Organizational Change towards Sustainability

In this chapter it is argued that building a sustainability mindset amongst organizational members is a key mechanism to enable business models to transition to a transformative sustainable mode of operating in the world. The organizational sustainability literature calls for a mindset paradigm shift at organizational level, yet it says little about the learning processes that may underpin or enable such a mindset shift. A recursive model of learning is proposed, which explains the building of a sustainability mindset and unpacks the behavioural competences. The emphasis on technological innovation has marginalised the individual and their agency in generating change around sustainable practice, yet the lack of competence or know-how is often identified as a key barrier to moving organization-centric sustainability objectives forward. Building a sustainability mindset unpacks how systems thinking and collaborative behaviour manifest in situ and can enable sustainable transitions through practice, bridging individual- and organizational-level actions.