Design för ett hållbart samhälle : En undersökning om hållbar design samt dess drivkrafter och hinder

Sustainable design - a study on sustainable design and its incentives and barriers The purpose of this study was to investigate the incentives and barriers existing within companies focusing on eco-design. The aim was also to examine the consumers’ thoughts on eco-design and sustainable products. A further aim was to try to concretize important lessons for future work on sustainable production and consumption. Two methods were used for completing this study; a literature study and a practical study consisting of interviews with companies focusing on eco-design and a survey among students. The result shows that durable goods over the last decades have had a varied revenue growth, showing an increasing trend over recent years. The result also shows a slightly increasing trend on sustainable consumption and production. The main incentives presented in the result were based on some form of recognition of the unsustainable attitude in our society. Among existing barriers the most prominent was associated to economic issues, ignorance and material problems. The result of the survey showed that consumers ranked factors related to eco-design among those who are least considered. For the work towards a sustainable future, people with a similar attitude as the ones involved in the interviewed companies are of great importance. There also seems to be a need for altered market conditions, but this would require a dramatic behavioral change