Professor Jim S. Sandhu, Conference Co-Chair, was unable to attend. This talk was delivered by Deborah Lisi-Baker, Executive Director, Vermont Center for Independent Living, USA
It is my profoundest regret that I cannot be with you. My doctors have advised me that I should not travel. For a perpetual traveller from the age of five this injunction is a defining moment for me to face a new reality. Nevertheless, given the many friends who are attending the conference I shall be in Rio in spirit- with trumpets and trombones- egging you to come up with an agenda for the 21st Century.For me Design for the 21st Century is about sustainability, social responsibility and civic rights. To put it bluntly, this conference is about designing for our future survival. Above all we have to recognize that we do not inherit the earth from our parents, but instead borrow it from our children.
How can design overcome poverty and environmental degradation? This is the starting point for the relatively recent but logical marriage of universal design and sustainability and the very real challenges this provides practitioners...
For the entire text see: http://www.designfor21st.org/pg.cfm?nid=315&l=en
Posted by rollingrains at December 8, 2004 06:08 PM | TrackBack