FAQs

These responses are meant to clarify some of the confusion around sustainability and The Natural Step Framework.  They are not meant to be exhaustive, so if you’d like more information about a certain topic, please continue browsing our website and take a look at our Resources section.

1. What is The Natural Step Framework?
2. What is unique about The Natural Step Framework?
3. What is The Natural Step organisation?
4. What do we mean by sustainability?
5. What do we need to do to become sustainable?
6. How do I get started?
7. Describe a typical engagement.
8. How much do your services cost?
9. How do a get a Natural Step speaker to come to my event?
10. What is your position on population growth?
11. Does it really matter what we do, when China is ramping up its industrial production, greenhouse gasses and population?
12. If we can’t fully eliminate our contribution to the principles of un-sustainability, then our whole company (community) should basically just shut down.  Are you saying that the only sustainable thing to do is cease our operations?
13. How does The Natural Step Framework help me make daily decisions?
14. Greener options usually cost more.  Is it realistic to expect companies to take actions that cost them more?
15. Backcasting, which is core to your approach, doesn’t seem too radical. We plan for things and move towards them.  What’s different about the way that you do it?
16. How does The Natural Step relate to other tools and concepts?
17. How does The Natural Step relate to climate change? You work on sustainability - why do I need The Natural Step if I only want to deal with climate change?
18. Why is taking a systems-approach so important?
19. How does The Natural Step Framework address social needs?
20. Shouldn’t The Natural Step Framework provide clear answers on the issues of our time (nuclear power, biofuels, food crises)?
21. What's the difference between system conditions and sustainability principles?

1. What is The Natural Step Framework?

The Natural Step Framework is a comprehensive model for planning in complex systems. It is openly published and free for all to use. The Framework provides a box to arrange and organize various tools for sustainable development so that approaches and methodologies are aligned to work synergistically with each other. It is constantly used, tested, refined and developed. The Natural Step Framework has helped hundreds of different organisations around the world integrate sustainable development into their strategic planning and create long lasting transformative change.   For a complete description, visit Our Approach.

2. What is unique about The Natural Step Framework?

The Natural Step Framework was created to help organisations and communities backcast from principles of sustainability.  Backcasting is a fancy word for the concept of starting first by defining a future point of success, and then taking the most effective steps to arrive at that point (in comparison with forecasting where we study past information to find trends and project them into the future).  Within this backcasting approach, principles of sustainability are used to define a future point of success that is sustainable and consistent with basic scientific laws (e.g. laws of thermodynamics).  The Natural Step approach is unique in that it does not constrain individuals to work only with existing technologies, political systems and laws. We assume that those things will change and we are planning far enough in the future that we can use that to our advantage.  Backcasting from sustainability principles is an incredibly powerful planning approach which unleashes creativity and leads to out of the box thinking.   For more, read about backcasting here.

3. What is The Natural Step organisation?

The Natural Step is a not-for-profit organisation founded with the vision of creating a sustainable human society.  The essential mission of our organisation is to promote understanding, competence, strategic planning and, above all, action towards sustainability. We ground our work in a robust, science-based framework that helps communities and businesses better understand and integrate environmental, social, and economic considerations into their planning.  We focus on education, advisory work and research related to sustainable development.  We currently have 11 offices with international headquarters in Sweden.   For more, visit our About Us.

4. What do we mean by sustainability?

You hear the word thrown around all the time and it seems to be related to a num¬ber of different topics, from development of biofuels to recycling paper.  While the word ‘sustainability’ is associated with a variety of topics, each of these is a part of the same story.   In 1987, the Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.’** This definition is very compelling, but it does not have the clarity nor the precision required for effective organisational planning.   This is why The Natural Step built on this definition through a consensus-based process to develop four conditions that define the characteristics of a sustainable society.  These conditions are rooted in science and are used for strategic planning toward sustainability.  For more, visit our four systems conditions. 

** World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987.

5. What do we need to do to become sustainable?

In order to create a sustainability society, we must understand the root causes of un-sustainability.  There are only four things that we are doing that inhibit the earth’s ability to maintain us and future generations.  The Natural Step arrived at these root causes of un-sustainability by leading an international panel of scientists through a consensus process.  To create a sustainable society, we must:

• Eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of substances extracted from the Earth's crust (for example, heavy metals and fossil fuels)
• Eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of chemicals and compounds produced by society (for example, dioxins, PCBs, and DDT )
• Eliminate our contribution to the progressive physical degradation and destruction of nature and natural processes (for example, continued over-harvesting forests and continued paving of critical wildlife habitat);
• Eliminate our contribution to conditions that undermine people’s capacity to meet their basic human needs (for example, unsafe working conditions and not enough pay to meet basic human needs)

These are the principles of sustainability.  To learn more about the research that inspired them, visit our 4 system conditions page.

6. How do I get started?

The oft-quoted Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu said ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’.  This is a good description of the journey toward sustainability.  Although it will be a long and complicated process, it will also be fun and rewarding.  The first step involves educating yourself about what sustainability means so that you can help get others on board.  There are many resources freely available on our website (Our Approach and Resources) and through our eLearning courses.  Next, decide on your scope.  You can work on becoming more sustainable in your personal life by downloading our Sustainability at Home Toolkit or joining a local challenge such as the Nature Challenge.  If you are interested in working on your business, there are also local challenges and toolkits.  When you have built some commitment to sustainability in your organisation, it can be very helpful to engage professionals to help you embed sustainability into your operations and strategy.  There are a number of groups that help organisations with this and The Natural Step is one of them.

7. Describe a typical engagement.

Although no two engagements are the same, we always use backcasting from sustainability principles as our method.  Our general approach includes:

• Creating awareness and excitement around sustainability;
• Engaging individuals in the planning process;
• Inspiring innovation by developing creative tension between a desired sustainable future outcome;
• Taking an honest and tough look at current reality; and
• Realizing new initiatives by encouraging ideas and removing barriers to help bridge the gap between current reality and the desired future.

We have worked with huge multi-national companies to roll out multiple language, country, and departmental trainings and we have worked with our local coffee house to create an overarching strategy for their work.  The Natural Step Framework is both flexible and scalable, meaning that it can be applied across sectors and at any scale – from deciding what to eat for lunch to determining the chemical composition of shoe rubber.   We have also created an award-winning suite of eLearning courses that we integrate into our in-person work.  If you are interested in working with us, please visit our Contact Us page for more information about your local office. 

8. How much do your services cost?

Our services vary in cost depending on the amount of time it takes to complete the task at hand.  Some of the factors we consider when pricing projects are:

• The time it will take us to prepare for the project
• The time it will take us to deliver the project
• The number of people who will be involved from both your organisation and The Natural Step
• The level of experience our advisors need to have to fulfill the project (more complicated projects often require one or more senior advisors)
• The need for travel

Following a conversation with you to scope the project and determine the fit between your needs and our skills we will present you with a proposal with pricing information.

9. How do a get a Natural Step speaker to come to my event?

We regularly speak at conferences and company meetings, and we run seminars and workshops for many different organisations.  If you are interested on having The Natural Step speak at your event, visit our Request a Speaker page.

10. What is your position on population growth?

The Natural Step does not have an official position on population growth because our Framework is not prescriptive.  As the earth’s population continues to grow and our consumption increases per capita, we put increasing strain on the earth’s ability to sustain us.  The challenge for us is to design our society so that all can meet their needs in a way that does not undermine the ecological or social systems that life depends on.  This is our global responsibility. 

The Natural Step Framework helps organisations do what they can within their sphere of influence to fix these design errors.

11.    Does it really matter what we do, when China is ramping up its industrial production, greenhouse gasses and population?

This is undoubtedly a big challenge. Many world leaders prefer to point the finger at industrializing nations rather than take action in their own backyards.  The reality is that China, like most other industrializing countries, is modeling its development on the path taken by industrialised countries like the United States, Great Britain and Canada, with the justifiable goal of raising the quality of life for its citizens.  Industrial countries have been pumping GHGs steadily into the atmosphere for several hundred years. These countries must take responsibility for their own actions before dictating what other countries should be doing. 

In reality, emissions per capita are much lower in China than in any industrialised country.  History tells us that we are generally motivated by crisis (i.e. hitting the walls of the funnel), and in many respects, the entire world is already hitting the walls of the funnel today.  If industrialised countries are to be models for success, then we had better start modeling the kinds of technologies, processes, etc. that we want others to adopt – and do it as quickly as possible!  There is huge potential for leadership here.   There is also a huge benefit to be gained from those who have the technologies and processes to do things better and to help China ‘leapfrog’ into a more sustainable future.

Systems thinking shows us that everything and everyone in our world is somehow linked.  We depend on international supply chains, neighbours and customers on a daily basis.  China absolutely needs to be sustainable for industrialised countries to achieve sustainability and vice versa.  No one person, organisation or country can face this challenge alone.  There is also a lucrative business opportunity in creating the technologies of the future that will be used around the world.

12.    If we can’t fully eliminate our contribution to the principles of un-sustainability, then our whole company (community) should basically just shut down.  Are you saying that the only sustainable thing to do is cease our operations?

No!  Although the sustainability challenge we face is dire and our ability to live within the sustainability principles seems far-off, the purpose of planning is to move toward sustainability over the long-term, not get there tomorrow.  We cannot crush the economy as we move toward sustainability; we need to adapt the structures that we have and use them to move us toward sustainability.

The Natural Step sustainability principles define a long-term sustainability outcome by providing direction, not dictating a specific path.  They are similar to the concept of “checkmate” in the game of chess.  In chess, success is defined by checkmate, when the opponent’s king is challenged and the challenge cannot be met. We do not know at the outset of the game how the pieces will achieve this victory, but we know the object of the game and we move towards it.  The sustainability principles provide the parameters for success in the field of sustainability by evaluating our individual decisions as part of a longer term journey that is moving us towards sustainability over time.  In this sense, you first need to articulate a desirable future for your organization in a sustainable society, as well as taking a look at what current opportunities and barriers are to creating that future, and then over time take the day-to-day and strategic steps to arrive there.

13. How does The Natural Step Framework help me make daily decisions?

Daily decisions about sustainability are full of pros and cons, so it can often seem like we are simply trading one problem for another when we make decisions. Without an overarching framework to help us evaluate our decisions, we can get bogged down in the feeling that we’re simply trading off between environmental, social, and economic factors.

That’s why it’s helpful to take a ’backcasting‘ approach, where every decision can be evaluated within the context of a longer-term journey of alignment with sustainability principles. Backcasting from sustainability principles helps overcome the trade-offs by encouraging us to move away from thinking about whether one action or impact is better or worse than another, and instead begin to evaluate whether a particular action is taking us in the right direction and is a flexible platform for future actions. No single action will get us to our sustainability goals, so each action should be seen as a potential stepping stone toward further improvements.

The example of light bulbs (ie. using conventional lightbulbs that use more electricity or using CFLs that contain mercury – a heavy metal) is an excellent example of this kind of thinking.  Comparing these two choices in isolation is like comparing apples and cell phones.   Mainly, we think that the way to handle trade-offs is to be able to learn to evaluate and communicate actions within the context of a holistic and long-term understanding of sustainability, and that’s exactly what The Natural Step Framework tries to do.   By identifying a common vision and then working together towards it, decisions can be weighed in the context of the full sustainability plan.

14. Greener options usually cost more.  Is it realistic to expect companies to take actions that cost them more?

Sustainability is about ensuring that environmental, social and economic considerations are integrated into decision-making.  In many ways, sustainability is really about risk-management.  It is about ensuring that your business can continue to operate without hitting the walls of the funnel (e.g. being affected by rising fossil fuel and other raw material costs, being sued, etc).   When organisations apply the TNS Framework, they use three strategic questions to prioritise actions towards sustainability.  Return on investment is a very important consideration when it comes down to evaluating and prioritizing actions.

There is considerable research showing that organisations that embrace sustainability do better financially from both a strategic planning and operational perspective.  For more on this, see Bob Willard’s book The Sustainability Advantage which is an excellent resource.  Standard accounting also requires the measurement of opportunity-cost.  What would it cost NOT to move toward sustainability, particularly over the long term?  

This also promotes the use of full costing.  Although green options often cost more in up-front investment, they are cheaper over their full life span.  To fully understand the cost of an investment, one must do a life-cycle analysis to compare the full cost stream over the investment’s lifetime.  For example, let’s compare the costs of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFL) with a conventional incandescent lightbulbs.  From the chart below we can see that CFL bulbs involve a considerably higher up-front investment, but their savings come through savings in electricity (CFLs are 75% more efficient over 5 years) and the time taken to replace them (this adds up considerably for businesses that must order, purchase, change and then dispose of a large number of bulbs).   There is still the question of trade-offs as CFL bulbs contain mercury and therefore using CFL bulbs must be seen as a flexible platform in getting us to a sustainable future, not an end in themselves (see Q13 above).

Assumptions:   Electricity costs $0.091/kwh (cost of Bullfrog Power as of August 25th, 2008), bulbs operated 10 hours/day.

There is considerable research showing that organisations that embrace sustainability do better financially from both a strategic planning and operational perspective.  For more on this, see Bob Willard’s book The Sustainability Advantage which is an excellent resource.  Standard accounting also requires the measurement of opportunity-cost.  What would it cost NOT to move toward sustainability, particularly over the long term? 

15. Backcasting, which is core to your approach, doesn’t seem too radical. We plan for things and move towards them.  What’s different about the way that you do it?

Backcasting is an academic term for being really strategic.  Most visionaries do this naturally because they can visualize the end goal: an athlete watches himself cross the finish line, an executive watches herself giving an excellent and motivating speech.  Backcasting is more common for individuals (planning a wedding, buying a house, looking for a new job), but is rarely practiced in large groups.  This means that groups tend to use forecasting.  There is nothing wrong with forecasting as such, however, when we are dealing with an issue, such as creating a sustainability society, that requires changes and adaptations to our existing systems and structures, then forecasting will serve to reinforce them because our plans will simply take them as a given.  When we backcast, we first ask what we want to create and then consider whether current systems and structures need to be changed to arrive at our desired outcome.  This means we do not take our systems and structures as given or permanent, and we challenge the way we do things  ,  To learn more about the difference between backcasting and forecasting, click here.

The difference in our approach is that we help groups imagine their ideal future within the context of the sustainability principles and then move towards it.  The sustainability principles were actually created for the purpose of backcasting to ensure that we end up with a future where our needs are met and the planet can continue to sustain us.  Backcasting from sustainability principles allows us to step into a new way of thinking.  We leave behind the preconceptions of what is and what is not possible based on current realities, politics and technologies and instead focus on the things that we all want (ie. clean water, clean air, safe working and living environments, etc).  Backcasting is crucial in moving strategically toward sustainability.

16. How does The Natural Step relate to other tools and concepts?

Note: This explanation is for those that have a deeper understanding of the Framework.  If you need a refresher, visit Our Approach.

A core component of The Natural Step Framework is a five level mental model that categorizes various tools and concepts.  The levels are 1) the system, 2) success, 3) strategies, 4) actions and 5) tools.  Click here for more on the 5 levels.  This allows for us to separate a principle for success (ie. The Natural Step sustainability principles – level 2) from a tool (ie. LEED certification – level 5).  These tools and concepts can and should be used together to fill each other’s gaps, but the user must be very clear about what need they are fulfilling.  The 5 Level Framework is a great way for you to structure your thinking and help you choose the most appropriate concepts and tools for your sustainability journey.  One of the clarifications that this model makes is to show that concepts sitting at different levels are not in competition with each other.  For example, consider the example of ISO14001 standard and The Natural Step Framework.  The ISO14001 standard provides processes and guidelines to develop an excellent environmental management system. However, a frequent criticism is that it does not provide guidance on what to measure, and therefore what to manage.  The TNS Framework, on the other hand, provides guidance on what is important to consider from a strategic and full sustainability perspective (i.e. backcasting from the sustainability principles or “success”), although it does not articulate a management system by itself.  A useful metaphor is to think about running a ship, where the ISO standard provides guidance on how to run a ship well, but does not suggest where to go.  On the other hand, the TNS Framework provides a compass to guide the ship to where it needs to go, but does not say how to manage the ship.  The magic is when these are combined together into a sustainability management system.  For more information, please click here.

For a more in-depth discussion on this topic, please read this paper published in The Journal of Cleaner Production.

17. How does The Natural Step relate to climate change? You work on sustainability - why do I need The Natural Step if I only want to deal with climate change?

Climate change is one very serious symptom of an unsustainable society.  It is a problem that we have created by using the atmosphere as a garbage dump.  Unfortunately, it’s not the only symptom of un-sustainability.  If we do not take a systems approach to solving climate change, we could easily create more and bigger problems than we already have.  For example, we have heard a lot in the media about the substitution of biofuels (fuels created from organic matter such as corn) for fossil fuels used in transportation.  This substitution could help alleviate our current dependence on fossil fuels, but it can also lead to a series of other problems around the world. For example, the substitution of corn for fossil fuels is contributing to a global food crisis as demand for corn sky-rockets and people at the lower end of the economic spectrum can no longer afford to buy basic staples.  We need to be conscious of solving today’s problems in a way that does not compromise the capacity of others to meet their needs today and in the future.  This is why we absolutely must take a systems-approach to solving climate change.

18. Why is taking a systems-approach so important?

Albert Einstein once said ‘The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them’.  Taking a systems approach – understanding that we are operating in a complex system of related parts - allows us to plan in a different way.   Our system – the earth – is made of many inter-related parts and we need to respect that when planning.  In many ways, we’ve learned the importance of systems thinking the hard way.  

Often, with the best of intentions, we’ve tried to solve one problem only to create more.   Take, for example, the case of a malaria epidemic in Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia.  In the early 1950s, malaria was affecting huge numbers of children on the island.  Since malaria is spread by mosquitoes, the World Health Organisation sprayed DDT to kill the bugs.  It worked: the mosquitoes died and the malaria declined.   But then people’s roofs started to collapse because the DDT also killed a wasp which ate the caterpillar that feasted on the thatched roofs.  Geckoes fed on DDT-poisoned insects and while the geckoes survived, the cats that ate the geckoes died off.  Without cats as predators, rats flourished and outbreaks of typhus and plague followed.  The World Health Organisation then resorted to parachuting 14,000 live cats into Borneo.  

Once we start to see the whole system, we think differently about how to solve problems.  We are used to looking only at the individual parts rather than the whole.  Systems-thinking forces us to look at the big picture and solve the problem at its root.  That’s why systems-thinking is so important.  The Natural Step Framework takes a systems approach with the sustainability principles that ensures we focus on the root causes of un-sustainability rather than dealing only with the downstream symptoms.

19. How does The Natural Step Framework address social needs?

The Natural Step focuses on the big picture.  The way we address sustainability is to first outline success from the full perspective, meeting all four sustainability principles, and within this we focus on social issues.   We then ask organisations to consider how they are contributing to conditions that undermine people’s ability to meet their basic human needs.  These could be, for example, economic conditions (e.g. wages too low to allow for full and fulfilling life), political conditions (e.g. support of governments that restrict freedoms), and health and safety conditions (e.g. work places that put workers in undue danger).  Once an organisation develops a full picture of these contributions, we then brainstorm and consider ways to, over time, change the way they operate so as to eliminate these contributions.  The fourth sustainability principle is very important and we need all four!   The fourth sustainability principle is co-dependent on the other three. If people are unable to meet their basic needs, they are more likely to resort to activities that damage the environment. When we damage natural systems, the people least able to meet their human needs will be the most severely affected.

20. Shouldn’t The Natural Step Framework provide clear answers on the issues of our time (nuclear power, biofuels, food crises)?

The Natural Step Framework is not intended to provide specific ‘one-size fits all’ answers, as these would be inflexible and would not stand the test of time.  We work with experts in different fields to come up with observations and recommendations for specific sectors, because we are experts in education and facilitation around a strategic sustainability framework, not experts in specific issues.  Therefore, we engage experts by first jointly articulating a desired sustainable outcome for that sector or issue, identifying current challenges and opportunities to attaining that desired outcome, and then provide guidance on how to close the gap between today and the future we would like to create.  

21. What's the difference between system conditions and sustainability principles?

While written to be scientifically clear, the specific wording of the four system conditions can be confusing to non-scientists who try to put them to work. Fortunately, the system conditions can be reworded as basic sustainability principles that provide explicit guidance for any individual or any organisation interested in moving towards sustainability. The table below contains the four system conditions on the left and the reworded the basic sustainability principles on the right. In most instances, we refer to the basic sustainability principles as opposed to the four system conditions.