The purpose of this study is to explore the role of knowledge management (KM) in integrating sustainability into business strategy in companies applying the framework for strategic sustainable development (FSSD).Corporations have the potential to be key players in moving society towards sustainability, but they lack clear definitions and guidelines around strategic sustainable development (SSD). The authors focus on the benefits of KM in organisations applying the FSSD, which offers general strategic guidelines, but does not refer to the complexity of managing the new sustainability knowledge.This study first examines the scientific literature around KM and FSSD and compares it with the results of expert interviews to develop a State of the Art Model of KM for SSD. Then the model is compared to current practices of corporations applying the FSSD and the gap is examined.The results of the analysis show that the concept of KM is widely discussed in the literature, yet it does not have much presence in the business world. The value of knowledge is recognised, but KM is not much used and no structured practices were identified. It was concluded that companies would benefit from a strategic KM system when integrating sustainability.

In order to enhance the inherent potential of cooperatives to support society’s move towards global socio-ecological sustainability, they need to plan strategically. Strategic planning with this goal in mind requires organisations to describe and identify steps towards a desired future. The research team set out to provide practical and context-appropriate guidance to cooperatives, describing opportunities to use strategic planning in the starting-up phase in support of their long-term success. The team deployed a qualitative and iterative approach based on grounded theory and conducted a total of twenty-four interviews with cooperative practitioners and experts as well as strategic planning experts.  The outcome of the interviews are thematic areas recommended to cover in the starting-up phase of a cooperative. The thematic areas are presented in an ABCD Strategic Planning process which aims to build a shared mental model among all stakeholders, using a participatory approach. The process may be useful for newcomers to the cooperative world; future research in support of cooperatives may want to implement the above mentioned strategic planning process while capturing lessons for its improvement.

With an introduction to the Sustainability Challenge and Sustainable Development this paper discusses the role of education as an important strategy in the transition towards sustainability. It argues that Sustainability Education (SE) should be infused into the curricula, especially at the adolescence stage. The research uses the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development as an approach for backcasting from the envisioned future: the ideal secondary school graduate equipped to meet the Sustainability Challenge.By conducting a meta-analysis of literature, the research develops the Criteria for Analysing Sustainability Education (CASE). In terms of Knowledge, it advises developing awareness of Sustainable Development, Economy, Environment and Society. With regard to Skills, it includes Cognitive Thinking Skills, Practical and Functional Skills, and Interpersonal Skills. In relation to Attitudes, it comprises Attitudes about Self and Attitudes about People and Planet.The paper then evaluates the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, using the CASE and interviews with practitioners, with focus on curriculum design of the Middle Years Programme, Diploma Programme, and Learner Profile. It concludes that the IB generally aligns with the criteria for quality SE, but some gaps exist. The paper suggests recommendations that can further improve the IB with regard to SE.

Electric vehicles can play an important role in a future sustainable road transport system and many Swedish politicians would like to see them implemented faster. This is likely desirable to reach the target of a fossil independent vehicle fleet in Sweden by 2030 and a greenhouse gas neutral Swedish society no later than 2050. However, to reach both these targets, and certainly to support the full scope of sustainability, it is important to consider the whole life-cycle of the vehicles and also the interaction between the transport sector and other sectors. So far, there are no plans for transitions towards a sustainable transport system applying a sufficiently wide systems perspective, in Sweden or elsewhere. This implies a great risk for sub-optimizations. The overall aim of this work is to elaborate methodological support for development of sustainable personal road transport systems that is informed by a strategic sustainable development perspective. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is used as a foundation for the work to ensure a sufficiently wide systems perspective and coordinated collaboration across disciplines and sectors, both in the research and application. Maxwell’s Qualitative Research Design and the Design Research Methodology are used as overall guides for the research approach. Specific research methods and techniques include literature studies, action research seminars, interviews, and measurements of energy use, costs, and noise. Moreover, a case study on the conditions for a breakthrough for vehicles in southeast Sweden has been used as a test and development platform. Specific results include a preliminary vision for electrical vehicles in southeast Sweden, framed by the principled sustainability definition of the FSSD, an assessment of the current reality in relation to that vision, and proposed solutions to bridge the gap, organized into a preliminary roadmap. The studies show that electric vehicles have several sustainability advantages even when their whole life-cycle is considered, provided that they are charged with electricity from new renewable sources. Electrical vehicles also imply a low total cost of ownership and could promote new local ‘green jobs’ under certain conditions. Particularly promising results are seen for electric buses in public transport. As a general result, partly based on the experiences from the specific case, a generic community planning process model is proposed and its usefulness for sustainable transport system development is discussed. The strategic sustainable development perspective of this thesis broadens the analysis beyond the more common focus on climate change issues and reduces the risk of sub-optimizations in community and transport system development. The generic support for multi-stakeholder collaboration could potentially also promote a more participatory democratic approach to community development, grounded in a scientific foundation. Future research will explore specific decision support systems for sustainable transport development based on the generic planning process model. / GreenCharge

During the last century, the world has faced unprecedented challenges relating to the degradation of the socio-ecological system. In light of this, governments play an important role to help tackle these issues. This thesis identifies the Open Government Partnership (OGP) organisation, as an initiative that can support governments in addressing these challenges. In particular, the potential to address these issues relates to OGP’s vision of strengthening governance by increasing transparency, accountability and participation. Therefore, the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) was used to analyse the results from the semi-structured interviews, literature review and document analysis, in order to identify the strengths and limitations of OGP’s planning approach. Based on these results, recommendations call for the utilisation of the ABCD strategic planning process to assist OGP member governments and stakeholders to develop a concrete definition of sustainability, and a strategic planning approach that can support society in moving towards sustainability.

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.

The world faces sustainability challenges directly attributable to human behaviour, and expected to irreparably degrade the socio-ecological system. Cartography (mapping) is a diverse planning and communicating discipline used for strategic development of global and local solutions to these challenges. Its flexible yet robust technology can generate common understanding of issues and inspire successful solutions. This thesis studied community mapping, specifically how community mapping practitioners (CMPs) can use community mapping tools (CMTs) more effectively for Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD). Data of current SSD strengths of six CMTs was collected using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) and 13 interviews with practitioners. Thirty-six Key Elements (KEs) of guidance for CMPs to use CMTs were developed. A Compass Model was designed to interlink the KEs, in eight interrelated categories, with the ABCD Strategic Planning Process (ABCD). The results suggest that CMPs using CMTs combined with an SSD approach have the potential to create effective solutions towards sustainability.

The one condition that is bottom line for the survival of humanity is socio-ecological integrity. Youth mentoring helps to build capacities in youth to preserve and promote social integrity. This thesis looks at youth mentoring programs in general and Mentor Sweden specifically, and analyzes how youth mentoring programs can contribute strategically towards a sustainable development through the lens of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. The final outcome is a proposed set of suggestions which any mentoring organization can use in order to help move society strategically towards sustainable development through its mentoring programs.

This research explores how strategic sustainable development (SSD) using theFramework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) might influence the resilience oforganizations, using the lens of adaptive capacity (AC). The topic was addressed by researchinghow practices informed by the FSSD are experienced in relation to fostering organizations’ AC.Data was gathered through interviews and a focus group with FSSD practitioners and interviewswith sustainability champions applying the FSSD inside organizations. The findings show thatthe FSSD has the potential to foster AC in organizations, although it isn’t designed for it.Especially the systems perspective and backcasting from principles, which are core to theFSSD, proofed helpful. However, the data shows that there are conditions to foster AC throughSSD. Important is a long-term, iterative use of the FSSD, as well as the human-centered aspectsof facilitation and leadership. The existing culture of organizations showed to be critical as well.There are further implications that render the FSSD’s potential as an organizationaldevelopment tool. An opportunity lies in understanding organizations from a social systemsperspective and in using the complexity science behind it to stress this viewpoint in practice,both strengthening resilience and the sustainability practice.

Today's fashion industry, which is characterized by fast demand shifts and overconsumption, is argued to be contributing to the world's increasing environmental and social issues, and thus bringing harm to the global environment and society. Due to this, a “rebellion” has evolved accordingly, and can further be described as the Slow Fashion movement that strives to create a sustainable fashion industry. This type of rebellion has been adopted by both consumers and organizations, but little research has been made on closing the gap between slow fashion theory versus practice. Slow fashion can further be referred to as a concept that contributes to less consumption, product quality, and ethical working conditions. However, to what extent the concept aligns with strategic sustainable development has yet to be researched. One framework that is built to evaluate different tools and concepts is the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). This framework has been developed for three decades and continues to do so to this day. Although applicable in any industry and proven to be successful in supporting strategic sustainable development for those using it and giving recommendations on how to work towards sustainability, it has yet to become a widely used framework. Combined with the need for extended knowledge on slow fashion, this has led to the study’s research question:  “ How can the FSSD be used to evaluate and improve the slow fashion movement's fitness for strategic sustainable development?”  To answer the study's research question, a combination of a descriptive and exploratory study was conducted. The study is further based upon previous research within the field of the FSSD, slow fashion, and sustainable supply chains as well as empirical findings collected through semi-structured interviews with small organizations working with slow fashion. In addition, the empirical findings showed similarities between the slow fashion concept and the FSSD which subsequently led to an extended framework being formed to answer the research question. This framework is further a modified version of the FSSD that companies can take part in, which simplifies the planning process of working towards a sustainable society and environment within the fashion industry. The framework also helps organizations to put themselves in a global context and to understand the complex sustainability challenge. Finally, it contributes with practical recommendations in the form of actions that companies can adopt to contribute to societal and environmental sustainability.