Sustainable development and sustainability in a wider sense have been on the global agenda for decades. At CLS&J, we take our initial point of departure in United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the current policy framework for global sustainable development. 

We also take a longer term perspective on sustainability, beyond 2030 which is the year when the SDGs are intended to be implemented. We take a longer term perspective, because sustainability is a key condition for balanced societies from institutional, social, environmental, climate-related and economic perspectives in the short, medium and longer term.

Just like balance is a key element in sustainability, it is also a key aspect in the function of law and in the ideal of justice. CLS&J addresses these issues in order to contribute to advancing sustainability science and sustainability governance with a particular focus on the role of law and the ideal of justice.

We adopt a wide approach to law as a key institutional element of balanced societies, a governance modality that interacts with other forms and aspects of governance, and as s science on the institutionalization of norms of conduct.