Summary of Problems and the Current State of Play

Abstract

History has shown that transformations often take unforeseen turns and do not rarely do a zig-zag course until arriving at the desired result. Furthermore, transformations are almost regularly steered by people who are closer to the top than to the bottom of society in terms of money, networks, and education. The examples from history have also shown that the timeframe of transformations frequently strongly deviates from the envisioned timeframe and that the results are often reached much later and in another way than previously expected. Social reforms which take the people’s will into consideration prove out to be more viable and sustainable than theoretical paradigms – especially if those paradigms have theoretical flaws and are additionally hijacked by people with very different agendas. Beyond the socio-political and economic challenges humankind is facing currently, there are major grievances in the environmental sector. Nevertheless, these challenges can also be turned into chances by creating new markets in industrialized as well as in threshold or developing countries.