These five Life Essentials are defined by Steven van der Kruit, former trend research leader at Firmenich, Geneva, as:

1. Energy, whether thermic or kinetic, is the basis of every form of life;
2. Air, delivering the mix of gasses and liquids needed to breath;
3. Water, in salty seas or in sweet rivers and lakes, in its liquid form or as ice;
4. Food, as in nutrition to sustain physical, relational and intellectual challenges;
5. Shelter, as in protection from atmospheric events of planetary and cosmic nature.

from Design Futures and Education for Life Essentials, by Marco Bevolo