About

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Accelerating Change. Together.

The Natural Step Canada is a national charity with over 25 years of experience in advancing science, innovation and strategic leadership aimed at fostering a strong economy that thrives within nature’s limits.

Our vision is a sustainable society – one in which individuals, communities, businesses and institutions thrive within nature’s limits.

Our mission is to accelerate the transition to a sustainable society.

We are part of a global network of non-profit organizations that share the same brand, core identity and purpose and that has been at the forefront of sustainable development internationally for more than twenty years. The science-based framework that we employ (called the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development – FSSD) has been used successfully in hundreds of forward-thinking organizations around the world.

The Natural Step has received a number of awards over the years including: Mikhail Gorbachev’s Green Cross Millennium Award in 1999 and The Blue Planet Award (considered the “Nobel Prize of the Environment”) in 2000. The Natural Step’s founder, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, has been honoured with numerous international distinctions including the first Laureate Medal for Social Responsibility issued in 2005 by the Global Centre for Leadership and Business Ethics and, in 2009, as an Ashoka Fellow and Globalizer. In 2006, The Natural Step’s “Sustainability 101” eLearning course was awarded the Brandon Hall Silver Medal for Excellence in Learning.

Our Story

Originally founded after a formative meeting of Canadian sustainability leaders in Orangeville, Ontario in 1996, it took a few years for The Natural Step Canada to take off. Early work in Whistler, BC eventually led to the launch of a national NGO based in Ottawa in 2003.

The Natural Step Canada has since built a solid track record in Canada supporting the emergence of role models for sustainable communities and business. We have worked with dozens of organizations to help them embed sustainability into their strategies, operations, products, services and community plans. We have fostered commitment and competence in thousands of leaders and practitioners through our learning programs. We developed The Natural Step’s Sustainability 101 eLearning course and published numerous case studies and toolkits to help others learn from The Natural Step’s experience.

In so doing, The Natural Step Canada has become a leader within the international Natural Step network and a respected contributor in the Canadian sustainability field. To read about The Natural Step International's story please visit www.thenaturalstep.org/our-story.