Although the main focus is the Baltic States there is some very interesting information.

1. AtKisson Group
A Review of
Practical
Sustainable
Development
3 Frameworks,
4 Models,
5 Methodologies,
Several Processes,
Some News,
and a Bunch of Ideas
Presentation by
Alan AtKisson
Baltic University
Planning Conference
9 Dec 2004 © 2004

2. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
What practical sustainable
development requires
Indicators
Systems Analyses
Innovations
Strategies
Agreement & Action
Principles, Visions, Goals © AtKisson, Inc.
Information, data, knowledge
Cooperation, thinking skills
Concepts, imagination
“Best practices”, creativity
Experience, judgment, intuition
Trust, commitment, discipline

3. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Sustainability ... a 20-year Snapshot
1983 2003

4. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
What are people doing when they say
they "do" sustainable development?
Environmental Management
Corporate Social Responsibility
Greening of Operations
Industrial Ecology
Stakeholder Engagement
Life-Cycle Assessment
Pollution Prevention (P2)
Sustainable Development
Design for Environment (DfE)
Green Design
Urban Reinvestment
Brownfield Redevelopment
ISO 14001
Waste Reduction
Closed Loops
Radical Resource Productivity
Radical Transactiveness
Sustainable Technology
Systems Thinking
Corporate Governance
Clean Technology
Eco-Efficiency
Eco-Effectiveness
Biomimicry
Triple Bottom Line
Inclusive Capitalism
Base of the Pyramid
Community Capitalism
Corporate Citizenship
Voluntary Regulation
Civic Entrepreneurship
Full Cost Accounting
EMS
Risk Management
Leapfrog Technology
Cradle to Cradle
Restorative Technology
Balanced Scorecard
Take-Back
Transparency
Source: Stuart Hart,
with thanks to Marty LaGod,
with additions by AtKisson
Digital Divide
Cultural Diversity
Natural Capitalism
Ecological Footprint
Product-to-Service
Integrated Product Mgmt
Natural Step
Building the Pyramid
Compass Index
SROI
Blended Value
GRI
Precautionary Principle
Green Procurement
Green Building
SMS
ISIS
CDM
EUAs
B24B

5. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The Future of Sustainability Education
Brochure from a
Swedish College:
“Want to change the
world?
Get trained as a
sustainability
strategist!”

6. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Some Important Distinctions
• Sustainability
• Sustainable Development
• Framework
• Model
• Methodology
• Process
• Tool
What’s the difference?

7. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Sustainability is ...
A set of conditions and trends in a given
system that can continue indefinitely

8. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Sustainable Development is ...
A strategic process of continuous change
in the direction of sustainability

9. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Framework
• A framework is a set of definitions, principles,
and often symbols that describes a complex
concept. A framework provides definition and
structure to the concept.
• Think of it as a conceptual platform on which a
group can stand to talk about a complex topic, so
that everyone can be reasonably sure that they are
talking about the same thing.

10. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Model
• A model is a symbolic representation of
something in the real world. A model is used to
reveal important elements and/or dynamics in a
thing or a process.
• For example, if you draw a map of a water system
on the wall, showing where it goes and how it all
links together, you have created a model of that
system.

11. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Methodology
• A methodology is a logical sequence of steps,
things you think or do in a particular way and in a
particular order, to achieve a particular kind of
result. Different kinds of scientific experiments,
recipes, formulas ... “First do this, then do that.”
• You don't need to be a group to be using a
methodology; you can use it in your own head.

12. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Process
• A process is, in this context, something you do in
collaboration with other people (e.g., "group
process"). Like a methodology, it is also a
structured sequence of steps. But it may or may
not have a specific result as its purpose.
• For example, going once around a group and
allowing everyone a minute to share their point of
view is a process, but it is not an designed to
produce a result, solution, or product.

13. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Tool
• Tool is an all-purpose word. A tool is anything you use
to accomplish a task. It includes all of the other terms,
and more.
• A framework is also a tool: it is something you use to
put a set of structured definitions in place, to set the
context.
• A methodology is a tool: you use it to think your way to a
solution, or to create another tool (for example, an
indicator, or a systems map).
• Processes and models are also, of course, tools.
• Books are tools. Powerpoint files are tools. Teaching
games are tools. Even a song can be a tool, if you are
using it to accomplish a task.

14. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
A Quick Roadmap
Sustainability
Framework
Typical
Models
Typical
Methodologies
Typical
Processes
Other
Tools
Triple
Bottom
Line
Specific to
enterprise
Management
systems
Stakeholder
engagement
Corporate
Board training
The
Natural
Step
Funnel v.
Cylinder
ABCD,
“Flexible
Platforms”
Group
dialogue
processes
(ABCD)
Metrics,
Consensus
documents
ISIS
Innovation
Theory;
Systems
models
created
Indicator
selection;
systems
modeling
Group
consensus-
driven
decision-
making
Background
reports; web
documentation

15. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The Plan ...
• Present three Frameworks
• Describe their “implicit theory of change” and
some of the methodologies, models, and processes
they use
• Anchor them to case studies
• Report some news
• Show a few more tools
• Map out some ossibilities for courses and
professional development training in “applied
sustainability”

16. AtKisson Group
Framework #1
“Triple Bottom Line”

17. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Framework #1: Triple Bottom Line
• Phrase Coined by John Elkington of SustainAbility, Ltd. (a
London-based consultancy)
• Adds “Society” and “Environment” to the traditional
“Economic” bottom line
• Informs many other applications, including the Global
Reporting Initiative
• Used by many corporations and institutions to integrate
sustainability thinking into their operations; some
communities use it
• Not a designed to be a comprehensive planning framework—
but used that way anyway

18. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The Triple Bottom Line is Also the
Three Legged Stool is Also the ...
Environment Economy
Social / Equity

19. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The TBL Theory of Change:
Doing sustainable development requires:
• Attempting to integrate (or perhaps just
balance) environmental, social, and economic
values ...
• ... which will suffice to make/inspire/guide
change toward sustainability.

20. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Practical
Tool:
The GRI
Framework
Emerging international
standard for
sustainability reporting

21. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
What Are the GRI Guidelines?
[...] a framework [including a number of methodologies] for reporting on an
organisation’s economic, environmental, and social performance. The Guidelines:
• present reporting principles and specific content to guide the preparation of
organisation-level sustainability reports;
• assist organisations in presenting a balanced and reasonable picture of their economic,
environmental, and social performance;
• promote comparability of sustainability reports, while taking into account the practical
considerations related to disclosing information across a diverse range of organisations,
many with extensive and geographically dispersed operations;
• support benchmarking and assessment of sustainability performance with respect to
codes, performance standards, and voluntary initiatives; and
• serve as an instrument to facilitate stakeholder engagement.

22. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
What Are the GRI Guidelines?
The Guidelines are not:
• a code or set of principles of conduct;
• a performance standard (e.g., emissions target for a specific pollutant); or
• a management system.
The Guidelines do not:
• provide instruction for designing an organisation’s internal data
management and reporting systems; or
• offer methodologies for preparing reports, or for performing monitoring
and verification of such reports.

23. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Case Study: Alcoa
“Our 2002 Sustainability Report
yields meaningful insight on the
economic, environmental, and
social progress we are making
and the challenges we still face
in reaching our sustainability
goals.”
Annual Sales > $20 billion

24. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Case Study: Alcoa
“Over time, sustainable
development will demand that
every business take the far-
sighted view, to leave behind an
enterprise that is valued by society
and positioned for future growth.”

25. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Case Study: Alcoa
From the 2002 Sustainability Report
(Note: The report does not reference GRI)
• Dozens of statements on principles,
values, integrity
• Ethics and compliance hotline
• Community forums
• High financial accountability
standards
• ISO 14001 EMS
• Climate change leadership
• Long-term shareholder value
• Cost savings initiatives
• Landcare initiatives
• Worker health
• Worker safety
• Recycling
• Renewable energy
• Responding to citizen pressure
• Supporting biodiversity
• Diversity of the workforce
• Requirements for business conduct
• Community giving
• Product responsibility
... but the company is still attracting criticism for its
large hydropower project in Icelnad

26. AtKisson Group
Framework #2:
The Natural Step

27. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Development of The Natural Step
• Started by a Swedish cancer researcher and physician, Dr. Karl-Henrik
Robèrt, originally concerned about addressing the root causes of
pediatric cancer
• Based on an original scientific consensus about basic (“first”)
principles -- about how cells work, how Nature works, how the planet
works
• Now a strategic planning framework, especially for defining and
managing environmental sustainability
• Has been used by communities, government agencies and companies
all over the world

28. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
TNS: The Core Assumption
We live in
a mostly
closed
system

29. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The TNS “Funnel”: A model of
systematic deterioration over time
POLLUTION
RESOURCES
TORN SOCIAL FABRIC
DESTABILIZATION
Sustainability
TimeSource: Det Naturliga Steget, Sweden

30. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
... Which leads to the
“Four System Conditions”:
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to
systematically increasing:
1. concentrations of substances extracted from the earth's crust;
2. concentrations of substances produced by society;
3. degradation by physical means;
and, in that society. . .
4. human needs are met worldwide.

31. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The TNS Theory of Change*:
Doing sustainable development requires:
• A consensus on overarching principles for sustainability that are elegantly
simple ...
• ... and agreement to use those principles ...
• ... to do “Backcasting”: building today’s to-do list from a future vision of
success that meets principles ...
• ... and then taking action in ways that create flexible platforms -- that is, that
don’t lock you into directions that prove to be dead ends / blind alleys.
* As derived and inferred from a review of their methods and materials

32. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Key Technique: Backcasting
Tid
Principer
för
hållbarhet
Source: Det Naturliga Steget, Sweden
(“Principles
for Sustainability”)
(Time)

33. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The TNS “ABCD” Analysis
“Backcast” from Principles
A: Awareness
Agree: Align around a common understanding of sustainability
B: Baseline Mapping
Assess: What does the situation look like today?
C: Clear Vision of the Future
Brainstorm: What would a sustainable community look like?
D: Down to action
Prioritize: Look for early wins, create flexible platforms.
Source: www.naturalstep.org (but no longer available there)

34. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Planning Framework: 5 Levels
1. Principles for the constitution of the system (e.g. ecological and
social principles).
2. Principles for a favorable outcome of planning within the system
(e.g. principles for sustainability).
3. Principles for the process to reach this outcome (e.g. principles for
sustainable development).
4. Actions, i.e. concrete measures that comply with the principles for
the process to reach a favorable outcome in the system (e.g.
recycling and switching to renewable energy).
5. Tools to monitor and audit (i) the relevance of actions with
reference to principles for the process (e.g. indicators ...).
System
Success
Strategy
The Levels
Actions
ToolsSource: K.-H. Robèrt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 10 (2002) 197–214

35. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
A TNS Typology of Approaches
(LEVEL 2)
ACTIONS
(LEVEL 4)
IMPACTS
(LEVEL 3)
(LEVEL 5)
Sustainability
(Brundtland)
System:
Society and Ecosystems
Resource
productivity
Less waste
System condition 3System condition 1
Dematerialization Substitution
Renewable
Resource
productivity
Less waste Nature-like
Resource
productivity
Less waste
Less area
required
Management
routines
Resource
productivity
Less waste
Service-
oriented
Equity
Dematerialization Substitution Dematerialization Substitution Dematerialization Substitution
System condition 2 System condition 4
Abundant Degradable
(LEVEL 1)
STRATEGY
Reinvestments
Backcasting
Flexible platforms
Good return of investment
Precaution
...
Social
Encouragement
Dialogue
Transparency
...
Political
Differentiaded taxes
Subsidies
International agreements
Legislation
...
TOOLS
Indicators
Factor X
EF
LCA
MIPS
...
EMS
EMAS
ISO 14001
...
(i)
(ii)

36. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Scandic Hotels
Sweden
• Company was experiencing huge losses
• The brand was perceived as “worthless”
• Management realized that the company had
not moved to meet new values in the
market and in society at large
• “Natural Step” training led to hundreds of
concrete steps throughout the company,
including ...

37. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Scandic Hotels
Sweden
• First hotel to offer a hotel room that was “97%
recyclable”
• “Enviro-hotels”, certified by the “Nordic Swan”
eco-labeling system (today, all but eight are so
labeled)
• Improved brand recognition and value
• The company returned to profitability
• All employees must take web-based course on
TNS once a year (low employee turnover)

38. AtKisson Group
Framework #3:
ISIS

39. AtKisson Group
I.S.I.S.
I.S.I.S.
Integrated Strategic Planning, Training, and Reporting
for Sustainability Outcomes
Indicators
Systems
Innovation
Strategy

40. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
ISIS ...
... is the Egyptian goddess who “put the pieces back together”
and gave birth to a new era
... stands for Indicators, Systems, Innovation, and Strategy
... grows out of an international & interdisciplinary
sustainability research network

41. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The ISIS Theory of Change:
Doing sustainable development requires:
• A comprehensive description or operating definition of sustainability, and the
sustainable outcome you wish to create
• Gathering information and data to produce interpretive indicators of relevant trends
• Using those indicators to develop a shared systems understanding of key dynamics
and leverage points
• Identifying sustainability innovations to introduce into the system that will improve
its overall condition
• Creating strategies for diffusion and adoption of those innovations
• Securing the agreement of critical actors to implement the strategies
• Monitoring impact with the indicators, and regularly cycling through an evaluative
planning process to adjust course appropriately

42. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Nature
Society
Wellbeing Economy
The Compass:
A Sustainability Framework
Uses: Introduce sustainability ... assess it ...
develop sustainability indicators ... communicate results ...
©AtKisson, Inc.

43. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Pyramid
A Sustainable Development Framework
INDICATORS
SYSTEMS
INNOVATIONS
STRATEGIES
AGREEMENTS & ACTIONS
Sustainability Principles
and Visions
W E
N
Trust, Commitment, and Discipline
Which kinds of change should we make?
How do we accomplish those changes?
We commit to a course of action ... and do it
Where are we headed?
What’s driving us? Where must we change?
S

44. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The ISIS
Iceberg
• Foundation (At the Bottom):
Vision or principles for how the
world should be (Sustainability)
• Level 1: Information and
understanding of what's actually
happening (Indicators & Trends)
• Level 2: Theory about how things
work, what needs to be changed,
and how (Systems)
• Level 3: New ideas for making
positive change (Innovation)
• Level 4: Plans for success
(Strategy)
• Capstone (Visible to Others):
What you're doing now
(Agreements and Actions)

45. AtKisson Group
News from the
Real World

46. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The Limits to Growth:
“A Terrible Validation”
• Original “Club of Rome Report”
alerted world to the dangers of
continued exponential growth of
resource use and waste against
natural and social limits
• Unfairly attacked at the time (1972),
especially by economists
• Core argument now validated ...
unfortunately

47. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Exponential Growth
Source: BBC Website, “Planet Under Pressure”, 2004

48. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Indicators of Response:
Spread of EMS and LA21 Programs
in the Baltic Sea Region (N Eur)

49. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
A Tale of Two Brands
1996
2004

50. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Adoption of Frameworks
(Very Rough Estimate for Illustration - No Data)
Triple Bottom Line
Natural Step
ISIS
Sigma
No Framework
Other / Own
Framework
Hundreds of companies and agencies worldwide
Dozens of companies and communities worldwide
20-40 communities, agencies, & education programs
22 companies and agencies in UK
?? organizations ... difficult to assess
?? - Some companies, countries, etc. doing this

51. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Common push:
“Gear Up”
1. Comply
2. Volunteer
3. Partner
4. Integrate
5. Re-Engineer
• or Reverse

52. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
The
Time
of
Our
Lives
The Hope Graph:
Unsustainable
Sustainable
2000 2040

53. AtKisson Group
ISIS in Action
Case Studies from AtKisson-Supported
Projects Around the World

54. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Baltic 21
International initiative for the Baltic Sea Region

55. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Baltic 21 (Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region)
• Eleven nations in a cooperative initiative for regional
sustainable development
• Mandate from the Prime Minister level
• Driven through government ministries, but multi-
stakeholder in character and governance
• Was seeking a new strategic direction for 2004-2010
• Adopted ISIS and Pyramid to develop new strategy, with
multi-stakeholder input
• Result needed to be approved at Prime Ministerial summit
in June 2004

56. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Result: The “Riga Proposal”
• Proposed new vision for the initiative ... and region
• New strategy with focus higher-level impact on policy
making, through foreign ministers down to Brussels
• New program for creating high-visibility “Lighthouse
Projects” to demonstrate value-added of sustainable
development
Proposal was later approved by Prime Ministers with only modest changes

57. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Mjölby, Sweden:
A 3-Legged Stool Pyramid
• Brought together nine sectoral
working groups for for intensive
one-day working session using
Pyramid
• Created rough draft of indicator
report on the spot, with estimate
of long-term trends
• Generated 100s of ideas for
innovation, prioritized to the top
25 initiatives
• Most enacted by city council as
policy

58. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Strategic Position Analyses for
Organizations
Example:
Compass Analysis
Snapshot of how well a
company has integrated
sustainability goals and
metrics into public
reporting
Benchmarked against
the top 50 sustainability
reports in the world
INTEGRATION

59. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
“Magic Eyes” / UNEP:
Training Sustainability Change Agents in SE Asia

60. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Pyramid Training:
• Theory + practice of
sustainable development
• Group- and team-work
training in a simulation
environment
• Build physical model to
reflect systems, linkages,
and multistakeholder
engagement

61. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Pyramid model is both content- and context-rich

62. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Model has been tested in many cross-cultural and cross-sectoral settings

63. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Final Capstone: Consensus, Agreement ... and Action

64. AtKisson Group
Opportunities
for the
Baltic University Program

65. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
What practical sustainable
development requires
Indicators
Systems Analyses
Innovations
Strategies
Agreement & Action
Principles, Visions, Goals © AtKisson, Inc.
Information, data, knowledge
Cooperation, thinking skills
Concepts, imagination
“Best practices”, creativity
Experience, judgment, intuition
Trust, commitment, discipline

66. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
1. Course on sustainability
indicators and assessment
• Different types (e.g., “headline indicators”,
“sustainable production indicators,” etc.)
• Emerging standards on sustainability assessment
(GRI, SIA, etc.)
• Technical aspects of indicator development
• Selection processes
• Presentation methods
• Communication strategies
• Many project/thesis opportunities

67. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Course on systems thinking for
sustainability
• Historical roots of sustainability movement partly in
system dynamics
• Basic modeling skills
• Systems games etc. for teaching counterintuitive concepts
• Study of some leading global models (World3, TARGETS,
Threshold 21, Etc.)
• Applications in business, e.g., Peter Senge’s “the Fifth
Discipline”
• Rich literature available
• And ...

68. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Course on innovation and
sustainability
• Marry the literature on innovation theory (e.g., Rogers)
with practical case studies on kinds of innovations, how
long they took to emerge, diffuse, etc.
• Broad survey of current and emerging best practices in a
wide range of areas, from natural resource management to
“green job” development
• Combines technical and process/cultural issues

69. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Course on strategic approaches
to sustainability
• Essentially an expanded version of this short seminar, but
far more in depth
• Tracking historical emergence of sustainability from green
and “back to the land” movement, science, and
international policy (Brundtland) to present day practice
• In depth analysis of different frameworks in application.
When do they work? When do they fail? And why?
• Analysis of global (Agenda 21), international (Baltic 21),
national (e.g. Sweden, UK), state, region, community
strategies/plans. Do they work? What do they do?
• Etc. etc.

70. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Or ... one survey course on all of
the above
• A one-term survey covering the whole “Pyramid”, or some
other organizing framework
• A sampling from all the foregoing: “Introduction to
Sustainability/Sustainable Development Tools and
Methods”

71. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Reach out to other emerging programs,
and programs outside the Baltic
• The Natural Step has started a Master’s Program in
Strategic Sustainability at Blekinge Institute, Karlskrona,
Sweden, with 40 students from all over the world
• The Netherlands has some of the world’s leading
programs on sustainability, business degrees as well a
tradition undergraduate coursework

72. © 2004 AtKisson, Inc.
Create a professional training program
for Baltic Sea Region emerging leaders
in Sustainable Development
• 1-2 weeks, 4 times over a year, plus distance learning
• High profile, affiliated with something like Baltic 21 as a
Lighthouse Project (to get some political support/attention)
• Draw on existing models like LEAD International
• Keep the focus intensely practical and useful, grounded in
science, economics, regional issues in a global context, etc.

73. AtKisson Group
Please visit us
on the web ...
www.AtKisson.com
and subscribe to

74. The
Circular Economy
in the
Asia Pacific Region
www.circularecconomyasia.org