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Green Project Terminology: The Language of the Green Wave • 23

taBle 2.2
The Natural Step
conditions Principles
In a sustainable society, nature is not To become a sustainable society we must
subject to systematically increasing the answer with the following principles:
following conditions:
1. Concentrations of substances 1. Eliminate our contribution to the
extracted from the earth’s crust progressive buildup of substances
extracted from the earth’s crust (for
example, heavy metals and fossil fuels).
2. Concentrations of substances 2. Eliminate our contribution to the
produced by society progressive buildup of chemical
compounds produced by society (for
example, dioxins, PCBs, and DDT).
3. Degradation by physical means 3. Eliminate our contribution to the
progressive destruction of nature and
natural processes (for example,
overharvesting forests and paving over
critical wildlife habitat).
4. In that society, people are not subject 4. Eliminate our contribution to conditions
to conditions that systemically that undermine people’s capacity to meet
undermine their capacity to meet their basic human needs (for example,
their needs. unsafe working conditions and not
enough pay to live on).
Note: Adapted from The Natural Step, http://www.naturalstep.org.
application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities
to meet or exceed stakeholders’ needs and expectations from a project.”
7
We take it one step further and add, “to make any decision necessary to be
environmentally responsible.”

CorPorate soCial resPonsiBility and
the green ProjeCt manager

How can a project manager influence corporate behavior? Can the proj-
ect manager help a corporation attain social responsibility? Corporate
social responsibility (CSR) is directly related to green project management
by definition. To define CSR, once again one only has to look to Natural
Step’s four conditions/principles for a sustainable society. The authors
have always asserted that project management is a microcosm of general