Sustainable Project Management is the planning, monitoring and controlling of project delivery and support processes, with consideration of the environmental, economical and social aspects of the life-cycle of the project’s resources, processes, deliverables and effects, aimed at realizing benefits for stakeholders, and performed in a transparent, fair and ethical way that includes proactive stakeholder participation. (Gilbert Silvius, 2015, Considering Sustainability in Project Management Processes).

The project management profession at large should promote the Sustainable Development Goals by developing objectives, plans and setting them into practice in a given context. A global association like IPMA can provide the profession with its good practices (e.g. standards) and recognise achievement of sustainability in projects (e.g. through achievement awards).

Sustainability in the context of sustainable development is defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) as ‘forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’. This broad definition emphasises the aspect of future orientation as a basic element of sustainability. This care for the future implies, among other things, a wise use of natural resources and other aspects regarding the environmental footprint. The ‘green’ aspect of sustainability is recognised in many other definitions of sustainability. For example the OECD (1990) states that ‘the sustainable development concept constitutes a further elaboration of the close links between economic activity and the conservation of environmental resources. It implies a partnership between the environment and the economy.’

Other authors emphasise sustainability in relation to the development of underdeveloped regions. For example, Barbier (1987) links sustainable development to ‘increasing the material standard of living of the poor at the “grassroots” level, which can be quantitatively measured in terms of increased food, real income, educational services, healthcare, sanitation and water supply, emergency stocks of food and cash, etc.’

The combination of both social and environmental perspectives can be found in the earlier-mentioned report by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). The report states that, ‘in its broadest sense, sustainable development strategy aims at promoting harmony among human beings and between humanity and nature’.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (2010) elaborates on the generic definitions in a definition more focused on sustainable management of organisations: ‘Adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.’ Important in this definition is the mentioning of the ‘needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today’. This aspect recognises that without profitability today, care for the environment and humanity cannot be sustained. John Elkington (1997), in his book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, identified this as the ‘triple bottom line’ or ‘Triple-P (People, Planet, Profit)’ concept: Sustainability is about the balance or harmony between economic sustainability, social sustainability and environmental sustainability.

From the literature and definitions mentioned above, three key elements of sustainability can be identified (Dyllick and Hockerts 2002).

• Sustainability is about integrating economic, environmental and social aspects.
• Sustainability is about integrating short-term and long-term aspects.
• Sustainability is about consuming the income and not the capital.

*****

Sustainability in project management is about integrating economic, environmental and social aspects in the content and management of projects

This insight corresponds with the triple bottom line element of sustainability. Integrating sustainability in project management requires the inclusion of ‘People’ and ‘Planet’ performance indicators in the management systems, formats and governance of projects (Silvius et al. 2009). In current project management methodologies, the management of projects is dominated by the ‘triple-constraint’ variables of time, cost and quality (Project Management Institute 2008). And although the success of projects is most often defined from a more holistic perspective (Thomas and Fernandéz 2007), this broader set of criteria doesn’t reflect on the way projects are managed.

The triple-constraint variables clearly put emphasis on the profit ‘P’. The social and environmental aspects may be included as aspects of the quality of the result, but they are bound to get less attention.

Sustainability in project management is about considering the full life-cycle of the project

Given the future-orientation of the concept of sustainability, a logical implication is to consider the full life-cycle of a project, from its conception to its disposal. This view is further developed by Labuschagne and Brent (2006). In their work they argue that when considering sustainability in project management the total life cycle of the project (e.g. initiation-development-execution-testing-launch) should be taken into account. But not just the life-cycle of the project is relevant. The project will ‘produce’ a result, being a change in assets, systems, behaviour, etc. The asset produced should also be considered over its full life cycle. And the life cycle of the product or service that the asset produces should be considered. Figure 1.2 visualises how these life cycles, ‘project life cycle’, ‘asset life cycle’ and ‘product life cycle’, interact and relate to each other. Including sustainability considerations in projects suggests that these three life cycles need to be taken into account.

Because Labuschagne and Brent (2006) include the result of the project in their framework, it is sensitive to the context of the project. Their studies focus on the manufacturing sector in which projects generally realise assets that produce products. In other contexts, the result of a project may not be an asset, but an organisational change or a new policy. The general insight, however, is that sustainability in projects should be considered in relation to results and effect.

Combining the triple-P element of sustainability and the life-cycle views, the following definition of sustainable project management can be derived: Sustainable Project Management is the management of project-organised change in policies, assets or organisations, with consideration of the economic, social and environmental impact of the project, its result and its effect, for now and future generations.

For more information we encourage you to read this book on sustainability in project management.

Source: Henry Linger and Jill Owen, The Project as a Social System: Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Project Management