Today’s society is faced with a multitude of compounding and inter-related socio-ecological challenges. In order to adequately navigate this ‘sustainability challenge’ and to capture the innovation opportunities that come with it, we need professionals from all sectors of society who can help plan, act, and lead strategically towards sustainability.

Sustainability handbook first outlines a structured approach to planning within this complex challenge, which is known as the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. It provides the readers with fundamental social and ecological knowledge from which a scientifically-derived definition of sustainability has been established. From there, the book shares examples of how this Framework can be applied in a variety of situations, sectors, and scales and points to the self-benefit for companies, municipalities and other organizations of working strategically for sustainability. The readers are left with a solid understanding of how to define sustainability, how to plan and act towards it, and how to select from the vast array of sustainability-related concepts, methods and tools in the field today.

Sustainability handbook combines the academic and practical experience from a collection of authors. The content has been used, tested and refined over many iterations, and now serves as a primary resource for academic courses and programmes around the world. Any student or practitioner looking for more clarity on how to strategically plan and act towards sustainability in a structured, scientific, and collaborative manner will find value inside. Because of the generic nature of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, it can be useful for any discipline, from engineering, to product-service innovation, to business management, to urban and regional planning, and beyond.

Sophie Byggeth

Sustainability handbook