Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity, without
compromising the life of future generations? Companies are integrating ideas of sustainability in their marketing, corporate communication, annual reports and in their actions.
The concept of sustainability has more recently also been linked to project management. Studies show that
considering sustainability should not be regarded a responsibility of just the project sponsor or executive, also the project manager has a strong influence on the sustainability aspects of a project. Mary McKinley stated already at the 2008 IPMA World Congress that “The further development of the project management profession requires project managers to take responsibility for sustainability”. This paper builds upon
this vision, by exploring the concept of sustainability and its impact on the competences of the project manager (based on the ICB3). It aims to provide guidance on how the standards of project management competencies should integrate the concepts and principles of sustainability.