Organize the sustainability work

By Ann-Christin Pålsson, Johan Widheden, Sofia Petersson

The sustainability work should have a clear organisation for implementation. This involves defining way of working and roles, responsibilities and resources for the work. The organisation should be based on a clear management commitment.

An organization for the sustainability work can include:

  • Good cross functional cooperation and communication within the whole company
  • Key-persons promoting sustainable development in the whole company
  • An expertise team supporting the organisation with specific sustainability assessments and basis for decisions

Often both top-down and bottom-up approaches are relevant to use simultaneously. The top-down approach includes that the management sets clear strategies, priorities, and targets for the work, whereas a  bottom-up approach includes making use of projects and experiences in different parts of the organisation, to take the work further into the organization.

Examples