The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a well-known and comprehensive framework for sustainable development. However due to the overlapping and interrelated nature of the goals, action towards one goal can positively or negatively contribute to another.Social innovation hubs including Impact Hub and Centre for Social Innovation use the SDGs to support social entrepreneurs to have a positive impact. Document analysis and interviews with 15 practitioners from these hubs informed the research on how the organizations perceive and contribute to sustainability, how they integrate the SDGs, and the challenges and benefits with using the SDGs. Based on that, this research has developed five recommendations for social innovation hubs to: 1) Define Sustainability; 2) Enhance Visioning; 3) Design co-creative programs; 4) Define Impact;and 5) Communicate Impact. While other elements of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) could be used to complement the SDGs, the Sustainability Principles (SPs) of the FSSD are recommended as a definition for sustainability.

It is a growing belief that transitioning towards sustainable cities requires a wide citizen engagement, yet many local governments are not able to define how citizen engagement should be done. This research was conducted to assess municipalities’ effort in engaging citizens when working for sustainability. This study focuses on creating a strategic guide for municipalities to use when engaging citizens to work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A systemic analysis approach was selected to examine the SDGs through the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, followed by a Value Stream Analysis for the SDGs. Then a mapping method used, where each SDG was linked to a level of citizen engagement on Arnstein’s ladder for citizen engagement (1969). A group interview for practitioners was held in Karlskrona Municipality in Sweden for an evaluation purpose. The results revealed a risk of misalignment for some SDGs, a relational matrix map was created where each SDG was related to a level of Arnstein’s ladder in a graphic visual, which can be used by the municipality as guide to choose the level of engagement for each SDG. A set of insights were revealed concerning the enablers and barriers for citizen engagement in municipal context.

The human social system is facing complex social issues and (new) initiatives coming from different social actors are born to try to tackle these complex social issues. Social innovation is the field where these initiatives function, so it is also a complex field to identify and frame. Thus a new theory, the Transformative Social Innovation Theory (TSI), was developed in order to frame and bring more clarification on the social innovation field to contribute to societal transition and transformation. The five TSI tools were developed from the TSI theory and they are training tools. All the TSI tools aim to (dis)empower the social innovation initiatives, actors and networks in the process of transformative social innovation. Transformative Social Innovation is the process of changes in social relations involving challenging, altering and/or replacing dominant institutions and structures which are considered to be the roots of systemic errors. This study sought to explore the Transformative Social Innovation tools from the perspective of the Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD). In this regard, the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) was adopted as it provides a principle-based and scientifically-proved definition of sustainability as well as a systems thinking approach regarding the complexity of global sustainability challenges. This research project tried to identify the potential contributions of the TSI tools to sustainability and the entry points of the tools where relevant SSD features could complement them so that they can contribute to strategically move the society towards sustainability. A qualitative research approach was selected. The methodology included four research methods, namely document content analysis, interviews, the FSSD analysis and prototyping. The results of this research indicated three main contributions of the TSI tools that could help to strategically move the society towards sustainability. Five entry points where the tools could be complemented with SSD features and a set of add-ins from SSD that could complement the current TSI tools were identified. The add-ins were sent to the TSI theory authors for the expert consultation.

Considering the lack of clear guidance regarding the way business could include social sustainability into their operations, the objective of this research project was to study the functionality of social sustainability tools which are used worldwide by business practitioners and assess how useful these tools are to overcome barriers related with social aspects of sustainability as they are described in the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD): health, influence, competence, impartiality and meaning-making. A qualitative method analysis was selected, based upon direct content analysis. Elements from the 5 Level Framework (5LF) and the FSSD were used for designing two review processes to analyse selected social sustainability tools. The 5LF is useful for planning in complex systems, while the FSSD is designed to address complex challenges and recognize opportunities which aim to sustainability. The findings from the research show which tools, based on their functionality, can help a company move towards sustainability and illustrate how they address different social sustainability aspects. Based on these findings, recommendations were developed which included key features of the selected social sustainability tools. These recommendations could help business practitioners to choose the most appropriate tool for specific business context depending on the company’s needs.

Since 1970s neoclassical economics has been identified as a major obstacle for reaching sustainability. Despite the world's growing attention to sustainability education, there has been just few attempts to assess the content and the competency building of sustainable development (SD) postgraduate programs. None has been evaluating if and how economics is integrated in such curricula. This study fills this gap in the empirical research by conducting a novel assessment of six leading SD transdisciplinary master programs in Sweden. Our study uses a qualitative approach to inquire how these programs teach students to understand, challenge and reorient dominant neoclassical economics and the reasoning behind it. Results revealed that the absence of an agreed-upon definition of both the economy and sustainability lead to the wide range of approaches on how to introduce the place and the role of the economy. Every program relies on their own understanding, perspectives and resourcefulness, while agreeing that their teaching should challenge neoclassical economics and engage their students in the various scales of system change. Yet, the time allocated to economics teaching does not exceed 8% of the programs ECTS. We argue that economics should take a much bigger place in postgraduate SD education. A proposed “transdisciplinary economics” calls for more collaboration with students, academia and outside of academia in a joint search for economic alternatives.

Current human activities have a significant impact on the socio-ecological system, endangering this system’s capacity to support human civilization and biodiversity. Today’s linear industrial model can be seen as a main driver of this challenge, which implies a need for a model that uses less raw material and is more aligned with the cyclical nature of Earth. A concept that claims to provide such a model is Circular Economy (CE). This study analyses CE for its potential contribution to strategic sustainable development, and explores the barriers and enablers companies face in its implementation process. The main methodologies used for this research include the analysis of the concept by means of a conceptual framework and a Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, as well as interviews with experts in related fields. The research exposed several gaps between CE and strategic sustainable development. The main barriers were found on a technological, legal, economic level, and at the behavioural level, i.e. the difficulty to change mindsets. Leadership, collaboration, the CE concept itself and customer behaviour were identified as important enablers. These results show that the concept is difficult to implement and that there is a need for a refined approach, which is easier to apply while leading closer towards sustainability.

Product development is a crucial leverage point to move our society towards sustainability. The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge on how a selected strategic tool for sustainable product development (SPD), namely the Method for Sustainable Product Development (MSPD), can be adapted to integrate sustainability aspects into the Product Development Process (PDP) of an organization. A Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) in the manufacturing industry with customers and office locations worldwide is used as a case study. A participatory action research approach is used throughout the study. It is shown in the case that the MSPD triggers thinking in product development by raising sustainability-related questions. In order to be answered most questions, however, require additional sustainability education in the organization and further investigation in long-term, company-wide projects, which the current PDP of the organization was not designed to provide. It was concluded that iterations of the process with the integrated MSPD tool and additional tools to supplement the MSPD are necessary to further move product development at the organization towards sustainability.

In a fast moving world where maritime transport corridors play a major role in the movement of people and goods, there are significant sustainability issues with these operations. This paper considers the sustainability of these corridors and the contribution of security and safety measures to achieve sustainability. The research commences with a literature review and practitioner survey on sustainability, security and safety of maritime transport, then develops the analysis using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) and causal loop diagrams to analyze and evaluate measures and actions that could lead towards a sustainable maritime transport corridor - education and training, energy alternatives, waste management, dematerialization, efficient land and sea use, standardized operations between ports and community engagement. The Baltic Transport Corridor is used for analysis. Further recommendations are made in order to facilitate the path for future research and study.

More than half the world’s population now lives in urban areas putting the city on the frontline of the social and environmental challenge and yet, city planning presents many opportunities to move a city towards sustainability. The city development plan (DP) is a powerful vehicle for change. This research seeks to understand the gaps between an ideal catalytic development planning process and current reality, and provide recommendations to support the attainment of a city’s sustainability objectives. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) was used to define a generic “Golden Standard” planning process to help the local authority better leverage its internal resources and refine governance systems to achieve long-lasting cultural change from within to accelerate the city’s progression towards sustainability. A case study with the Dublin City Council’s Planning Department in Ireland provided valuable insight and limited practical application of the Golden Standard.

This thesis uses a systematic understanding of sustainability informed by human needs, learning and design theory to explore ways in which small retail environments can effectively communicate sustainability concepts. The envisioned outcome of successfully communicating and implementing sustainability within retail environments is a lasting change in people’s daily behaviors. The methods of literature review, surveys, human needs investigation and professional validation are used to develop a behavioral change model centered on human needs and learning as well as six communication guidelines. The appendix of this thesis contains a user-friendly pocket guidebook titled The Six Guidelines for Sustainable Retail. The guidebook is designed as a quick-reference tool for retailers, designers and employees. It contains principles, visuals and concepts of sustainability for daily communication and comprehension purposes.