The Natural Step

Organisation name 

The Natural Step

Country 

Sweden

Contact details 

Website http://www.thenaturalstep.org/
Email info@thenaturalstep.org

Testimonial

"The Natural Step has been developing and communicating the case for sustainability for over fifteen years. Recognition by the Alcan Prize team of our impact and potential is much appreciated by the TNS team and will be a source of inspiration for our partners and supporters as well."

Financial resources

US$1.49M (2005-06)

Geographical focus

Global

Issue focus

Environment, technology, education

Key achievements

• Created the first scientifically rigorous framework for sustainability which is widely used by both public and private sectors
• Coached municipalities and companies to design and implement award-winning integrated sustainability plans
• Produced over 100 peer-reviewed publications and ten doctoral dissertations from leading scientists around the world

Mission

The core purpose of The Natural Step (TNS) is to develop a genuine commitment to, and competence in, sustainable development throughout society, using as a systems approach for dialogue and decision-making. TNS works to accelerate global sustainability by guiding companies, communities and governments onto an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable path. Operations are guided by the vision of 'a sustainable human society'.

Background

In 1989, TNS developed the first, scientifically rigorous Framework for social, ecological and economic sustainability based on first-order principles. Since then, it has been a pioneer in building local and global leadership and capacity for sustainability through learning programmes, research and coaching. Central to this has been a systems approach that allows for dialogue and decision-making across disciplines, enabling entire chains of suppliers, customers, competitors and government to work together towards sustainability.

The Framework continues to be applied across the globe in large companies such as Hydro Polymers, Interface, Matsushita, Rohm & Haas, Skanska, Ikea and the Coop Bank, as well as SMEs. In the public sector TNS has guided municipalities from South Africa to Sweden, to USA and Canada. It has partnered with educational institutions such as the University of Texas, Sao Paolo Business School, Christchurch University and the Association for Industrial Ecology

Partnerships

TNS staff regularly work with an international network of sustainability experts, scientists, universities, Politicians and businesses. Many of its projects bring together early adopters of sustainability principles from local government, the community, other NGOs and businesses to create a shared vision of the desired outcome. From this, steps to reach goals are agreed and prioritised. This process requires TNS to build strong, cross-sectoral partnerships with individuals and organisations. TNS's strategy is to build capacity locally, currently through 11 country offices and programmes in: Australia, Brasil, Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, and the USA.

Impact achieved

TNS has proven that sustainable decision-making leads to new opportunities, reduced costs, and dramatically reduced ecological and social impact. Some key examples of its achievements include:

• Learning programmes, including: the Youth Parliament, a national sustainable development programme in Sweden that has reached over 500,000 young people since 1989; a cross-disciplinary, international Masters programme in 'Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability' in Sweden; and an award-winning E-learning programme to further capacity building globally
• Research, including: over 100 peer-reviewed publications and 10 doctoral dissertations from leading scientists; and the 'Real Change' Programme, a partnership between universities, businesses and government to further cross-disciplinary research and application
• Partnering with organisations across industries and sectors, such as construction, finance, agriculture, hospitality, manufacturing and the public sector to demonstrate measurable outcomes towards sustainability
• Partnering with municipalities to produce award winning integrated sustainability plans, with improved citizens engagement, resulting in improved service delivery
• Partnered with universities and schools around the world to create sustainability learning programmes for youth and Masters level students