Transitions in Sustainable Product Design Research

By the early 1990s, sustainable product innovation (or ecodesign, or Design for environment) had gained sufficient critical mass in academic research to be identified as a distinct research area. In the past 15 years, stimulated by a growing environmental concern and awareness in the media, this research area has expanded considerably; from a bunch of opportunistic eco-pathfinders trying to make products better recyclable into acknowledged scientific research regarding technology transfer and commercialisation.

This paper proposes that this maturing process took place through a number of transitions; this is illustrated by discussing characteristic aspects of each transition, which together provide a historic account of how academic research into sustainable product innovation had matured. In conclusion, a number of possible future transitions or extensions of the research area are discussed.