The Framework for

Strategic Sustainable Development

Our approach is collectively called the “Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development”– it is a
comprehensive model for planning in complex systems.

The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development has helped hundreds of different organisations around
the world integrate sustainable development into their strategic planning and create long lasting transformative
change. It is constantly being used, tested, refined and developed.

The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development is openly published and free for all to use.
Please help accelerate change towards sustainability by sharing the Framework:
short url: http://on.fb.me/theframework

Introduction

The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development is based on systems thinking;

recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part. Think of a soccer team.
We canʼt understand why the team lost the game until we look at how each player – the goal keeper, defenders
and forwards - all worked together on the field. We wonʼt learn much if we just study one member of the team.

The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development gives an organisation the tools to look at the whole team,
understand the rules of the game, define success, and move towards it together.

Any successful team must have a common language and understanding in order to facilitate cooperation.
The Framework provides this shared mental model of sustainability by helping people across organisations,
disciplines and cultures to communicate effectively, build consensus and ultimately move toward their vision.
We use an upstream approach that anticipates and avoids problems before they occur, rather than reacting
to their downstream effects.

This scientifically rigorous Framework gives organisations the tools to perform a gap analysis using the lens
of sustainability, and then work toward closing the gap. Furthermore, The Framework for Strategic Sustainable
Development complements other sustainability tools and methodologies, such as life cycle analysis or
environmental management systems, by providing the context and strategic vision that makes them more
effective.

The Funnel

We use the funnel as a metaphor to help visualise the economic, social and environmental pressures that are
growing on society as natural resources and ecosystem services diminish and the populationʼs number and
consumption grows.

Imagine looking at a giant funnel from the side. The upper wall
is the availability of resources and the ability of the ecosystem to
continue to provide them. The lower wall is our demand for these
resources which we need to make clothes, shelter, food,
transportation and other items and the ecosystems that create
them. The things we need to survive - food, clean air and water,
productive topsoil and others - are in decline.
So is natureʼs ability to regenerate them.

But at the same time, our demand for these resources is growing.
There are more than six billion people on the planet and the
population is increasing. Our level of consumption is increasing.

As our demand increases and the capacity to meet this demand

declines, society moves into a narrower portion of the funnel.
As the funnel narrows there are fewer options and less room to
manoeuvre. Organisations that continue business-as-usual; are
likely to hit the walls of the funnel, and fail.

Opening the Walls of the Funnel

Every one of us lives and works in this funnel and every one of us has the opportunity to be more strategic about
our choices and long-term plans. Through innovation, creativity and the unlimited potential for change, we can
shift toward sustainability and begin to open up the walls of the funnel.

Forward looking organisations can position themselves to avoid the squeeze of the funnel and invest toward
opening the walls and creating a truly sustainable and rewarding future.

The Tree - For Systems Thinking

Whole systems thinking is more or less explained in the name - deals with complex systems (such as the
biosphere, or a government or the weather, or a company or an ecosystem, or a farm). It reflects the idea that
it's important to take into account all of the components of the system, how they interact, and cause-and-effect
relationships among them - allowing you to think in terms of the whole system. This is a very daunting task.
But it's important to do, otherwise you get lost in the details, specific areas of specialization (which are usually
very complex and confusing on their own) and you can spend a lot of time and energy trying to solve a
problem, only to realize that you've created another, and go on and on until you get confused and frustrated
and give up.

We often use the metaphor of a tree where the trunk and branches represent the core principles (4 sustainability
principles) and the leaves represent all of the details - specific problems and specific areas of expertise. Because
the task at hand is so massive and complex (creating a sustainable society), no one is going to have all the
answers - there's simply too much information. So we need all kinds of scientists, economists, policy makers,
researchers, teachers, business leaders, etc etc to work together. Now, imagine all of the ideas, opinions,
special interests, etc that come with this group. Any dialogue will quickly degenerate into bickering, confusion,
misunderstanding. This is dealing in the "leaves,” the details - and it's very frustrating, and too often the path
that discourse on the environment and sustainability follow.

“Paper or Plastic?” (paper contributes to deforestation, plastic doesnʼt biodegrade) “Solar, Wind or Oil?”
(solar is inefficient and uses weird metals, wind can kill birds and makes noise, oil causes global warming… but
global warming doesnʼt even exist as far as we know) etc… These are the details – obviously not insignificant -
but we canʼt approach these complex, confusing, politically charged issues without a shared framework, some
facts that everyone can agree on. Then we can tackle the details with all kinds of specialists working together.

So by establishing a common framework - and starting with the trunk and branches - we can all get on the same
page, understand the rules of the game, and proceed further out on the branches, into the details of the leaves
with a shared mental model. True dialogue can commence, eliminating the usual confusion. Again, the details
will need to be dealt with in time in order to act - but with a common framework action can be cohesive, moving
toward a common goal.

You can think of the 4 principles as the rules of the game - like in chess or football/soccer. It's the easy part, but
if everyone doesn't understand them, no one's going to get very far, and itʼs very often the step that is skipped
when we set out to create strategies to reach sustainability.

4 Sustainability Principles

At first reading, the system conditions and basic principles might seem to imply that we must rid society of all
materials extracted from the earth and all substances produced by society and that, further, we must never
disturb a natural landscape. But thatʼs not what they mean. The problem is not that we mine and use heavy
metals, or use chemicals and compounds produced by society, or disrupt natural processes, or even temporarily
interfere with peopleʼs capacity to meet their basic needs. It is, rather, that our industrial system has developed
so that substances extracted from the earth and produced by society will continue to build up indefinitely in
natural systems. That means a progressive buildup of pollutants and substances that not only harm us directly
but damage natural processes that have taken billions of years to develop.

With respect to the fourth sustainability principle, The Natural Stepʼs understanding of human needs is based on
the work of the Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef. Max-Neef identifies nine fundamental human needs that
are consistent across time and cultures: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure,
creation, identity and freedom. Max-Neef points out that these fundamental human needs cannot be substituted
one for another and that a lack of any of them represents a poverty of some kind.

Sustainability Principle 1 Sustainability Principle 2 Sustainability Principle 3 Sustainability Principle 4

... we cannot dig stuff up ... we cannot make ... we cannot cause ... we cannot do things
from the Earth at a rate chemical stuff at a rate destruction to the planet that cause others to not
faster than it naturally faster than it takes nature at a rate faster than it be able to fulfill their
returns and replenishes. to break it down. takes to regrow. basic needs.

Left to its own devices, the earth is a sustainable system. As we continue to learn, however, the accumulated
impacts of human activity over the past two centuries are now threatening our continued well-being.
An international network of scientists have unanimously and publically concluded that human society is
damaging nature and altering life-supporting natural structures and functions in three fundamental ways.
Consequently, they were able to define three basic conditions that must be met if we want to maintain the
essential natural resources, structures and functions that sustain human society. Further, acknowledging that
human action is the primary cause of the rapid change we see in nature today, they included a fourth system
condition that focuses on the social and economic considerations that drive those actions and the capacity of
human beings to meet their basic needs.

While written to be clear scientifically, the specific wording of the four system conditions can be confusing to
non-scientists who try to put them to work. Fortunately, the system conditions can be reworded as basic sustaina-
bility principles that provide explicit guidance for any individual or any organization interested in moving
towards sustainability. The table below contains the four system conditions on the left and the reworded the
basic sustainability principles on the right. In most instances, we refer to the basic sustainability principles.

Backcasting from Sustainability Principles

The concept of “backcasting” is central to a strategic approach for sustainable development. It is a way of
planning in which a successful outcome is imagined in the future, followed by the question: “what do we need
to do today to reach that successful outcome?” This is more effective than relying too much on forecasting, which
tends to have the effect of presenting a more limited range of options, hence stifling creativity, and more
important, it projects the problems of today into the future.

In the context of sustainability, we can imagine an infinite number of scenarios for a sustainable society –
and ʻbackcasting from scenariosʼ can be thought of as a jigsaw puzzle, in which we have a shared picture of
where we want to go, and we put the pieces together to get there. However, getting large groups of people to
agree on a desired future scenario is often all but impossible. Further, scenarios that are too specific may limit
innovation, and distract our minds from the innovative, creative solutions necessary for sustainable development.

So strategic sustainable development relies on ʻbackcasting from sustainability principlesʼ – which are based in
science, and represent something we can all agree on: if these principles are violated, our global society is
un-sustainable. To achieve a sustainable society, we know we have to not violate those principles – we donʼt
know exactly what that society will look like, but we can define success on a principle level.
In that way, backcasting from principles is more like chess – we donʼt know exactly what success will look like,
but we know the principles of checkmate – and we go about playing the game in a strategic ways, always
keeping that vision of future success in mind.

Natural systems are complex and non-linear, and while we understand more and more about how they behave
on the principle level, we still cannot predict the weather. Social systems are far more complex. Still, we try to
force these systems into models so we can ʻunderstandʼ them and ʻpredictʼ how they will behave. To do this, we
are forced to make assumptions that often make the models reductionist, simplistic, and absurd. For example, in
economic systems the assumptions that all people are ʻrational actorsʼ and that there is ʻperfect informationʼ.
In large part, this is due to a tradition of compartmentalized disciplines in academia, where the social scientists
have pushed a quantitative, value-neutral approach to studying these systems in the misguided pursuit of
establishing concrete laws similar to the laws of nature.

Even if we could predict the future, why would we want to? We have the power to create a better future.
The complexity of social systems within the biosphere demands a whole-system perspective and employing
backcasting from sustainability principles. In this way, we can acknowledge the value-laden reality of social
systems. We can all take a transdisciplinary approach to learning to better understand the basic constraints we
must operate in. And together, we can implement the dramatic change in societal design necessary to create
a sustainable society.

ABCD Approach

The A-B-C-D method to applying the the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development consists of four steps
which are repeated as an organisation progresses toward sustainability. This method as others used by TNS
practitioners is based on backcasting from sustainability principles.

A B C D
Awarness Baseline assessment Creative solutions Devise a plan

A = Awareness and Visioning

This first step aligns the organisation around a common understanding of sustainability and identifies a
'whole-systems' context for that organisation; building a common language around sustainability as well as
creating a vision of what that organisation would look like in a sustainable future.

The Natural Step principles of sustainability, basic science and whole-systems approach are presented to
develop strategies for living in balance with nature and our global community. Participants review details of the
state of the earth's systems, including the ecological, social and economic trends that are undermining our ability
to create and manage healthy and prosperous ecosystems, businesses and communities. During the visioning
process, people are encouraged to set ambitious goals which may require radical changes in how the
organization operates. Some goals may take many years to achieve.

This is where businesses often begin to identify the service they provide independent of any one product
(for example, providing energy services versus oil). Incorporating this awareness into the visioning process
unleashes innovation and releases the company from preconceived limitations.

B = Baseline Mapping
This step uses the four sustainability principles to conduct a sustainability ʻgap analysisʼ of the major flows and
impacts of the organisation to see how its activities are running counter to sustainability principles. The analysis
includes an evaluation of products and services, energy, capital and human resources from 'cradle to cradle'.
The assessment also looks at the social context and organisational culture in order to understand how to
positively introduce change. This allows the organisation to identify critical sustainability issues, their business
implications, any assets they may have and opportunities for change.

C = Creative Solutions
In this step, people are asked to brainstorm potential solutions to the issues highlighted in the baseline analysis
without any constraints. Armed with their vision of success and potential actions, organisations look backwards
from the vision to develop strategies toward sustainability. This is called backcasting and it prevents people from
developing strategies that just solve the problems of today. Instead, they begin with the end in mind, moving
towards a shared vision of sustainability, with each action providing a platform for further improvement.

D = Decide on Priorities
After identifying the opportunities and potential solutions in the ʻCʼ step, the group prioritises the measures that
move the organisation toward sustainability fastest, while optimising flexibility as well as maximising social,
ecological and economic returns. This step supports effective, step-by-step implementation and action planning.
At this stage, organisations can pick the 'low-hanging fruit' - actions that are fairly easy to implement and offer
a rapid return on investment in order to build internal support and excitement for the planning process.

Backcasting is used to continually assess decisions and actions to see whether they are moving the organisation
toward the desired outcome identified in ʻA' step (awareness and visioning).

Sustainability principles provide new design parameters that drive product and process innovation throughout
the system. This step also incorporates organisational learning and change methods, essential elements to move
people into new ways of thinking and working together.

The sustainability principles help people stay on course as they process the myriad of information and decisions
involved in long-term planning. Whatʼs considered realistic today never determines the direction of change, only
its pace. This approach is based on systems thinking, setting ambitious goals, and developing realistic strategies
to achieve them.

Organisations are not expected to achieve long-term goals immediately. Theyʼre encouraged to move
systematically by making investments that will provide benefits in the short-term, while also retaining a long-term
perspective. They use the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development to map-out a series of steps that
will eventually lead to sustainability.

3 Prioritizing Questions

During the operationalisation of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, organisations must find
a way to prioritise the actions that come from their initial brainstorms (usually during the D step of the ABCD
approach). This can be done using these three strategic prioritisation questions:

Is this action moving you toward or away from sustainability vision?

Is this action a flexible platform toward your sustainability vision?
Will this action offer an adequate return on investment*?

*Note that ROI (return on investment) is traditionally seen as a return on financial investment, but it can also
mean a return on political, social or another type of investment.

5-level framework

The 5-level framework is a model for planning in complex systems.

It allows us to be deliberate and thoughtful in our journey toward
sustainability. We will use a game analogy throughout these levels to
help clarify the differences in scope and content.

1. System Level
Identification of the scope of the system weʼre dealing with. In the case of
a game, the system would be the playing field and all of it's components.
In terms of sustainability, the system is the entire biosphere. So we need
an understanding of the way our system works. This can be found on our
science page.

The Funnel – a core concept at this level is the idea that we are currently
operating in a “funnel”. The funnel is a metaphor that helps us visualise
the economic, social and environmental pressures that are growing on
society as natural resources and ecosystem services diminish and the
populationʼs number and consumption grows.

2. Success Level
In this case the success level is “sustainability.” Success in the game is winning, usually measured by the team
that scored the most points. In the field of sustainable development, sustainability means that nature is not subject
to systematic increases in:

- concentrations of substances from the Earthʼs crust;

- concentrations of substances produced by society;
- degradation by physical means;
- and, in that society, people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet
their needs.

3. Strategic Level
These are some strategic guidelines for organisations to follow in implementing the framework and taking
actions towards sustainability. Following our game example, this level would be the strategizing level as the
team members come together to plan a goal.

The most important strategy to focus on is backcasting from principles: it consists of establishing a vision of the
organisation in the future where the four sustainability principles are not being violated and then ʻbackcastingʼ
to the present to see what specific actions should be taken first to start strategically working towards that vision.

4. Action Level
These are the concrete actions that are taken on the path to sustainability. Depending on the nature of the organ-
isation, they could include things like phasing out fossil fuel use by switching some capacity to renewable energy,
or substituting metals that are naturally abundant in the biosphere and therefore benign for ones that are scarce
and potentially harmful. In our game analogy, actions would be moving towards the net to score a goal, passing
to team-mates, etc.

5. Tools Level
Here we find a variety of tools that help organizations manage their path towards sustainability. Certain tools
are effective in different situations, but a lot of them work well together and create synergies when utilized within
the context of the framework. They include Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001, Life Cycle
Assessment, Factor 10, Natural Capitalism, Ecological Footprinting, Zero Emission, etc. A lot of these tools have
great organizations behind them and are helping organizations with various environmental and / or
sustainability initiatives. In our game, tools would be the monitoring equipment that athletes use, their fitness
equipment and any strategy books they can get their hands on.

The Science Behind our Approach

Back to Basics
The Natural Step principles and approach to sustainability are grounded in the scientific laws underlying the
earth's systems. These are well known and accepted by scientists. While we all intuitively understand these basic
scientific principles, we often overlook them in our day-to-day lives. They are as follows:

Nothing Disappears
All mass and energy in the universe is conserved. Energy may be converted into different forms, but the total
amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant.

This principle of matter conservation and the First Law of Thermodynamics are helpful in understanding the earth
as a system. For example, apart from the occasional meteorite or spaceship, the amount of matter on earth has
stayed the same for billions of years. When matter is burned it is not destroyed, but transformed into waste, pre-
dominantly in the form of visible and invisible gases.

Everything Spreads
Energy and matter tend to spread spontaneously; everything has a tendency to disperse (the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, or the Law of Entropy).

Although the total amount of energy remains constant, the quantity of energy that is available in a useful form
decreases with each transformation and tends to dissipate through a system. Entropy is a measure of the amount
of disorder or randomness there is in a system, and in every isolated system - such as the universe - entropy
always increases. Examples of this include food decaying, coloured dye in clear water dispersing, a car rusting
and ice samples taken in the Arctic Circle containing measurable amounts of man-made PCBs.

Thus, materials generated by, or introduced into, human society will eventually disperse in nature.

There is Value in Structure

We determine material quality by the concentration and structure of the matter that makes up a material. For
example, food and petrol are valuable because they have a high concentration and structure. What we con-
sume are the qualities of matter and energy - the concentration, purity, and structure of matter - and the ability
of energy to perform work. We never consume energy or matter because it is neither created nor destroyed. If
you drop a teacup and it breaks on the floor, much of the value from its structure is lost, but each of the original
atoms is still present.

Photosynthesis Pays the Bills

Net increases in material quality on Earth are generated almost entirely by the sun-driven process of photosyn-
thesis. Chloroplasts in plant cells capture energy from sunlight and form bonds that provide energy for other
forms of life, such as animals.

According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, disorder increases in all isolated systems. The Earth is a
closed system with respect to matter, but it is an open system with respect to energy because it receives light from
the sun. It is this flow of sunlight that continues to create structure and order from the disorder.

Next Steps

There are several ways you can continue to enhance your learning of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable
Development including:

eLearning courses: http://www.thenaturalstep.org/elearning

Learning Program Courses: http://www.thenaturalstep.org/en/learning-programmes
FREE Sustainability Toolkits: http://www.thenaturalstep.org/en/toolkits-around-world

Please contact us to find out how we can help your business or community take steps towards sustainability.

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