A Conceptual Framework for Enabling Benefits from Linking Sustainability and Project Management

Abstract

With the aim of identifying and analyzing the impact of sustainable project management on the project’s success and the development of values for an organization and society, a conceptual framework for enabling benefits from linking sustainability and project management has been developed and presented in this chapter. The conceptual framework for sustainable project management was developed as a basis for the empirical research in the doctoral thesis of the author. The factors that could contribute to the successful integration of sustainability principles into project management were identified and analyzed in this chapter. Based on the literature review, the following factors were presented: sustainability principles, project success, values for the organization and society, phases of sustainable project management, practices, tools, and techniques for project management, and the competencies of the project manager and the project team members. The starting point of the analysis was the assumption that the integration of the sustainability concept into the concept of project management would encompass all three dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental, and economic. This idea is very close and should contribute to the turning of the idea of a circular economy into reality by providing a better design of a project result in order to make better use of resources and to prevent waste production and pollution. When deciding about energy sources, resources, and materials, it can be seen as a contribution of the circular economy to fully recover resources by closing loops of resource flows instead of wasting them. Social, environmental, and economic dimensions should permeate each phase of sustainable project management by implementing practices, tools, techniques, and competencies for sustainable project management, thus enabling benefits in terms of a project result that better meets the expectations of the stakeholders. The satisfied expectations of stakeholders would result in the project’s success, which would lead to the creation of value for the organization and society. When efforts are planned and managed in accordance with the concepts of sustainable development and circular economy, long-term benefits and capacity preservation for future generations are possible.