Managing Sustainable Development Programmes: A Learning Approach to Change

Project work, driven by competent project leaders, leads to positive outcomes. Unfortunately these optimistic initial results are often short-sighted with few evaluations of their long-term impact. The research contained in Managing Sustainable Development Programmes reveals an extraordinary level of failure in the durability of large change programmes and projects in both the private and public sectors. As a result the authors ask 'can sustainable development be achieved within the framework of large publicly financed programmes?' This strong critique of traditional programme implementation overturns much of our current thinking about project delivery and governance. The authors focus instead on sustainable change and development. Their approach shows how active ownership and collaboration between different actors and the dynamics of developmental learning can be used to provide multiplier effects, creating programmes and projects that contribute to innovation, employment and growth in a way that favours companies, employees, customers and society in a broader sense. The message at its heart is 'don't blame the project leader' but rather look for dynamic possession of projects, joint knowledge management and sharing with external stakeholders that will secure long-term effects.