Project Management in Environmental Sustainability

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 Project Management in Environmental Sustainability

With the current climate changes, it’s essential to incorporate environmentally sustainable

practices that help in climate change mitigation. Environmental sustainability is a concept that

requires project managers to ensure that their projects regard the social, economic, and

environmental aspects (Pinto, 2020). Some businesses are mostly concerned with profit making,

neglecting their duty to care for the environment and communities around them. thus, it’s

important to understand how, why, and where project management can be used in environmental

sustainability efforts.

Why

Effective Resource Usage

Project management is an essential component of environmental sustainability as it helps

in resource optimization. In project management, resource utilization is a key performance

metric that allows project managers and other leaders to understand resource efficiency during a

project (Meredith et al., 2017). In environmental sustainability efforts, it is essential to ensure

that the available resources are optimally used. For example, the project be achieved within the

set timelines. Resource utilization is a key aspect of sustainability as it ensures that all the

resources are well used.

Stakeholder Engagement

Further, environment sustainability initiatives require project management skills to help

in stakeholder engagement. As with other projects, stakeholder engagements entail preserving

the active commitment of the people involved throughout the project cycles. Project management

principles call for comprehensive communication, collaboration, and listening (Kerzner, 2018).
These collaborative efforts are essential in environmental sustainability efforts as they usually

involve multiple stakeholders. Engaging these stakeholders helps in making informed decisions,

such as on the resource allocation and ideal projects to be implemented (Havranek, 2017). Also,

having everyone on board reduces the chances of resistance in any project cycle, resulting in

successful projects. Thus, project management equips the project managers with the knowledge

on how and importance of stakeholder engagement in environmental sustainability efforts.

Legislative Compliance

In addition, project management is crucial in environmental sustainability efforts as it

ensures legislative compliance. Typically, environmental projects require adhering to various

regulatory and legislative frameworks. As suggested by Kuhre (2018), environmental initiatives

must align with local, national, and international environmental laws. Non-compliance with these

regulations may have legal impacts, which may stall the project. As such, project management

ensures that suggested initiatives have lower legal risks. For example, an organization wishing to

better its environmental reporting practices should ensure that it follows the disclosure

requirements.

Project Planning

Similarly, project management helps in the planning of environmental projects. Project

managers ought to consider several factors including strategy, logistics and tactics when planning

for projects (Lock, 2017). In this regard, the environmental project managers should have the

overall game plan, have the ways to execute the plan and manage the available resources. Also,

they learn how to use the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in the planning. WBS helps in

planning the projects by visually deconstructing the project into 5 levels (Heagney, 2022). This
deconstruction helps the project managers to allocate resources efficiently. Planning is essential

in environmental project management as it makes it easy to adjust the project in case of any

deviations while meeting the set goals.

How

Risk Management

Project management is used in environmental sustainability efforts to help in risk

management. PMOK defines risk management as the process of planning, risk identification,

response, analysis and monitoring and control in a project (Singh & Williams, 2021). Risk

management is needed in environmental projects as it enables the stakeholders to identify any

potential risks and create ways to leverage them. project management helps the project managers

to use an effective approach during the risk management stage. For example, environmental

project managers learn to make contingency and management reserves before they embark on

any project.

Project Phases

Besides, project management in environmental projects as it offers the major phases a

project should entail. According to Heagney (2022), a project has five stages namely initiation,

planning, execution, monitoring and control and closure. During the project initiation, the

environmental project managers define the project goals and stakeholders involved. This is

followed by the planning stage where the project manager creates the scope of the project, and

plan and defines the roles and responsibilities of the individuals involved. Next is project

execution, where the actual work occurs. During the execution phase, the project manager has to

monitor the progress of their team members. During the project execution, the project is
constantly under monitoring and evaluation. The monitoring and evaluation ensure the project, in

this case environmental initiatives, do not deviate from the initial plan (Darnall & Preston, 2018).

Lastly, there is closure, where a team can reflect on the project before officially handing it over.

The project stages help environmental project management to know what is expected during

each stage.

Project Scheduling

Additionally, project management is applied in environmental projects in scheduling.

Projects must be time-bound; thus they should be scheduled. A project schedule is mostly created

during the planning phase, listing the start and end dates, key deliverables and milestones within

the project (Kerzner, 2017). In environmental initiatives, scheduling helps in improving the

quality of the project as it paints a picture of how the project is expected to run. Similarly, it

helps the project managers to track and monitor the progress of the project, making it essential in

environmental projects.

Where

There are several areas under environmental sustainability that project management can

be applied. For instance, project management can be used in renewable energy projects, with the

current focus on these energy sources that have the least impact on the environment. In this

regard, project management can be used to ensure that they comply with federal and

international labor laws. Another project where project management fits is in climate change

mitigation efforts. Climate change mitigation efforts mostly deal with numerous stakeholders

from various parts of the globe, thus prompting the need for project management.

Conclusion
 In conclusion, project management has a significant role in environmental sustainability

efforts. For example, project management helps ensure the effective use of available resources,

compliance with regulatory and legal frameworks, and stakeholder engagement. Additionally,

project management can be used in environmental initiatives to help in project planning,

scheduling, and risk assessment. As such, environmental projects should have project

management principles as their key frameworks.

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