IS Sustainability Research: A trans-disciplinary framework for a 'grand challenge'

To address the “grand challenge” of biosphere sustainability, it is imperative that we examine the assumptions and philosophies underlying Information Systems sustainability research and expand research approaches. Despite calls for transdisciplinary research and recognition that addressing sustainability will require multiple perspectives, a review of the IS sustainability literature finds that few publications incorporate knowledge or methods from outside traditional businesscentric boundaries. Drawing on a diverse range of IS and sustainability literature, we develop a trans-disciplinary framework for IS Sustainability Research (ISSR) based on a view of sustainability that recognizes the environment as a critical stakeholder rather than a collection of resources to be managed and exploited. We identify three broad areas of inquiry and representative research questions which address the connections between human activity, the natural capital of the biosphere, and the societal goals of human-environment interactions through which ISSR can contribute to the grand challenge of biosphere sustainability.