ABSTRACT
The Natural Step (TNS) is a general sus-tainability message-cum-decision framework, internationally promoted for busi-
ness and public use by an eponymous network, and with four principles (systems conditions) at its core. TNS was conceived in Sweden in the late 1980s by oncologist Karl-Henrik Robert and John Holmberg'. It is a response to the perception that sustainable development is hindered by excessive scientific concern with the details of environmental assessment, to the neglect of more fundamental principles of sustainability (Robert, 1991). Robert (1991) has aimed to identify scientific common ground on 'sustainability' that can be widely disseminated in order to change public and corporate minds, attitudes and practices in a direction conducive with sustainability (see footnote 1). The TNS rationale has been published as the Ph.D. thesis of an individuaF, as an article by Robert et al. (1997) and as a chapter by Holmberg et al. (1996). The four main TNS principles (systems conditions) are the following3 .
