Integral Sustainability is the study of sustainability science through a combined lens of Integral Theory and Developmental Psychology. This presentation combines my initial thoughts for my PhD research topic at Arizona State University

1. Cultural Evolutionary
Mechanisms of Sustainability
CEMS
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John E. Thomas
January 2014

2. A Developmental Perspective
• Integral Theory
– Ken Wilber, Sean Esbjörn-Hargens
• Developmental Psychology
– Susanne Cook-Greuter, Keagan, Torbert
• Sustainability
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“What if there is something that we don’t know, the knowing of which
could change everything.” ~Neal Donald Walsh

3. Wilber, K. (1995), Esbjörn-Hargens, S. (2012).
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• Increasing depth (i) and complexity (e)
• Development / evolution in each quadrant
• Correlates co-arise and tetra-mesh
• Four irreducible perspectives
• Dimensions of reality
• Multiple simultaneous views
“What I experience”
“What we experience”
“What I do”
“What we do”
Mental models, emotions, will Visible biological features
Shared values, customs
culture, & relationships
Social systems, economic systems,
Political orders, environment
Integral Theory

4. 4
• Simultaneous perspectives, co-arising, tetra-mesh
• Co-nascent and mutually implicated in one another
• Death of fish are the ‘object’ of investigation.
• Empowers one to notice, acknowledge & interact more effectively
Wilber, K. (1995), Esbjörn-Hargens, S. (2012).
Four ways to see the world Four ways the world can be seen

5. • Action logic => how we make meaning or form a mental model of the world
• Meaning-making structures/dimensions: Doing, Being & Thinking
• Human development as progressive unfolding levels of action logics
• Spiral Dynamics uses layered value systems.
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Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2002).
Structural-developmental Psychology

6. • Levels of development comprised of action logics
• Each level transcends & includes the previous
• Also representative of worldviews and cultural value structures
• The more reality included, the more sustainable our solutions
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Horizontal Growth & Vertical Development
E
A
I
Action Logic
Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2004), Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2002).

7. Lines of development
Psychograph
Socio-graph
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Esbjörn-Hargens, S. (2012).
Lines demonstrate sequential
development with increasing
levels of complexity or depth

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• Organize sustainability knowledge with a holistic perspective
• Diagnose / map wicked forces influencing sustainability
• Develop / manage sustainability initiatives targeted to altitude(s)

9. 9
Witt, A. H. , Witt, N. H. (2013)
Example: Framing communications about renewable energy initiatives to worldviews

10. CEMS Research Ideas
• Identify structural components of sustainability
– Sustainability Signature / Fingerprint
• Use psychometric tools to measure
• Propose ways to cultivate and strategically engage
• Investigate Sustainability as a line of development
• Include (developmental) levels, lines & types
• Case study: renewable energy, natural resource
management, sustainability leadership?
• Other?
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1. Wilber, K. (2000). A Theory of Everything, Boston, MA: Shambala Publications Inc.
2. Wilber, K. (1995). Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution
3. Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2002). A Detailed Description of the Development of Nine Action Logics in
the Leadership Development Framework: Adapted from Ego Development Theory
4. Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2004). Making the Case for a Developmental Perspective, Industrial and
Commercial Training, Vol. 36 No. 7
5. Esbjörn-Hargens, S. (2012). An Overview of Integral Theory, Meta Integral Foundation
6. Witt, A. H. , Witt, N. H. (2013). Towards a Integral Ecology of Worldviews: Reflexive
Communicative, Action for Climate Solutions
7. Lipman, B. (2010). http://sustainability.org/matrix.html
References

12. Back-up Slides
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13. Types
• Kolbe, MBTI, Enneagram
• Translational, generally the same at each level
• Example, shadow of a cylinder
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Wilber, K. (2000), Esbjörn-Hargens, S. (2012).

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An integral perspective enables a capacity to hold multiple simultaneous perspectives
without marginalizing or diminishing one over the other.

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18. 18
Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2002).

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1. Culture, Art and Myth
2. Earth Stewardship
3. Health and Wellness
4. Family and Community
5. Agriculture and Food
6. Economics
7. Technology and Design
8. Communication and Planning
9. Government and Politics
10. Social Justice
11. Education
12. Values, ethics and spirit
Sustainability Sectors
Potential Sustainability Lines of Development?
Managed-Resiliency
Adaptive-Management
Sustainable Collaboration
Expertise
Shared Awareness
Complex Connections
Situation Awareness
Decision-Making Process
Lipman, B. (2010)

20. Example Lines of Development
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21. Sean Esbjörn-Hargens Ph.D. http://integrallife.com/node/37539
• Fundamental perspectives. First, second and third person.
• Flatland: Reducing interiors to exterior correlates
• Beware of collapsing subjective & intersubjective realities into
their objective aspects, ignoring texture of felt-sense of 1st & 2nd
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23. Misc.
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• Barrett Brown looked at meaning-making stages for sustainability leaders.
• SusA & SusE are interior and exterior perspectives, respectively, and may
contribute to sustainability lines of development.
• AQAL map reveals the true complexity of wicked problems, while also providing
a holistic framework for engaging them.
• The Sustainability Sextant: An AQAL Perspective yields vertical integration with
different outlooks for each level.