainable development is a collective responsability and perhaps the greatest challenge facing humanity today. Sustainable design will become the new mark of quality for products and services all around the globe. Globalisation of information is a great task for the benefit of our planet’s environment - and for all of us. Sustainable development – the satisfaction of current human needs without depleting the natural resource base for future generations – is the greatest challenge facing humanity today. Every day is Earth Day. Lyfe cycle approach, sustainable consumption and sustainable use of natural resources – Helmut Langer is actively involved with his high quality design in the center part of these intercultural processes. His message: Be a global citizen before you are a global consumer. © Helmut Langer, high quality sustainable conception and visual design for global communication, Past President of the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA)