I’ve spent the better part of my professional life in the project world — scoping, planning, managing uncertainty, and balancing stakeholder needs across industries and sectors. Like many practitioners, I was trained to deliver value through structure, control, and disciplined execution. But in the last few years, something shifted. It wasn’t a disruption — it was an awakening. A gradual yet powerful realization that the traditional metrics of project success no longer capture the full picture of what truly matters.
For decades, success was defined by the “iron triangle”: delivering on time, on scope, and within budget. And in many environments, that was sufficient. But with every new initiative I was involved in — especially those entangled in complex ecosystems, social impacts, or sustainability objectives — I began to feel the limits of that lens.
The questions became louder and more urgent:
- What kind of long-term value are we truly creating?
- Are we empowering or marginalizing key stakeholders?
- Are we building adaptive capacity — or merely achieving closure?
- Who is left out of the equation, and what are the unintended consequences?
Rethinking Success: From Deliverables to Long-Term Value
These reflections led me back to the work of Shenhar and Dvir, who long ago argued for a multi-dimensional view of project success — one that moves beyond efficiency and incorporates both outcomes and future readiness:
- Project efficiency (time, cost, scope)
- Impact on the customer (satisfaction, usability, experience)
- Impact on the team (learning, morale, cohesion)
- Business and direct success (ROI, strategic fit)
- Preparing for the future (long-term relevance, adaptability, capability building)
It’s in this fifth dimension — “preparing for the future” — that ESG integration becomes not just relevant, but imperative.
Because in today’s context, future preparedness is no longer just a matter of competitive advantage — it’s a matter of ethical responsibility. Sustainability, equity, and transparency are no longer externalities. They are strategic essentials. And yet, most project teams remain under-equipped to embed these principles into their delivery models.
That’s where the @ESG4PMChange initiative found its purpose.
Building Competence for Impact with the ESG4PMChange Project
Over the past year, working alongside an extraordinary group of researchers, professionals, and stakeholders across 15+ countries, we systematically analyzed 200+ project-related job profiles, did several focus groups, conducted large-scale international survey. Through workshops, validation labs, and dialogue with industry, education, and policy actors, we identified a pervasive competency gap:
Project professionals lacked the tools and capabilities to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into everyday project practice — across all phases, roles, and sectors.
Our response was the ESG Project Management Competency Framework.
This isn’t a set of abstract aspirations. It’s a practical, structured guide — with 64 precisely defined competencies grouped into five domains:
- Core Project Management
- Environmental
- Social
- Governance
- Cross-cutting and Enabling Competencies
Each competency is mapped to EQF levels 3–8, offering granularity across career progression (L1–L5), and aligned with key policy standards like GRI, CSRD, SFDR, and OECD guidelines. Whether you’re building a curriculum, designing a training program, revising a job description, or leading a complex transformation, the framework provides clarity — and direction.
Leading with Purpose: A Personal and Professional Commitment
But for me, this work was never just academic or institutional. It was personal.
That moment of realization — that project success must also mean social inclusion, environmental stewardship, and ethical governance — has permanently reshaped how I lead, how I design project systems, and how I mentor others.
So when someone asks me,
“Danijela, are you ESG-ready?”
my answer isn’t a simple, confident yes.
It’s a conscious, daily commitment:
- To lead projects that transform, not just deliver.
- To build teams that challenge assumptions and foster diversity of thought.
- To embed ESG values into governance structures, procurement processes, and risk frameworks.
- To treat sustainability not as a workstream — but as the core operating logic of the project.
- To ensure every stakeholder has a voice — especially those who have historically been excluded.
Because today, project management is not just a delivery mechanism.
It’s a vehicle for societal transition.
And in this new paradigm, success isn’t measured solely in milestones, but in:
- The trust we cultivate
- The systems we leave stronger
- The capacity we build for others to continue what we’ve started
So let me turn the question back to you:
Are your skills aligned with the world we are building — or the one we are leaving behind?
ESG readiness isn’t a certification.
It’s not a trend or checklist.
It’s a mindset — a continuous orientation toward relevance, responsibility, and resilience.
And the future?
It’s already embedded in the project charter.
The only question is: Are we willing to lead accordingly?
The Author
✍️ Danijela Ćirić Lalić
Professor | Chief Project Officer | EU-Funded Project Strategist | Driving Sustainability & Twin Transition in Education and Innovation
