This work aims at contributing to a new Sustainable Project Management (SPM) paradigm, focusing on the role of project managers as a key element. The contribution of this research has both practical and theoretical implications. It presents the first results of a project developed under the Erasmus+ program Think Twice, recommending a set of ecological practices to motivate and develop project managers’ skills to adopt Sustainable Project Management. Subsequently, supported by a literature review and content analysis of the data collected for this project, an original conceptual model is presented: the Project Management Triple Sustainability Cube. This tool is intended to guide project managers on their journey to sustainability in project management, comprehensively and systematically. To this end, the tool outlines guidelines for adopting comprehensive practices according to the triple bottom line sustainability vectors (environmental, social, and economic) relating to people, processes, and innovative solutions (go/no digital) throughout the project life cycle.

In the digital transition era of scaling down from macro through micro turbine; to the setting up of Smart Turbine Energy Harvesters (STEH), this paper presents Project Management (PM) principles applicable and best practices to meet the increasing energy demand of digitised technology. The massive deployment of autonomous devices such as those for Internet of Things (IoT), for the support of smart cities, has necessitated more research about their energy demands. With the use of ‘waterfall’ Project Management Methodology (PMM), turbine grid-connected energy are classified into different categories, and comparative study is made between scaling down of turbine grid from macro to micro, to the economic impact of setting up of STEH. This study concludes by proposing the use of STEH, which is an onsite green energy harvesting scheme that is self-sustaining; ubiquitous; and long lasting; as preferable source to other categories of turbine grid system. Additionally, it is an improvement on energy harvesting (EH) mechanisms using battery; whose replacement and disposal are not economical. STEH is considered economical and time saving with little or no physical and investment risk attached, the Return on Investment (RI) is considered favourable. Also, the energy delivery is sufficient for the requirement of IoT and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN).

Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) waste tariffs are at an early stage of development in Portugal, and policy has a role in shaping this potential innovation management tool towards a national consolidation. To understand the dynamic policy process on PAYT tariffs, this study first gained insight into the current dominant state, insofar as governance mechanisms and public-private municipal solid waste (MSW) sector. Subsequently, it analyzed how the policies promoting PAYT are aligned with four fundamental attributes for policy design under concepts of Innovation Policy. These attributes are: resource-intensiveness, political risk, state and private market interventions, and targeting. For the elected officials (decision-makers), PAYT as an economic instrument represents a long-term investment with political uncertainty. Therefore, policymakers need to develop robust economic regulations to improve transparency and complementary actions for a more integrated MSW sector, which creates a transitional space for change, destroying pre-existing conditions that are not aligned to the future state.

This paper describes the technology behind the implementation of smart waste management systems at the starting point of collecting information about the user and the amount of produced waste. This analysis is based on new technological approaches framed by the smart city concept and often associated to the pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) conceptions. We begin with an overview of the current available technologies with examples of real applications, with a glance on the costs/benefit and system’s limitations. We conclude with suggestions for further research on technology approaches to support best practices both for municipal policies and citizen’s behavior. The results show how pertinent is the developing of reliable systems to help decision makers managing waste smartly towards a truly smart city concept.