Analysing sustainability changes in seaports: Experiences from the Gävle Port Authority

Ports are under increasing pressure to become more sustainable. Although some ports have been including sustainability into their operations, this has been mainly done from economic and environmental perspectives and technological or policy-related approaches, while there has been little research on organisational change management for sustainability. This paper analyses organisational change efforts for sustainability at the Port of Gävle, Sweden. Twenty-three face-to-face interviews were conducted with various stakeholders. The findings show that there were differences in perception of sustainability; but similarities in the drivers for and the barriers to sustainability (with some key differences between the internal and external stakeholders). This research shows that, in their journey towards becoming more sustainable, ports have to take a holistic approach encompassing the four dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, social, and time); their stakeholders (internal and external); and legislative, technological, financial, cultural/social, voluntary initiatives, and organisational change management approaches.