This paper argues that the contemporary growth paradigm needs to be reconsidered on a micro level of consumption and product service-systems. This becomes necessary since a dynamic link between macro strategies and micro implementation of sustainable growth is missing up to date. Therefore, mainstream sustainability strategies of efficiency and consistency are extended by sufficiency in order to integrate strategies for individual welfare within their social environment. Limits to and drivers for growth are revised and updated socially in terms of qualitative values, diminishing marginal utility or symbolic social distinction. We elaborate a definition of sustainable growth that fosters individual welfare by enhancing social enactment within the boundaries of environmental space. Shifting focus on social aspects in design fosters more sustainable production and consumption patterns while sustaining individual welfare. We derive latent indications for eco-intelligent product service-arrangements and evaluate to concepts by referring to introduced definitions and according indications. With doing so, we illustrate new pathways for the translation of sustainable growth and strategies into product service-systems.

The article argues for a need to overcome a conventional notion of product design. In this regard, the article offers an integrative and systemic approach to sustainable design.Instead of focussing on objects, a user-centred perspective is adopted. A sustainable design of products and services requires the integration of production-orientated (efficiency and consistency) and consumption-orientated (sufficiency) strategies. The article introduces the concept of an indicator that is capable of comprehending a lifecycle-wide analysis of products and that favours the integration of existing sustainability strategies. The goal is not to design sustainable products but rather to design systems that manage to foster sustainable lifestyles.The article illustrates the usability of the introduced concept by showing examples of strategic integrative thinking in sustainable design from the Sustainable Summer Schools 1 .

Abstract:Although the willingness to share is huge, sharing is rarely applied in everyday life, because many current Sharing Economy offers are not practicable. This paper asks what contributions an innovative Sharing Service -a library not simply lending books but a wider range of items -can make to close the gap between willingness to share and practice. Most of these innovative libraries were founded in the last few years, but many still fail to overcome the identified gap. As global environmental problems demand a change of consumer behaviour to enable human actions within planetary boundaries, bridging the gap could have a huge impact. Libraries of Things could reduce the average resource and energy consumption of users, maintaining quality of life. This paper analyses existing Libraries of Things and Tool Libraries. The outcome is assessed against empirically proven user expectations to detect the discrepancies between supply and demand of current offers commonly available.

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