Organizing for sustainable development: A multi-stakeholder project in the Amazon

Sustainable development has become a major topic as the impacts of human actions on the environment have increasingly dramatic consequences. This article describes and analyses a case of organizing for sustainable development that involved multiple social actors working in a participatory way. The research focuses on a project that aimed to define guidelines for carrying out large-scale engineering and construction ventures in the Amazon. It was conducted by a Brazilian research center and an international development agency. The field research included interviews with project leaders, extensive document analysis and nonparticipant observation. As a theoretical lens, we used the concept of territorial governance, from which we created propositions on how interventions should work. Based on these propositions and additional literature on social-ecological systems, an evaluation of the project is presented. We found the elements that were vital to the short-term success of the project, i.e., the skills of the change agents, the reputation of their organizations, and the social technology employed. We also found that less attention to public policies might weaken its long-term prospects. This work advances the knowledge on alternative modes of organizing for sustainability. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the concept of territorial governance, which offers opportunities for engaged scholars interested in tackling grand challenges.