Sustainability Project Champions as Environmental Leaders in a City Organization: Driving the Urban Circular Economy

Abstract

While the role of projects in sustainability change is widely recognized, the understanding of project managers’ behaviour in sustainability projects is limited. We examine project champions who act without hierarchical and authoritative power as environmental leaders and drive sustainability-related changes in the mindsets of actors and in city administration. Based on longitudinal action research, we elaborate on the practices and characteristics of project champions in initiating and advancing the circular economy in a city organization. Our study contributes to the intersection of research on project champions and environmental leaders by increasing the understanding of the ways through which champions develop their potency to promote sustainability in the course of the project.