Human Resource Development within the Sustainability Science Framework

Abstract

The United Nations 2030 17 Sustainable Development Goals are anticipated to make a significant contribution to humanity's well-being (SDGs). The agenda is founded on the triple bottom line (TBL) idea, according to which social inclusion and environmental sustainability are essential for continued economic development. In order to determine the crucial role that human resource development (HRD) plays in sustainability, this study will review relevant academic literature and update the TBL model to include and emphasize the HRD dimension and the dynamism and resilience of the sustainability framework; and to fill the literature gap in relating HRD to sustainability. This paper takes a deductive approach and is based on reviewing state-of-the-art literature to develop a new conceptual framework integrating HRD into the sustainability model. Hence, relevant studies are selected; based on criteria, mainly from refereed journals in the fields of human resources and sustainability. These studies will be critically analyzed to highlight their main focus, findings, and key contributions to the proposed framework. The paper proposed a conceptual framework that is global, resilient, and dynamic in nature to face today’s challenges. This framework aims to capitalize on the previous researchers’ designed sustainability models, try to complement some of these models’ perceived limitations, and shed light on HRD multi-level incorporations in sustainability.

The paper proposed a “Global Dynamic Sustainable Humanity Framework” that stresses on (1) Integrating HRD into the TBL sustainability model; (2) Embedding the resilience concept in the framework; (3) Transforming the sustainability framework into a dynamic one; (4) take the sustainability framework to a global level. The paper also suggested raising “sustainable humanity” awareness by introducing a paradigm shift - from a traditional environment to a sustainable environment – as a prerequisite to the success and effectiveness of the proposed framework. The paper integrated rich theoretical perspectives and sustainability models of different studies into one coherent framework. It also filled the gap in the literature studying the HRD's crucial role in sustainable development. The proposed framework enriches and enables HRD practitioners to play an integral role in sustainable development on the individual, organizational and societal levels – nationally and globally. Their role as change catalysts is crucial in applying the proposed Global Dynamic Sustainable Humanity Framework, raising people's awareness of sustainability, help making a paradigm shift towards sustainability.

 Keywords: Human Resource Development; Sustainability; Triple Bottom Line; Global Sustainability Framework; Resilient; Dynamic