Sustainable project management goes beyond positive environmental, social and economic project outcomes and includes sustainable methods, tools and techniques in the delivery of the project. In this article Dr Richard Stejer, Senior Training Facilitator at PM-Partners, shares how sustainability can be embedded at every stage of the project and what you can do to uplift capability in this increasingly critical area.

Sustainability has long been a goal associated with environmentally positive outcomes. In more recent times, it has become central in many organisations as part of their social and economic goals; together, this three-pronged sustainability framework is known as the triple bottom line. Sustainability is closely tied to ethics and longevity both at an organisational level but also on a global scale.

What is sustainability?

The United Nations defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. In 2015, United Nations member states signed on to 17 Sustainability Development Goals, which define desirable social, environmental, health and economic outcomes through addressing issues such as inequality, education, peace and justice in a global partnership.

Sustainability in project management is “the application of methods, tools, and techniques to achieve a stated objective while considering the project outcome’s entire lifecycle to ensure a net positive environmental, social, and economic impact”, according to Green Project Management, the global advocate for sustainability in project practice.

Sustainability in project management

Sustainability as a concept has evolved within project management. In its early days, sustainable project management was defined by whether the project outputs met sustainable goals, for example, if a building achieved a high Green Star rating. However, Green Project Management specifically notes that methods, tools and techniques are the key determinants of sustainable project management. The distinction between “sustainability of the project” rather than “by the project” has become more prominent.

Additionally, while early adopters of sustainable project management were largely doing it for the good of the planet, according to SAP’s 2022 global Environmental Sustainability Study, 86 per cent of Australian leaders now see a positive connection between taking environmental action and profitability. Motivating factors include both carrot and stick: customer demand and governmental regulation.

As organisations recognise the role of effective project management in contributing to their competitive advantage, sustainable project management has become a key way to deliver on environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

In projects, particularly where the client stakeholder is a government body or multinational corporation, sustainability has become a success factor. Frameworks such as PRINCE2 have also added sustainability as a project performance target; PRINCE2 7 introduces a ‘sustainability management’ approach, which “provides guidance about planning and running projects more sustainably, and how/who project managers should engage with within communities” covering quality, risk and sustainability performance targets.

Sustainability in the project lifecycle

Sustainable project management must account for the long-term effects and benefits of both the project’s activities and the project outcomes. Embedding sustainability in the project lifecycle helps to deliver more sustainable outcomes. This includes:

• A sustainable project vision: Specifying sustainability in the project’s vision and objectives and including it in the business case focuses attention on ESG goals and encourages the project team to use a sustainable approach. Ensuring stakeholders understand the sustainability goals and having these properly communicated fosters ownership of sustainable outcomes.
  
  
• Planning for sustainability: Success metrics that include sustainability are more likely to lead to sustainability-led solutions and innovation. They also provide a framework for the project team to track and measure sustainability as the project progresses, and capture data to monitor and evaluate its impact.
  
  
• Sustainability in project execution: Ethical decision-making, transparency in governance and sustainable project practices – including upholding human rights, ethical labour practices, environmental protection and guarding against corruption – plus risk management that mitigates threats against and heightens opportunities for sustainability, are some of the pillars of sustainable project execution.
  
  
• Closing the project sustainably: Having a transparent value chain with measurable impacts that shows sustainable practice, and delivering a sustainable outcome, helps to affirm that the organisation has met ESG goals through benefits realisation.

Building project skills in sustainability

Equipping your team members with project skills that place sustainability at the forefront helps to align practitioner capabilities with wider sustainability goals. Green Project Management’s PRiSM™ (PRojects integrating Sustainable Methods) methodology takes a strategy-first approach that goes beyond sustainability in the project lifecycle. The comprehensive framework ensures that projects meet their sustainability objectives and also contributes to a sustainable future. It is centred on value maximisation of the sustainable asset lifecycle using existing organisational systems, and certification as a Green Project Manager (GPM) is therefore an excellent option for project practitioners who want to step up their sustainability credentials.

The GPM pathway begins with the Green Project Manager — Basic (GPM-b™) certification, which is included as part of PM-Partners’ new Sustainable Project Management PRiSM™ Foundation course. This one-day course equips participants with the necessary skills and expertise to deliver projects sustainably, setting them apart from other project managers in their field. Learning outcomes for attendees include the ability to:

• Identify the phases of the PRiSM project delivery lifecycle
• Develop an effective business case
• Develop and manage sustainability with a sustainability project management plan
• Engage and negotiate with your project’s stakeholders
• Document project success criteria
• Report accurately on project progress to stakeholders and provide materiality for ESG and sustainability reporting.

At the conclusion of the course, participants have one year to sit the Certified Green Project Manager — Level B (GPM-b™) exam.

Uplifting capability in this area attunes project team members to finding sustainable solutions and increases the chances of innovation – new technologies, processes and products – that have sustainable outcomes. In concert, a team of sustainability-focused project managers can empower organisations to undergo business transformation and achieve their ESG goals through their projects.

A pathway to competitive advantage

Sustainable project management goes beyond delivering projects with outputs that have positive environmental effects. Sustainability not only encompasses social, economic and governance concerns, in addition to environmental ones, project management itself should be practiced with sustainability at the forefront, from strategy and planning to methods, tools, and techniques.

Making a business case for sustainability, setting it as a performance target and embedding it in the project’s vision provides good incentive for team members and stakeholders to innovate and create sustainable solutions, a key competitive advantage in today’s business paradigm.

Earn certification as a sustainable project manager by completing our new Sustainable Project Management PRiSM™ Foundation course. Find out more by contacting PM-Partners or call us on 1300 70 13 14 for details.

 

GPM® and Green Project Management® are Registered Trademarks of GPM Global ©Copyright GPM Global 2022 www.greenprojectmanagement.org. ©PRiSM™ and ©GPM-b is used with consent.