Needs-Based Workshops for Sustainable Consumption and Production in Vietnam

This paper focuses on the fulfillment of fundamental human needs in the achievement of sustainable consumption and production (SCP). Here, we focus on the Human-scale development (HSD) theory proposed by Chilean economist Max-Neef, in which the following nine fundamental needs are introduced: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, idleness, creation, identity, and freedom. In HSD, an important role is played by satisfiers, which are ways of fulfilling the above-mentioned fundamental needs in a particular context, such as climate and culture. From the standpoint of a producer, satisfiers are regarded as the starting points of product development for SCP. This paper introduces the opposite concept, referred to as a barrier—a factor that interferes with fulfilling fundamental needs. The purpose of this paper is to determine the satisfiers and barriers for younger people in Vietnam based on the results of needs-based workshops. Around 1200 satisfiers and barriers were extracted; however, barriers were largely equivalent to satisfiers. We found that the concept of satisfiers is useful to achieve SCP, because it is comprehensive, realistic, and provides an opportunity for social practice.