Sustainability, a requirement in projects

Abstract

Sustainability has become a prominent term in policy-oriented research as an expression of what public policies seek to achieve (Kuhlman & Farrington,2010). It has been a developing idea, frequently receiving attention from society, governmental agendas, and the innovative field (Tamak,2017). Organisations are now rapidly taking steps towards incorporating sustainability in their activities and projects. However, even though there are guiding principles mentioned in the literature, practice reveals that organisations still have trouble in the long-term implementation of sustainability in projects (Kammerl et al., 2017; Stewart et al., 2016). One of the most difficult challenges TSOs (Transmission Grid operators) face in successfully integrating sustainable requirements in projects is translating high-level sustainability goals into quantifiable and measurable sustainability aspects.The main aim of this research is to develop a framework for managing sustainability requirements in TSO projects. The objective of the research is to successfully reduce the gap present in managing sustainability requirements in TSO projects.This research is divided into three phases. Phase one is literature review, where an in-depth study regarding sustainability requirements from the context of TSO, organisations and projects was done. Phase two is emiprical research done through semi-structured interviews. This phase contributed towards understanding the current situation of sustainability requirement in TSO's projects as well as the uncertainties found. This is followed by phase three, which develops the framework. The sustainability requirements management framework is a goal oriented process and aims in translating ambitions into actions. The practicability of the framework is at the program level only, as this framework aims in aligning project sustainability requirements with the strategic ambitions, resulting in better sustainable performance. The framework also assists in understanding the benefits sustainability requirements gives when implemented well in the project.