Sustainability is the floor, not the goal. Wahl reframes design as an activity nested in living systems at linked scales (site, community, bioregion, biosphere) and asks of every project: does it increase the health and expressive capacity of the systems it sits inside? He leans on living-systems science, Gregory Bateson, and a "living the questions" stance over fixed answers.
Useful for briefs and client conversations because it gives regeneration criteria rather than vibes: scale-linking, salutogenic (health-generating) design, and the shift from designing objects to designing conditions in which life can organise itself.
The book is stronger on worldview than on delivery mechanics. It will not tell you how to procure, contract, or maintain anything. Pair it with Meadows for structure and Charlesworth for delivery reality.
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