quotes & reviews

REVIEWS Comments on Sustainism is the New Modernism:

The critical issue for any designer committed to the principles of “Sustainism” is how to put them into practice.
— Alice Rawsthorn in the International Herald Tribune

Sustainism will drive the creativity of the twenty-first century. By connecting the issues of sustainability, social networks, localism, biomimicry, community, urban planning, food and a host of others, Michiel Schwarz and Joost Elffers offer a canvas on which we might paint the future of our society.
— Tim Brown, CEO and President, IDEO

Sustainism is a fairly extraordinary work [...] indicating a new path [...] a designer’s tour de force. It will set people talking and thinking, and -we hope- cooperating and collaborating.
— Aidan Walker in FX Magazine

The manifesto for sustainism identifies a new cultural movement. In an original combination of text and typography, it signals the beginning of a new era.
— Luca Conti in the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore
(the world’s first review of the Sustainism book, simultaneously
launching the word "sostenismo" in Italian).

New word for a new world. Sustainism is the culture of networking, sharing, borrowing and exchange
— NRC Handelsblad (Dutch daily)

Sustainism is the zeitgeist (“l’air du temps”) ... An intuition for the future (“Une intuition pour le futur”)
— Eric Benhamou, op-ed in La Tribune (French business daily)

Michiel Schwarz and Joost Elffers present a fascinating and visually compelling way to understand the fundamental shifts taking place in today’s world. Going well beyond “green,” Sustainism is a timely manifesto that shows us the new operating context for successful companies in the 21st century.
— Aron Cramer, President and CEO, Business for Social Responsibility

Schwarz and Elffers’ “cultural manifesto for the sustainist era” is relentlessly upbeat about the future.
— James Pallister, Architectural Journal (UK)

Sustainism provides us with a forward-looking perspective, as humanity transitions from “homo economicus” to “homo sustinens.”
— Pim Martens, Professor of Sustainable Development,
Maastricht University, Netherlands

Sustainism makes visible the complex interconnections of our current “glocal” culture.
— Max Bruinsma, editor in chief, ITEMS, Dutch design magazine

Sustainism is an inspirational account and roadmap to a more responsible world.
— NZZ Online, Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Poetic manifesto provides ingredients for a better future. With the concept of “sustainism” Schwarz and Elffers give us positive inspiration.
—Peter Hesseldahl, Politiken (daily Denmark)

Positive, idealistic and bold – the Sustainism manifesto signals and pleads for a
change in thought and action in people’s daily lives.
—Sanne van der Beek , TEDxAmsterdam blog

The ideas of sustainism advanced by Schwarz and Elffers are already immersed in the daily life of all of us. [...] put into practice by thousands, if not millions of citizens in the world
—Luca Conti, Tekneco (Italy)