Competencies of Sustainability Professionals:An Empirical Study on Key Competencies for Sustainability

This paper presents an empirical study on key competencies for sustainable development.Over a period of two years, we collected empirical data on competencies of senior sustainabilityprofessionals by using an action research approach. Data collection took place in Belgium Flanders viaan elaborate iterative action-reflection process including an interactive workshop, interviews, and anonline survey. Our analysis provides strong empirical evidence for the existence of two complementarycompetency clusters, namely sustainability research competencies and sustainability interventioncompetencies. Together they enable the profound analysis and understanding of sustainability issuesand ensure the ability to devise solutions and foster change towards sustainability. Furthermore, weshed a first light on the interaction of these competency clusters and their link with the practitioners’topical knowledge and lived experience. This study bridges the divergence in literature betweentheoretically and empirically driven research and offers novel insights on sustainability competenciesfor the fields of sustainability science, human resource management, and higher education