Simplicity Without Reduction: Thinking Upstream Towards the Sustainable Society

Göran Broman, John Holmberg and Karl-Henrik Robört
Additional contact information
Göran Broman: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Karlskrona/Ronneby, S-371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden
John Holmberg: Department of Physical Resource Theory, Chalmers University of Technology and Göteborg University, S-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
Karl-Henrik Robört: The Natural Step, Wallingatan 22, S-111 24 Stockholm, Sweden

Interfaces, 2000, vol. 30, issue 3, 13-25

Abstract: The natural-step framework is used by over 100 organizations, including many global corporations in Europe and the United States, to provide strategic direction for their sustainability initiatives. The framework is built on the concept of simplicity without reduction. Out of respect for complexity, we designed it to provide a compass, a guide for strategic direction. The framework consists of a backcasting planning process for sustainable development based on four principles (system conditions) for sustainability. The framework does not prescribe detailed actions. Once an organization understands the framework, it identifies and specifies the detailed means by which to achieve the strategy, because it knows its business best. The steps in the planning process are understanding and discussing the system conditions for sustainability, describing and discussing how the company relates to the system conditions in today's situation, creating a vision of how the company will fulfill its customers' needs in the future while complying with the system conditions, and specifying a program of actions that will take the company from today's situation to the future vision.

Keywords: ENVIRONMENT; FINANCE—INVESTMENT CRITERIA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.30.3.13.11662 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orinte:v:30:y:2000:i:3:p:13-25

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Interfaces from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().