Envisioning for sustainable development. A cross- country experience

The research is aimed at identifying and testing a methodology and a practical instrument that can guide a process for a shared strategic vision, through an organization or network. The resulted vision can have positive effects on knowledge-management and value-creation capabilities, also in a perspective of sustainability and within SMART development paths. The chosen methodology is of a mixed qualitative/quantitative type, since it is suitable for collecting data and information about a network or a community on objectives and future perspectives within a group of reference organizations. Vision sharing, implementation of the envisioning process, and its subsequent evolution was also studied via ethnographic research instruments. The adopted and tested methodology highlights the importance of the role of a scientific methodology in envisioning processes, in particular at the inter- organizational level and, more importantly, in a highly complex sector such as sustainable development. In fact, preparing a model of the envisioning process itself can represent an essential instrument for developing strategic objectives shared among networks or communities that intend to promote sustainable, responsible, and integrated development thanks to the simultaneous creation of value