Sustainable Value Creation
We help cities and local communities around the world to measure, plan and implement solutions to achieve increased sustainability. Always on the lookout for the solutions and partners that help ensure future welfare through sustainable value creation.
What are we working on?
Data
In order to understand what you can do, it is important to know where you stand. That is why we have done the job of collecting many of the most important international benchmarks for sustainability in a data platform. In this way, we can quickly say something about what the local status is, and where there is room to do more in the future.
Knowledge
Data in itself is no guarantee that you will reach a sustainability goal. That is why we have developed training programs that help you plan, invest and manage better. The programs are structured to give you and your team good conditions for working independently, and even training others inside and outside your own organisation.
Network
Cities and local communities depend on extensive cooperation, both within and across sectors. Without this cooperation, it is difficult to mobilize the resources needed. Norsk Bærekraftsenter collaborates with United Cities on networks and forums to connect local needs with knowledge, solutions and investments.
Holistic approach through three strategic programmes
Energy program
The NZEP (Net Zero Energy and Prosperity) energy program, we work with a portfolio of projects - some practical and other more conceptual - which aim to connect local development, green investments, and renewable energy.
Culture Program
The PACS (Prosperity Through Arts Culture and and Sports) culture program carries out projects related to arts, culture, sports and sustainability, with an emphasis on social sustainability, attracting local society and inclusion.
Internship Program
Through our Internship Program, we are building competence and capacity towards sustainable leadership. Participants from around the world learn through action, while providing practical assistance in the local community.
A "sustainable" project has so far meant little for larger project investments. New EU requirements mean that companies and investors must now assess both financial risk and the risk to society as a whole. This Double Materiality Analysis requires access to methods and data. Sustainability Center Norway has collected the most important standards - and much of the data needed - in one data platform and given Norwegian municipalities free access. Companies and institutional investors get the pieces they are missing in order to "sustainability" guarantee their investments.
ESG MEETS SDG in 1300 dimensions
“Cities are responsible for 80% of global energy use and fully 80% og global carbon emissions. There is no question - change cities, and you change the world.
Will Kennedy, UN Partnership Office
Smart use of Data
Through smart use of data, we are able to show where cities and local communities can get the most sustainability for the money. We emphasize measures and instruments that are in themselves sustainable. In this way, sustainable development becomes an opportunity for sustainable value creation, investment and the development of new, green jobs. Sustainability and welfare development have thus become two sides of the same coin.
What are the prerequisites for sustainable value creation?
The answer definitely depends on where you stand when you ask the question, although the method is the same!
Come together for a sustainable future
Together with the municipalities, we are now making a big sustainability boost. We have decided to make our data platform with measuring points for sustainability available to Norwegian municipalities and counties. Without the municipalities having to pay to gain access. We believe that it cannot be the local economy that determines whether your local community reaches the UN's sustainability goals. We invite others to join us on the journey, and to work with us to make this a good and up-to-date tool for municipal prioritization, planning and budgeting.
Sustainability pays off. But only if you have good management and governance...
Sustainable management
Sustainable development requires sustainable management and governance. That is why we have developed practical training programs for managers and key people who work with converting management data into decision, action and investment. There are many opportunities within the established planning and management system for Norwegian cities, without these opportunities being fully used to mobilize resources and achieve sustainability goals.
An international competence center in sustainability.
Norsk Bærekraftsenter is an internationally recognized competence center in sustainability, management and urban development. We became an Untied Cities Charter Center in 2023, and support the global work of United Cities both in the Nordics and in other parts of the world. We do this through services and solutions related to measuring, training and organizing sustainability work at local level. The work we do is rooted in deep knowledge of best practice management and governance of cities. In our approach, we combine investment in technology and solutions with investment in people and social systems. Without seeing technological and "soft" factors in context, there is little reason to believe that we will achieve the sustainability goals.
“Accelerating the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the UN “Decade of Action” successfully, requires a move from talking about sustainability to living sustainably. Such a shift implies the need to focus especially on peoples’ everyday practices. This includes developing policies that enable, promote and support radical change in peoples’ everyday actions.”
— UNESCO Jena Declaration
Art and Culture
Norwegian Sustainability Center works in partnership with Fredrick-Schiller University Jena and their UNESCO Chair on Global Understanding for Sustainability on ways to sustainability that emphasize the importance of art and culture.
In 2023, we started a collaboration with Oppdal municipality, where we look at how art, culture and sport contribute to Oppdal reaching important development and social goals.
A Green Shift?
In 2022, the Norwegian Center for Sustainable Energy started the program Net Zero Energy and Prosperity (NZEP). The starting point was an international collaboration with partners in North Africa and Egypt. As the name suggests, the program builds a bridge between the development of future energy systems and the green, industrial cities of the future. The model, which was once developed and tested in Europe, has later been adapted to the conditions in Egypt. Together with institutional investors, we are now taking the model further to several African countries. The NZEP Program is supported by Innovation Norway and "Team Norway".