Stewarding Sustainability Transformations - An Emerging Theory and Practice of SDG Implementation

In the context of the world's pressing sustainability challenges this new Report to the Club of Rome presents a novel approach to navigating collaborative change in partnerships between governments, research institutions, corporations and civil society activists. With reference to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the Planetary Boundaries it introduces the theory and practice of Collective Stewardship as a management tool that respects the integrity of human and natural systems. Drawing on the work of transdisciplinary scientific scholars and seasoned sustainability practitioners, it shows how transformative change can be built on life's inherent tendency to generate patterns of vitality and resilience. This ground-breaking monograph shows workable pathways to stewarding patterns of aliveness in social and ecological systems at all levels of the global society. As a highly regarded author and expert in collective leadership, Petra Kuenkel inspires academics and practitioners alike to explore new routes towards co-creating responsible futures in the era of the Anthropocene, where the human footprint has begun to change the course of planetary evolution. She invites decision-makers, researchers, planners and social activists to become stewards of systems patterns, enhance their collaborative competencies and guide life-enhancing socio-ecological interaction at scale. The conceptual architecture the author elaborates builds transformation literacy and boils down to a practical guidance for planning and implementing interventions across all sectors of society. It helps bring about change through a deliberate combination of enlivening narratives, empowering metrics, enabling processes, multi-level governance, guiding regulations, and life-supporting innovation. This comprehensive book sets a new direction in the field of sustainability transformations and will become a foundation for planning collective action and achieving impact at scale. 


Petra Kuenkel is a full Member of the International Club of Rome and the Executive Director of the Collective Leadership Institute, a Germany and South Africa based social enterprise building collaboration competency for transformative change towards world sustainability. As a seasoned systems scientist, visionary author and expert in complex multi-stakeholder settings she promotes systems transformations by scaling-up collective stewardship skills for decision-makers from corporations, public sector and civil society. With her educational background in change management, organizational psychology and political science she has profound international experiences in corporate change, development cooperation and policy implementation. She is a leading strategic advisor to pioneering international initiatives that tackle sustainability challenges. Based on successful transformation processes, she developed the dialogic change methodology and the Collective Leadership Compass, a guiding tool for navigating change in complex multi-actor settings. Kuenkel's ground-breaking publication The Art of Leading Collectively received international attention; her writings have appeared in numerous professional journals as well as the Guardian and Huffington Post.