SUPPORTING CUSTOMER COOPERATION TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

摘要

To support sustainable development especially in rural regions, often customer cooperation is needed, because small ecological businesses often have inadequate distribution systems. In this paper we describe a research project that improves regional development by an application which supports a community in ordering, supplying and distributing organic food and other ecologically friendly products. As an extension we look into building up a virtual, decentralized eco-village. Several hundred people understand themselves as inhabitants of the village, which is spread in a limited region with a diameter of about 20-30 miles, because otherwise material flows are too extensive and maintaining social bindings is more difficult.