Eco-design and beyond - key requirements for a global sustainable development

As long as basic technology development in the field of electronics is still nearly independent of environmental or sustainability-oriented consideration, promoting eco-design and an understanding of the sustainability concept is still very important. The paper Beyond Eco-Design presents a theoretical approach to sustainable development in the fast changing electronics sector. Within the approach eco-design and good environmental practice in manufacturing is the first step. However, sustainability is asking for a simultaneous consideration of environmental, economical, and socio-cultural effects during the design or development process. This objective can only be achieved by precompetitive collaboration along the value chain and across regions. It is essential to communicate eco-design know how and build cross-regional eco-design teams. In our fast changing world we have to develop an understanding for the real needs of our societies on the one hand and have to develop frameworks that help to adopt optimal solutions for each region.