Sustainability assessment is being increasingly viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainability. However, this is a new and evolving concept and there remain very few examples of effective sustainability assessment processes implemented anywhere in the world. Sustainability assessment is often described as a process by which the implications of an initiative on sustainability are evaluated, where the initiative can be a proposed or existing policy, plan, programme, project, piece of legislation, or a current practice or activity. However, this generic definition covers a broad range of different processes, many of which have been described in the literature as 'sustainability assessment'. This article seeks to provide some clarification by reflecting on the different approaches described in the literature as being forms of sustainability assessment, and evaluating them in terms of their potential contributions to sustainability. Many of these are actually examples of 'integrated assessment', derived from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA), but which have been extended to incorporate social and economic considerations as well as environmental ones, reflecting a 'triple bottom line' (TBL) approach to sustainability. These integrated assessment processes typically either seek to minimise 'unsustainability', or to achieve TBL objectives. Both aims may, or may not, result in sustainable practice. We present an alternative conception of sustainability assessment, with the more ambitious aim of seeking to determine whether or not an initiative is actually sustainable. We term such processes 'assessment for sustainability'. 'Assessment for sustainability' firstly requires that the concept of sustainability be well-defined. The article compares TBL approaches and principles-based approaches to developing such sustainability criteria, concluding that the latter are more appropriate, since they avoid many of the inherent limitations of the triple-bottom-line as a conception of sustainability.

Conceptualising sustainability assessment

The Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI) are shown as suitable instruments to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in rural areas. Local Action Groups (LAGs) have proven to be effective governance structures for the implementation and management of rural development projects based on participation and collective action. This research integrates the implementation of the LAG from the CFS-RAI Principles for the design of a rural development strategy. The foundations of these new structures are analyzed and the process of creating a LAG linked to the El Mantaro Regional Development Center (RDC) of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), in the Junín region (Peru), is described. The methodological process incorporates the “Working With People” (WWP) approach and the LEADER (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l’Économie Rurale) specificities for the analysis of empirical information obtained in surveys and workshops, with 350 people involved in the process. The results indicate that the LAGs, as multi-stakeholder partnerships linked to the RDC, are a novel way to integrate the CFS-RAI principles from participation, proximity management, strengthening local communities and promoting sustainable development through projects. These results contribute to the empowerment of civil organizations and motivate their participation in local political decisions related to sustainable rural development.

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Integration of the Principles of Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems CFS-RAI from the Local Action Groups: Towards a Model of Sustainable Rural Development in Jauja, Peru

Social sustainability in organizations has been externally focused and, given its socio-ecological importance and potential, it requires further attention. This study examines social sustainability in business organizations (a) as an antecedent of environmental and economically related constructs, and (b) as a component of a multiplicity of relationships among social, environmental, and economically associated constructs. We examine a diverse set of 41 model configurations of 10 first-order constructs, and a diverse set of second-order constructs following a gradient ranging from a relatively moderate degree of order to quasi-random construct arrangements ending with model configurations fully determined at random. These sets reflect variability and commonality among respondents from various organizations, industries, and regions of the United States. Constructs may be antecedents, mediators, or outcomes. Analyses were conducted using PLS-SEM software. Results show (a) that social constructs are at the core of organizational life, given their frequent moderate to strong positive effects on other social constructs, as well as on environmental and economically related organizational constructs; and (b) construct variability within sustainability dimensions. Contributions include examining both constructs’ gradient ordering and constructs’ variability effects contingent on both construct nature and position. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations and future research, are discussed.

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Examining Social Sustainability in Organizations

Thematic evolution and trends linking sustainability and project management: Scientific mapping using SciMAT

In terms of the impact of human activity on the natural environment, civil engineering is one of the most significant productive pursuits. The production and use of building materials, the advancement of engineering and construction, the use of the project after it is completed, the removal of discarded components, and other procedures all require significant energy expenditure and ongoing waste generation, which can have severe consequences for the natural environment. To meet the demands of both economic and social development, advancements in civil engineering must be made while also protecting the natural world, limiting the use of natural resources, and promoting sustainable development. This study examines the long-term strategy in civil engineering and explores the role of environmental sustainability throughout the various stages of the civil design process, including the conceptual stage, the technical design stage, and the building stage. The research finds that the construction industry should adopt practices that adhere to sustainability principles such as environmentally-friendly design, durability, energy efficiency, waste reduction, improved indoor air quality, water conservation, and the use of sustainable building materials in construction.

Integrating Sustainability into Civil Engineering and the Construction Industry

The concept of sustainable development is widely accepted as one of the most important topics of our time. Although significant research has already been conducted within the field of integrating sustainability into project management, different interpretations of the role of sustainability appear. This is a major issue for the scientific community, as due to these varying interpretations it is difficult to put publications into context; accordingly, it might lead to communication issues within the community. With this research study we want to help solve this issue. We conduct a systematic literature review and identify 293 relevant publications. Using a synthesis approach based on grounded theory, we define three different categories of interpretations of the role of sustainability in the current state of research. The literature is then assigned back to these interpretations. Following this approach we are not only able to review the development of each interpretation over time, but also to identify that many publications contain multiple interpretations. Based on our findings, we give recommendations for the reflection of the existing literature, the writing of new publications and communication in the research field. We also redefine the concept of ‘sustainable project management’ based on a major theoretical characteristic we synthesise during our grounded theory approach to give guidance to future researchers.

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Kevin Friedrich

Papers

A systematic literature review concerning the different interpretations of the role of sustainability in project management