The approach of Social Responsibility, which all Organizations are urged to adopt, that is proposed in this paper is based on five (5) key areas: The environmental aspect, the social aspect, the economic aspect, the governance aspect and the technical aspect. The PRiSM™ framework (Projects integrating Sustainable Methods) provides a comprehensive methodology who integrates sustainability in project management, by an effective fusion of best practices from the Standards Families for Quality ISO 9000 for the Environment ISO 14000, from the Standards for Energy ISO 50001, for Project Management ISO 21500, for Social Responsibility ISO 26000 and from the International Competence Baseline of the International Project Management Association. By adopting this framework and its proposed tools and methods, organizations can achieve balance between scarce resources, Social Responsibility and sustainable results in their projects.

1. Evolving Project Management: The PRiSM™ Framework – Projects
Integrating Sustainable Methods
Triantafyllos Katsarelis, Dipl. Civil Engineer NTUA – MBA, Project Manager
IPMA C, Organization & Project Management Excellence Consulting
Professional, E-mail: baikats@hotmail.com
Iliana Adamopoulou, Dipl. Civil Engineer NTUA, Project Management
Associate IPMA D, PhD Candidate NTUA, E-mail: ili.adamopoulou@gmail.com
Abstract
The approach of Social Responsibility, which all Organizations are urged to
adopt, that is proposed in this paper is based on five (5) key areas: The
environmental aspect, the social aspect, the economic aspect, the governance
aspect and the technical aspect. The PRiSM™ framework (Projects integrating
Sustainable Methods) provides a comprehensive methodology who integrates
sustainability in project management, by an effective fusion of best practices
from the Standards Families for Quality ISO 9000 for the Environment ISO 14000,
from the Standards for Energy ISO 50001, for Project Management ISO 21500, for
Social Responsibility ISO 26000 and from the International Competence Baseline
of the International Project Management Association. By adopting this
framework and its proposed tools and methods, organizations can achieve
balance between scarce resources, Social Responsibility and sustainable results
in their projects.
Key Words: Project Management, Sustainability, PRiSM™, UN Global
Compact, ISO 21500, ISO 26000, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, ISO 9001, GPM®, ΙΡΜΑ
1. Introduction
The Green Project Management Organization – GPM ® Global has embraced
the global need for sustainability, having an internationally active role in
certifying professional training programs and trainers, and offering a threelevel personal certification scheme on sustainable project management (green
project managers) [1]. It has created a network of Experts in project
management and sustainability, Academic Institutions and Training Providers
that promote the effective implementation of sustainable project management
methods in practice.
GPM has developed and published in the beginning of 2013 an approach to
sustainability through the PRiSM ™ Framework "Projects integrating
Sustainable Methods" [2]. It is a structured methodology for sustainable –
"Green" Project Management, which is based in a series of standards and
incorporates their use in the standard ISO 21500:2012 "Guidance on Project
Management".
Knowledge and practical application of the PRiSM Framework leads to a
personal certification track of three levels: Green Project Manager Level b

2. (GPM-b ®), Green Project Manager (GPM ®) and Master Green Project
Manager Level m (GPM-m ®).
2. Sustainability of Organizations and Projects
The issues of Social and Environmental Responsibility and Corporate
Development of Organizations are related to the holistic approach of
Sustainable Development, and are already a cutting-edge field of theoretical
and applied research. Historically, organizations/companies in the private
sector have grown or have "just survived" by focusing on maximizing their
financial results and producing and distributing profits to their
partners/shareholders. Today, organizations of any nature, orientation, size
and ownership, regardless of provided products or services, objectives and
market positioning, must earn and maintain the consent or at least tolerance of
the Society for the continuance of their operation. They do operate with a
"temporary license" and must prove constantly, convincingly and in a
documented manner that they produce positive social and environmental
outcomes.
Sustainability is the commitment to the "Triple Bottom Line" Profit – People –
Planet, which is depicted in Figure 1. Individual features of Sustainability
include:

balancing short and long-term objectives at a local and global level

consuming "income" and not "capital" (whether economic, social or
environmental)

transparency and accountability

operating according to collective and individual values and principles.
Figure 1: The Triple Bottom Line
It has already been recognized that the economic performance of an
organization is associated with its level of Social and Environmental
Responsibility. Recent worldwide studies have demonstrated that an
organization’s (for-profit or not) commitment to the Triple Bottom Line is a
necessary condition for its medium-term survival, thus proving that an

3. organization’s awareness and commitment to Sustainability is a necessary
condition for its own operational viability!
Project management is in essence "Management of Change"; organizations
choosing a socially responsible – sustainable approach change by adopting new
models and standards for their operation. By selecting a comprehencive but
simple framework like PRiSM, they have the opportunity to produce more
value in the long term, without depriving future generations from meeting their
own needs. The future viability is founded today on sustainable project
management.
3. The PRiSM Framework "Projects integrating Sustainable Methods"
The Framework is based on a series of ISO Standards, normative or not, as well
as on other organizations’ standards, which are utilized and integrated into the
ISO 21500 Standard "Guidance on Project Management", as depicted in Figure
2. Note that ISO 31000 is not explicitly included in the Framework, but, in the
view, of the authors it is effectively integrated.
Figure 2: Integration of the ISO 21500 Standard to the PRiSM Framework
Four (4) of the above depicted Standards are intented for the purpose of
certification (normative standards). According to the authors’ opinion, two
common features of normative standards are generally the treatment of an
"enemy" and care primarily for one interested party (Stakeholder). These
standards are:


ISO 9001:2008 "Quality Management Systems – Requirements" [3]
ISO 14001:2004 "Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with
guidance for use [4]

4. 

ISO 50001:2011 "Energy Management Systems – Requirements with
guidance for use" [5]
OHSAS 18001:2007 "Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems"
[6].
The common features of these normative standards "enemy" / Interested Party
are shown in Figure 3.
The two (2) non-certifiable Standards (non-normative standards) offer
Guidance– Guidelines. They do not deal with an "enemy" and provide care for
all Interested Parties. These Standards are:


ISO 26000:2010 "Guidance on Social Responsibility" [7]
ISO 31000:2009 "Risk Management – Principles and guidelines" [8].
It should be stressed out, that ISO 31000 does not deal with an "enemy", because
risk has two facets in the Standard, namely a negative one (hazard) and a
positive one (opportunity).
The Framework is complemented by two also non- normative standards:
 United Nations Global Compact [9]
 Global Reporting Initiative [10].
Figure 3: Certifiable standards: "enemies" and Stakeholders
The also non-normative ISO 21500:2012 Standard plays a role; it does not
address any "enemy" and involves all Interested Parties. The Standard suggests
a total of five (5) Process groups, which are illustrated in Figure 4, and a total of
ten (10) Subject groups, which are shown in Figure 5.

5. Figure 4: ISO 21500 Process groups
Figure 5: ISO 21500 Subject groups
The key idea is to utilize the Processes for managing individual issues within
each Subject group. In each process, we examine what issues from each Subject
group must be managed. By combining the two sets of groups, a matrix of fifty
(50) cells is therefore created. Some of these cells are empty, because repeating
one or more processes for a specific subject doesn’t make sense. According to
the authors’ opinion, management of some issues has been left out in the
Standard; therefore, the blank cells should be less. Two examples of Subject
groups, namely Risk and Stakeholders, are shown in Figure 6. In the case of the
Subject group "Stakeholders", the authors feel that it should be included in the
"Controlling" process as control of Stakeholders’ involvement, as well as in the
"Closing" process as assessment of their satisfaction.

6. Figure 6: Examples of Process and Subject groups’ combinations
The PRiSM Framework suggests a broadening of the Triple Bottom Line
approach (as shown in Figure 1), by introducing two additional parameters,
namely "Process", which is related to governance, and "Product", which is
related to technical aspects, thereby resulting in the overall 5P™ Concept
(People, Planet, Profit, Process, Product) for projects, which is illustrated in
Figure 7.
Figure 7: The 5Ps concept
In each project, the Framework proposes examination and evaluation of its
"Objectives" and "Impacts" against sustainability of their economic,
environmental and social aspects, in the "Initiating" process (see Figure 4). The
combination of individual scores produces an initial overall evaluation of the
level of sustainability of the project; the sustainability level changes in each
iteration, so that the final sustainability level of the project is optimized. An

7. abstract of the P5 Integration Matrix is shown in Figure 8, where the last
column of the thirty four (34) items, into which the ten (10) subcategories of the
right column are divided, has been omitted.
Figure 8: 5Ρs Integration matrix (abstract)
A comparison between the proposed approach and tools of the PRiSM
Framework and the International Project Excellence Award model, depicted in
Figure 9, by the International Project Management Association – IPMA [11],
clearly shows the compatibility of the two models, which makes easy for a
Project Team to achieve excellence and get recognized in the IPMA Award
institution by implementing the PRiSM Framework.
Σχήμα 9: The Project Excellence Award model

8. REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
www.greenprojectmanagement.org
GPM (2013), PRiSM Projects integrating Sustainable Methods, Version 1
ISO (2008), ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems – Requirements
ISO (2004), ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with
guidance for use
5. ISO (2011), ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management Systems – Requirements with guidance for
use
6. OHSAS (2007), OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems
7. ISO (2010), ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on Social Responsibility
8. ISO (2009), ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management – Principles and guidelines
9. UN, Global Compact
10. GRI, Global Reporting Initiative G3
11. http://ipma.ch/awards/project-excellence/the-pe-model