Collaboration for Sustainability in a Networked World

Abstract: This research explores how the web‘s collaborative potential can be harnessed strategically towards sustainability. With the success of web-scale collaborations such as Wikipedia and Linux in mind, we sought to understand how web-enabled collaborations could be used strategically, particularly to support innovation for sustainability. Building on Peter Gloor of MIT‘s research into collaborative innovation networks (COINs), a framework for collaborative organizational networks supporting innovation, we evaluated COINs‘ strategic potential for sustainability utilizing the framework for strategic sustainable development and the approach of backcasting. We found that COINs can provide a strategic and effective way to work towards sustainability because they harness collective intelligence towards innovation and support distributed working styles. Additionally they provide an organizational framework that supports socially sustainable modes of working. However, COINs can amplify the impact of unsustainable innovations, so a strong systems perspective based on principles of sustainability is required to use COINs strategically. The final product of this research is a set of recommendations for people considering utilizing COINs for sustainability.