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An implementation model for a systemic, systematic, and strategic approach to integrate sustainability across sectors has been tested and developed further within a four-years action research project. Valuable insights on how the approach can be best introduced to facilitate broad application can be gained already from test uses of the preliminary model and this study aims to evaluate and learn from one of the regions participating, Åland (an autonomous protectorate of the Republic of Finland). With a comprehensive sustainability initiative for the whole community, including funding and human resources in place, Åland had particularly favourable conditions and came out as best practice in the research project. We examined what had been done and how initiatives have been received through interviews with process leaders and stakeholders from different sectors of society and through desktop reviews. Key success factors and challenges for the work were put in relation to elements of the implementation model. Indeed, the work has come a long way in terms of collaboration platforms and structures, and much can be learnt from at the Åland case. However, parts of the strategic sustainable development (SSD) perspective are seemingly forgotten or in hibernation. Reintroducing and reinforcing concrete SSD informed processes and support could arguably address several of the expressed challenges while making use of key success factors, such as the capacity building centre.

To systematically address the sustainability challenge, local and regional government leaders are key actors to facilitate action-oriented dialogues between practitioners from different sectors and disciplines. However, to address sustainability in collaboration is a complex challenge and leaders as well as practitioners need methodological support. This study is an off shot of an Action Research project that tested and developed an implementation model for cross-sector strategic transitions towards sustainability. While the implementation model as such gained appreciation for the scientifically robust overarching approach, our learnings from four years of action research with ten Swedish municipalities and regions point to needs of additional support regarding application guidelines for the methodology to be autonomously viable after introductions and moderated sessions facilitated by the research team. Example needs include support for capacity building for strategic sustainable development (SSD), advise for how to recruit leaders into the process upfront and support for valuing and aligning previous and on-going work for sustainability. This paper presents such support. It is based on a combination of conceptual SSD analyses and dialogue with initiated people within local or regional governments. In the dialogue, participants were supported to identify gaps in terms of capacity for an SSD approach to improve cross-sector strategies towards the full scope of social and ecological sustainability, and to better align existing methods, processes, and routines into cohesive actions. The procedure was designed, tested, and refined through interaction within one municipality. The feedback was that through applying the support, government leaders can better prepare for and prioritize their strategic actions for sustainability and search for good examples and best practices with enhanced precision. Forthcoming research will test and further refine the support. Open accessThis research was funded by The National Association of Swedish Eco-municipalities and the municipalities of Hudiksvall, Karlskrona, and Lerum.

Chapter 4

Current patterns of production and consumption need to change and they need to do so radically. For this shift sustainability-oriented product-services are highly potential contributors. Product-services have been described as a market proposition that extends the functionality of a product beyond the traditional view by inclusion of additional services into the product-service system. From a producer perspective this opens up for a differentiation from competitors and thereby for strategic market opportunities. For the customer this means the possibility to be released from responsibilities linked to asset ownership, more differentiated options and increased function availability .For society at large it means the possibility to gain sustainability achievements. However, the market adoption of product-services or functional products brings with it significant challenges. The demand side is still hesitant to ownerless consumption and the supply side faces economical and company culture-related challenges. The challenges also include customer-related challenges and the development of product-services will require joint efforts of a number of actors along the value chain, actors that traditionally have been outside the buyer-seller relationship. Product-services need to be developed on a case-by-case basis and involve the users perspective from initial need phase until end-of-life in a collaborative process that is not practice today. This paper explores the strategic position of a procurer in this development. It aims at providing guidelines for procurement processes on how to successively and systematically utilize its potential as drivers for sustainability-oriented product-service solutions. Three procurement cases are studied for which a movement from a traditional product-oriented process to a functional-oriented process was the selection criteria. These cases were used to gain a deepened understanding of drivers and barriers for function-oriented procurement processes. A template for sustainable product development is used as a base for the development. The result from the cases is used to adapt the guidelines to current procurement processes and to meet the procurers where they are today.

Increasing market demands for 'sustainable products' has in the development of disposable diapers resulted in a focus on material substitution and weight reduction. In this study we have compared the strategic potential of these two approaches for development of the absorbing core of the product. The study indicates that regardless what strategy a company selects for reducing a products socio-ecological impact, both society and environment would benefit from a stronger focus on the long term goal of a sustainably product, instead of the milestones. http://www.lcm2011.org/papers.html

This paper outlines the need for a more structured and simplified Life Cycle Assessment approach – called Strategic LCA. It builds on a previously published and peer-reviewed methodology using backcasting from basic principles of socio-ecological sustainability. The idea is to simplify, not by excluding parts of the traditionally covered dimensions in this field, but by a new way of setting system boundaries. Rather than applying boundaries related to geographic regions, or fields of expertise, or particular impacts, all issues found to be relevant as regards achieving sustainability are taken into account. To that end, we use four previously published generic principles of socio-ecological sustainability for the scrutinizing of materials, products and services.

The Master's programme named "Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability" is offered at the Blekinge Institute of Technology (Blekinge Tekniska Högskola) in Karlskrona, Sweden. This Master's programme builds on four central themes: (1) four scientific principles for socio-ecological sustainability; (2) a planning methodology of "backcasting" based on those scientific principles for sustainability; (3) a five-level model for planning in complex systems, into which backcasting is incorporated as a strategy; and (4) the understanding that within basic scientific constraints, creativity is allowed and encouraged. This course book focuses mainly on the description of a structured approach to sustainable development and is the primary reference for the Master's programme within this scope. The text revolves around a generic, structured model for planning and decision-making in any complex system, recognizing that the key focus for sustainability, human society within the biosphere, is inherently a complex system. As such, the text describes five essential system levels including: (i) the system; (ii) success; (iii) strategy; (iv) actions and (v) tools. Within this 5-level model, the approach “backcasting from principles of socio-ecological sustainability” provides a solid basis for strategic sustainable development. With respect to the second theme, the textbook emphasises that the basic constraints required by the structured approach (the 5-level model, backcasting, and scientific principles of sustainability) actually serve to promote creativity in ways that are productive and complementary to the goal of sustainability. Chapters 6-13, in particular, explore how this approach spurs innovation toward sustainable development in a number of selected disciplines (e.g. organisational learning, strategic business planning, industrial ecology, product development). Course Book Chapter Layout The introduction chapter presents all the core elements of the planning methodology named "Backcasting from Basic Socio-Ecological Principles of Sustainability". Part 1, of the book, containing the first four chapters, covers the next circle and goes deeper into the core elements without losing the overall structure. Part 2, containing the following nine chapters, takes a third, yet deeper, look at some related disciplines like basic science, social sustainability, organisational learning and change, industrial ecology, etc. (Circle 3). The whole idea of Backcasting from Principles is to create a meaningful structure of the overview, and only then tackle the details on a higher and higher degree of detail. Authors + 10> , Jamie MacDonald