Planning for sustainable development: Strategic alignment in Peruvian regions and cities

This paper explores the application of the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM) to the formulation of strategies for sustainable development in regions and cities. SAM was created during the 90s in order to bridge the gap in terms of objectives, competences and culture between business and IT professionals. The present study applies SAM to align economic development and environmental sustainability and identifies concepts such as industrial ecosystems, sustainable lifestyles, eco-business, and environmental services as integrative strategies. Previous to this research, alignment has been studied in terms of public participation process, policy innovation and adoption of best practices. This paper proposes a new framework to represent alignment in a way that multiple strategies and pathways can be recognized, favoring dialogue and coordination. Likewise, a strategic analysis of Peruvian Environmental Action Plan 2010-2021 is presented.