Human-influenced climate change is rapidly accelerating and continues to threaten to human existence. Global migration is leading to increasingly multicultural urban populations. This paper ties these two issues together through the lense of engagement. The thesis argues that a Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) can be used to plan strategies to engage multicultural communities towards second commitment Kyoto targets and be an opportunity for meeting community needs for social sustainability. The research took place in Sweden through interviews and focus groups. Key findings address systematic exclusion and the potential of inquiry to discover barriers and leverage points. The resulting set of guidelines for municipalities utilizes the full spectrum of engagement (inform, consult, involve, collaborate, empower) and the FSSD to enhance existing climate change action plans towards maximum participation for fulfilling Kyoto Protocol mandates.

Although there has been a growing interest in policy and among scholars to consider culture as an aspect of sustainable development, the understanding of culture within the framework of sustainable development has remained vague. This study sought to discover what influence culture may have on the practical application of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). The research focused on the approaches FSSD practitioners take in their application of the framework within different cultural contexts in an attempt both to uncover patterns and to develop guidelines for applying the framework in those contexts with cultural sensitivity. A qualitative research approach was selected, and a literature review and semi-structured interviews were used to elicit the approaches of thirteen FSSD practitioners with experience applying the framework outside of Europe and North America. The results revealed four main cultural factors FSSD practitioners account for when applying the framework in different cultural contexts and four practical strategies used to account for those cultural factors. Based on these discoveries, strategic guidelines were created to complement the FSSD so that it can be more easily applied in different cultural contexts, thereby contributing to the framework’s ultimate goal of accelerating the global transition toward a sustainable society.

The activities of modern society create an unsustainable trajectory for life on planetearth. The issues related to that, as summed up in the sustainability challenge, are interdependentand complex, thus effective solutions must be systemic and involve diverse stakeholders.One proposed tool from the field of Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) to operationalizeparticipatory multi-stakeholder engagement is the procedure ABCD. But a procedure is onlyone aspect, how it is used determines its success. Through exploring Polyvagal Theory andrelated approaches (PRA), this research suggests an approach to support ABCD practitionersin conducting good facilitation by incorporating a practical understanding of the human nervoussystem. To do so, 15 PRA- and six ABCD-facilitators were interviewed, an advisory boardworkshop with four experts was conducted, and a survey with 13 SSD practitioners gave feedbackon a first draft to iteratively produce a guidebook prototype for PRA-informed ABCDfacilitation. It consists of central PRA-informed concepts, 10 principles, five categories ofmethods, and specific amendments for the ABCD procedure. Almost all parts of the guidebookprototype saw high approval for usefulness and applicability. The results of this research suggestthat PRA-informed ABCD facilitation might support a transition towards sustainability,although its application depends on the context of the procedure.

We are living in the “Anthropocene” the era in which human activities are responsible for severe damage to the resilience of the ecological and social systems, undermining the Earth’s autopoetic mechanism, integrity and ability to function as a healthy complex adaptive systems. The prevailing societal paradigm for business practices has yet to realise the reality of our current global unsustainable state – and the shift necessary to move us forward collectively. Startup companies have a unique opportunity to gain and leverage competitiveness and attractiveness for funding and customers through sustainability driven business strategies, models and value propositions. This research analyses literature, document and interview data to explore if and how current practices in the Lean Startup contribute to a sustainable society – and how a Strategic Sustainable Development approach might be introduced to enhance the resilience of Lean Startups. Therefore, our key recommendations for Lean Startups that want to introduce an SSD approach are: to raise awareness about the sustainability challenges and opportunities; utilise backcasting towards a vision framed by the Sustainability Principles; focus on fulfilling fundamental basic Human Needs; utilize strategic prioritization questions when pivoting and combine the FSSD ABCD process with the Lean BML cycle. Ultimately, this thesis proposes the use of Strategic Sustainable Trigger Questions to (re)design sustainable business models and value-propositions. We conclude that “asking the right questions - rather than giving answers up front” might spark conversations and innovations in Lean Startups, beneficial for the sustainability of both the individual startup the larger socio-ecological systems.

Local communities encounter various problems related to the global economic system. Socio-economic challenges arise in these communities due to the disappearance of jobs and the leakage of money, this results in a diminishing of social resilience which in turn means that these communities are hampered in their move towards strategic sustainable development. According to scientific literature, a local currency could be an instrument to overcome this diminishing of social resilience. However, the role of these currencies in strategic sustainable development remains unclear. This study aims to bridge this gap in scientific knowledge. In order to do so, three different case studies of local currencies were conducted by means of semi-structured interviews. This data was compared with the theory on local currencies and assessed through the lens of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. Using this specific framework allows for a unique systems perspective on sustainable development. It becomes clear that local currencies raise awareness around sustainability challenges and incentivise social interactions; however this remains a marginal contribution towards strategic sustainable development. This research leads to the recommendation to explore enhancements to local currencies in order to address these sustainability challenges more adequately.

Although they lead to several potential sustainability benefits, product-service systems are not intrinsically sustainable. Therefore, this thesis investigates the factors designers should consider in order to ensure sustainable results. A systematic literature review on product-service system and sustainability is combined with three interviews with product-service system providers. The results are analysed through the application of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. The results of the systematic literature review show that there is no unified definition of sustainable product-service system and multiple approaches to address sustainability in product-service system design. By adopting the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, a definition of sustainable product-service system and a list of design criteria are developed. This thesis suggests which overarching aspects product-service system designers should consider to integrate a strategic sustainability perspective. The outcome of this thesis supports designers in understanding what a sustainable product-service system could be and what elements it should embed. By combining the definition and the list of criteria, designers can apply a systematic and strategic approach to integrate sustainability in product-service system offerings.

There is growing consensus that humanity is being confronted with a sustainability challenge of which the severity has never been known to modern man. This pressing situation is demanding solutions and alternatives to change the path of society. At the community level, grassroots movements have emerged around the world as a way of striving to develop local sustainability.  This research studies the Transition Movement, a popular, global community-based movement. The aim of this study is to evaluate if a Transition Initiative is effective in moving a local community towards sustainability. The definition of sustainability used in the research is taken from the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) which comprises of eight sustainability principles (SPs); three ecological SPs and five social SPs. To this end, an analytical-evaluative case study of a single Transition Initiative was conducted in which semi-structured interviews, a survey and document analysis were all use as sources of information. The researchers chose a small-scale Transition Initiative, conducting the case study on the village of Ungersheim, France. The results revealed that the actions of Transition are contributing to progressing Ungersheim towards sustainability, both socially and ecologically. The research also revealed how the Transition is being done and what critical factors allowed for success. The study finally deduces a set of strategic guidelines that may be used for further longitudinal research cross-evaluating Ungersheim to other small-scale community transitions.

Increasing environmental and social pressure caused by human activity requires action toward a sustainable society. As our population grows and the proportion living in urban areas increases, cities are in a unique position to affect change. This has led to Circular Economy (CE) gaining momentum in municipalities as a tool for their city. Despite this momentum, there is lack of clarity about what CE is, how it can be most effectively implemented, and its relationship to strategic sustainable development (SSD). This research synthesized definitions of CE used in the field and investigated 21 cities worldwide to see how their municipalities have implemented CE practices. Using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), the implemented actions were critically examined for their strategic contribution toward a sustainable society. The findings suggest that CE is defined broadly, and interpreted differently by different users. In some cases, this presents challenges for its strategic use. The CE actions examined are concluded to be within the boundaries of a sustainable society, as defined by the FSSD. Their strategic approach is determined to be largely positive, with some exceptions. Depending on its application, CE is concluded to be a useful, albeit insufficient, tool for municipalities working toward SSD.

Currently society is facing a set of interconnected challenges, known collectively as the Sustainability Challenge, which are systematically increasing socio-ecological unsustainability on a scale never experienced before.  In order to address the Sustainability Challenge, Social Labs provide an approach that is systemic, participatory and emergent, enabling solutions that are responsive to the dynamic nature of those interconnected challenges. Our research explores how a specific lab - U.Lab - can be re-designed in order to move society strategically toward a sustainable future. We use the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, designed to help practitioners to facilitate society’s transition towards sustainable development, as well as concepts of strategic sustainable development, which support s shift from unsustainable systems, structures and practices towards sustainable ones in a strategic way. Our research follows Design Research Methodology (DRM). DRM aims for the formulation, validation and development of theories and models in the field of design. U.Lab’s experiential response to the Sustainability Challenge inspires participants to question paradigms of thought and societal norms. However, U.Lab is still an emerging social technology and lacks boundary conditions and a scientific basis for understanding our current reality and creating the solutions that will lead society systematically towards a sustainable future.

This thesis explores how the Planetary Boundaries (PBs), as derived from the Planetary Boundary Framework (PBF), and the Sustainability Principles (SPs), as derived from the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), can be integrated. It presents and discusses how the PBs and SPs intersect and provide additive value, with the purpose to inform the development of strategic guidelines towards sustainability. Agriculture was used as a case context due to its significant contribution to the sustainability challenge. The methods include the development of a matrix, populated with agricultural contributions to SP violations and PB transgressions, and a series of qualitative interviews with sustainability experts to validate the matrix and provide further insight into how an integrated approach can be used in practice. Results show that intersects exist on both driver and impact levels, and that the matrix provides an enhanced understanding of the system. Researchers conclude that there are various benefits from integrating the SPs and PBs, including aspects such as easing communication, informing prioritisation of urgent issues, and the development of strategic transformation approaches. Integrating SPs and PBs provides an enhanced definition of sustainability, from which explicit goals, criteria and strategic guidelines can be developed towards solving the sustainability challenge.