Land use, transport, and energy systems create demands that are transferred to ecosystems. Urban sprawl is increasing, open space and farmland are disappearing and climate change is a growing concern. Yet local, national, and EU policies on sustainable development and economic growth are often at odds with one another. A sector-by-sector approach that focuses on incremental actions precludes effective, integrated solutions. Progress towards sustainability requires a systems-based perspective grounded in science. This paper presents a comprehensive and strategic framework to help communities (1) adopt a whole-systems view to land use, transport, and energy, (2) develop a vision to guide their actions, and (3) strategically adopt actions that close the gap between the current reality and the envisioned sustainable future. An emphasis is placed on strategies related to governance structures and strategies to secure political and public acceptance, including approaches to public participation.

In this thesis, the need for the step by step transformation of industry towards sustainability is emphasized. This work involves looking at the Olive Oil Industry (OOI) from a systems perspective through the lens of Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) and applying backcasting from a principled view of socio-ecological sustainability. A specific project is also looked at, the Integrated Waste Management Project (IWMP), which aims at contributing to the sustainability of this particular industry. The OOI was analysed through the ABCD methodology, a tool used in planning for SSD, and measures were drawn up to guide the industry’s transformation. Following this analysis, the IWMP was examined within the context and results of the OOI research. Overall, the industry is transitioning and the IWMP is a good opportunity and contributor to the evolution of the Olive Oil Industry towards sustainability. At the same time, OOI and other industries would benefit greatly from embracing a systems perspective and a strategic approach for sustainable development.

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Shelter poses global sustainability challenges, as the population increase accelerates and resources dwindle. It is crucial for initiatives addressing the growing housing demand to incorporate a sustainability perspective. Open source, a form of Internet information-sharing, is being utilised by various housing initiatives worldwide. However, a sustainability perspective is not always included in a robust and holistic way, despite the negative impacts for human needs and ecosystems resulting from many aspects of current housing practices. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development includes basic conditions for a sustainable society and a planning and decision-making methodology to move systematically towards sustainability. It provides a robust method for organizing, evaluating and using tools to aid in handling sustainability challenges effectively. This thesis aims to contribute to the development of affordable, sustainable design solutions, by modelling the incorporation of the FSSD into open source housing initiatives. A case study of a housing project under development in Ghana is used. Despite the complexity of the system under study, the research concludes that bringing a strategic sustainable development perspective to open source approaches can act as leverage for housing to move towards sustainability. Within this context, guidance is provided for approaching open source housing to contribute to SSD. / <p>charcolatebar@live.ca</p>

Abstract: Given the global sustainability challenge; effective organizational Social Responsibility (SR) guidelines must set best-practices that acknowledge environmental constraints and strive for a sustainable society. SR has historically underrepresented environmental issues and needs to shift from a reactive focus on societal stakeholder demands, to a proactive whole-systems planning framework. There is a risk that unless SR guidelines consider both social and environmental issues together, they may generate negative outcomes to organizational viability. This research finds key Sustainable Development concepts that should be integrated within SR guidelines and uncovers an overall goal of SR as assisting organizations in moving towards a sustainable society. A Sustainable Society is defined in the research according to a set of scientific principles, based on environmental constraints and fundamental social needs. This clear goal enables the organization to ‘backcast’ from this success point in order to take effective strategic steps. The authors recommend the incorporation of critical concepts from Strategic Sustainable Development, a proven organizational sustainability planning framework, into SR guidelines to increase their effectiveness in strategic SR decision-making. The ISO 26000 SR Guideline is used as a case study.

Today, global socio-ecological problems are too complex and urgent for isolated actions, and cross-sector collaboration is increasingly required to generate transformational change towards a sustainable future. Partnerships between businesses and civil society organisations (CSOs) in particular have the potential to achieve the required change for sustainability. However, the ‘backcasting’ approach used in this study highlights a gap between current approaches and what partnerships might look like in a sustainable future. Research draws on literature, eighteen interviews and an action research project with Interface Europe. Results indicate that: 1) in the current paradigm shift, collaboration provides a competitive advantage; 2) individual, organisational and societal benefits of partnering are significant; 3) understanding the art and science of partnering is needed to make them work 4) organisational development and strategy affect partnership type and outcomes; 5) Corporate Social Responsibility efforts initiate cross-sector partnerships, but are responsive and fall short of being strategic; 6) articulation of visions for a sustainable future is rare and; 7) most partnerships are not aligned with core business strategies. In conclusion, dialogue across all sectors is advocated to co-create a sustainable future and The Natural Step Framework is recommended to align business planning and partnership strategies with sustainability. / <p>Andrew Outhwaite (arouthwaite@gmail.com) Miriam Karell (jazzminq@gmail.com) Richard Blume (rblume@gmail.com) Website http://partnerships4SSD.blogspot.com</p>

The purpose of this paper is to give suggestions for how to preserve intangible cultural heritage (ICH) towards sustainability. We will use Tibet as a case study. Understanding the importance of ICH for tourism, we scrutinize ICH through the lens of strategic sustainable development (SSD) and use tourism as a leverage point to enter into a real life situation. ICH is the root of all cultural expression. Without guarding ICH there is little meaning to the physical culture that remains and, ultimately, tourism declines. ICH is a new topic and there is little research and few ideas as to how to guide its preservation. We offer recommendations which include identifying the stakeholders, educating them, adequate marketing research especially in tourism, investing on technology of dematerialization and searching substitutions under the guidelines of the Golden Rule within the social sustainability context. Our contributions is to build a vision of success for preserving Tibetan ICH via tourism within the constraints of the four sustainability principles, and then demonstrate some prioritized actions in order to develop towards sustainability.

Adopting a Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) approach to official bilateral development assistance could result in more effective development planning that yields lasting results in developing countries. A Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development Assistance (FSSDA) based on SSD and customised to the needs of a development agency offers guidance in planning for development towards sustainability. This it does by directing donor and recipient planners in generating holistic perspectives, setting the goal of development as an attractive and sustainable society, and providing a flexible decision-making framework to guide strategic planning. Development assistance donor agencies face several difficulties in ensuring aid effectiveness. The FSSDA offers support in addressing these challenges by: positioning the creation of sustainable societies as the fundamental goal of development; allowing progress against imminent sustainability threats while minimizing the risk of unforeseen negative impacts; balancing economic, environmental and social considerations; and providing a fairer basis for aid conditionality.

Sustainability reporting is a vital tool to communicate an organisation’s sustainability performance to stakeholders. Sustainability reporting also allows an organisation to communicate its vision, goals and strategic plans. In order to be strategic towards sustainability, an organisation should have a vision of where it wants to go, and assess where it is today, so as to take the right initiatives towards its vision. This thesis focuses on how GRI sustainability reporting and strategic planning towards sustainability can be combined in an integrated process to help organisations move towards sustainability. The Integrated Process allows an organisation to gain a better understanding of its sustainability context; design resilient strategies in light of that context using a backcasting from Sustainability Principles approach; and report its sustainability performance and progress in bridging the gap towards sustainability, transparently to internal and external stakeholders. / <p>Edwin Janssen +31626078987 Rutger Verkouw +31624155241 Selene Kfoury +551138138481</p>

Institutional Investors own a large share of publicly traded companies, controlling a significant amount of the economy‟s working capital. These investors currently use little or no sustainability-related information to make their decisions, reinforcing a loop of increasingly unsustainable growth. This paper puts forward a new investment strategy that recognizes true movement towards sustainability and its link with bottom line benefits for investors: Strategic Sustainable Investing (SSI). To achieve this desired future, Institutional Investors must be able to recognize corporations that are strategically leading the transition towards sustainability. An Analysis Tool was developed to help address this need by identifying sectoral Emerging Sustainability Issues (ESI) using a consensus-based scientific definition of sustainability. Once ESIs are identified, companies‟ strategies regarding each issue are assessed. This Tool was scrutinized by a panel of experts in the financial and sustainable development industries, and was tested on three companies within the Unconventional Oil &amp; Gas Sector in Canada. Results confirmed the usefulness of a tool that can recognize which companies are leading the sustainable development agenda, and identified the need for future research on the financial materiality of sustainability-oriented actions.