acrobat JSPD 8 - The Centre for Sustainable Design

variables and variables in the
system environment, and provides
an explicit statement of cause and
effect relationships within a
system and between the system
and its environment. Variables are
in ovals and the connecting
arrows link them together. It
allows the analysis of complex
causes and effects in sequences
that start from a key variable.
The diagram can be read starting
at the SPD box (top left of page
34). The implementation of SPD
increases the possibilities of
accessing new market channels
and increasing prices by improving
products’ quality and design.
The resulting increment in the
product price (reducing the
production costs by improving the
production organisation and technology)
increases the profit
margins which at the same time
increase the investment capacities
of the artisans 2 and the possibility
of carrying out SPD activities. The
process tends to be economically
self-sufficient by increasing the
artisans’ opportunities to pay for
SPD activities. Moreover, a
continuous increment in profit
margins can in the long run
increase the ‘quality of life’ of the
artisans by allowing them to have
access to better housing and
services, and by increasing their
access to education. Education
together with the increment in
investment capacities improves
the possibilities of enhancing the
capacity to preserve the local
natural resources by improving
their understanding of the environment
and in many cases going
back to local traditions of forest
use and management. The incremental
improvement of the
communities’ conservation capacity
together with the implementation
of product development
activities reduce the environmental
impact of the small enterprises
which has a direct effect in
improving the forest quality. 3
Figure 5 (page 36) underlines the
impact of product development in
social, economic and environmental
terms. The economic
elements are represented by the
product price, the market, the
profit margins and the investment
capacity. The social aspects are
represented by two variables, a
very general one of ‘quality of
life' and the access to education.
Finally the environmental aspects
are represented by the conservation
capacity, the environmental
impact of small enterprise
production and the forest quality.
The SPD process presented in
Figure 4 (page 34) cannot grow
forever and it is limited by the
production volume of small
enterprises which is determined
by the sustainable production
potential of the local forests. The
local production volume of small
enterprises should not be larger
than the sustainable forest potential.
If the production of small
enterprises increases to a level
which requires more timber than
the sustainable potential of local
forests, the process will be
reversed. However, this final
scenario should be avoided by
sustainable forest management
and product certification which
should limit production volume.
Conclusions
Most people in developing countries
depend on small enterprises
JANUARY 1999 · THE JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT DESIGN
ANALYSIS
Education
together with
the increment
in investment
capacities
improves the
possibilities of
enhancing the
capacity to
preserve the
local natural
resources by
improving their
understanding
of the environment
and in
many cases
going back to
local traditions
of forest
use and
management.
37