1.     Definitions of Sustainability and Sustainable Development

a.     Which definitions of sustainability are appropriate to specific situations, given the complex interaction of material systems?

2.     Material Based Economic Growth – How to change the course?

a.     Sustainable consumption and dematerialization

b.     The role of innovations in sustainable development

c.     Business models for material efficiency services

3.     System thinking, System Scales, Levels and Dynamics

a.     Spatial and temporal scales in sustainable material ecology

b.     Linear, short-term and one-dimensional solutions can increase the complexity with regard to varying spatial and temporal scales

4.     Product Life Cycle and Product Design

a.     Generic solutions for product life cycle optimization - cradle to grave approach vs. cradle to cradle approach

b.     End-of-life cycle challenges for product and service design

c.     Energy, production, waste and emission management

5.     Policy, Regulation, and Governance

a.     Is technology driven governance the right approach?

b.     Policies for the management of natural resources, materials, and emissions

c.     International policies for resource governance

d.     Challenges of multi-level and multi-sectoral governance for material systems

6.     Human Behaviour and the Development of Sustainable Material Systems

a.     Social and cognitive drivers of human behaviour

b.     Human behaviour and education

c.     Consumption

7.     The Role of Technology in Sustainable Development

a.     Technical boundary conditions to sustainable development

b.     The role of recycling and industrial ecology in closed-loop economy

b.     Energy and material sources and sinks

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Last updated March 12, 2010. Content is subject to change.