The international network on sustainable design:

Fast, furious and excessive, the late eighties were a rollercoaster of economic boom and environmental bust. While a new wave of architecture, design and "lifestyle" choices swept into the cities, Chernobyl and the first hints of global warming were spreading alarm all over the world. For a handful of concerned young European designers, the way out was not back to the earth. Their vision embraced the cool aesthetic of modern design, but allied it with sustainability. Buoyant, lively, even a bit combustible, they called themselves O2.

For more than a decade (since 1988) O2 has pioneered solutions to a central problem of the made environment: how to foster sustainability while having a good quality of life. At debates, meetings and international events, the people in this unique forum have been grappling with the problems of a throw-away culture, formulating nonpolluting production methods, sourcing nontoxic, sustainably managed materials--and crucially, passing on the knowledge. These architects, designers, artists, engineers and hypermedia consultants, who hail from Silicon Valley to Egypt and beyond, have kept O2 a remarkably open and flexible entity, a place where the nonprofit and the commercial, individuals and groups, visionaries and pragmatists are all quite at home.

O2 Global Network is an informal network for anyone interested in sustainable design.

Network members are involved in industrial design, architecture, styling, graphic design, fashion, innovation and the arts. Included as well are people from academies, universities, public authorities, private companies, NGOs, and knowledge centers.

The foundation of o2 global network was founded in 1994 to support the o2 network and the ideas of sustainable design.

The network is made up of a number of local o2 Hubs, o2 Groups, o2 Liaisons and many individuals all over the world. o2 Groups or o2 Liaisons are per country or per state/region of a country. o2 Groups can be found in f.e. the US West-Coast, France, Mexico, New York and the Netherlands. o2 Liaisons (local individual contacts) exist in Africa, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brasil, China-Hong Kong, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, UK, US Colorado and US Upper-Midwest and still counting (more than 75) and looking for new liaisons with your help!