Two or three questions
What brings you here?
GPM publishes a lot: an impact standard, a method, four guides, a competence standard, five certifications, research and more than 250 essays. Nobody needs all of it at once. Answer two or three questions and you will get the one thing to do next; or pick a door below and read the whole path, four steps with one action at each.
The five paths. Each one is written out below, in order.
4 steps
I manage projects
Four steps from reading the standard to holding a certification, each one you can do this month.
4 steps
I work in sustainability
GPM's standards and certifications for the sustainability professional in any business function.
4 steps
I need help for my organization
From the case for projects to a conversation with GPM, then a measured, trained and reporting organization.
4 steps
I teach, train or research
The standards are free to use in teaching; the partner programs add accreditation and material.
3 steps
I need to verify a certification
Two registries, one minute.
Path · I manage projects
Four steps from reading the standard to holding a certification, each one you can do this month
Who this is for. Project, program and portfolio managers who have to deliver sustainability through their projects.
Read the P5 Standard
Start with the overview and the People, Planet and Prosperity categories. The standard is free, it is the one PMI publishes with GPM, and twenty minutes is enough to see how impacts become project requirements. Open the P5 Standard.
Run one P5 Impact Analysis
Take a live project and score the 52 elements for the product and the process with the free workbook. You will find two or three impacts nobody had written down. That is the point. Download the P5 Impact Analysis workbook.
Write the Sustainability Management Plan
Put the analysis, the commitments, the owners and the measures into the plan. The template is free and follows the Practice Guide; the plan runs from the business case to benefits realization. The Sustainability Management Plan and template.
Choose your certification
The CSPP proves you know the standard, by exam, through PMI. The CSPMs proves you have delivered with it, from your own project evidence. Most people take the CSPP first and the CSPMs after a project or two. Compare the CSPP and the CSPMs.
Also on this path: The Practice Guide, PRiSM, the method, The Reporting Guide.
Path · I work in sustainability
GPM's standards and certifications for the sustainability professional in any business function
Who this is for. Sustainability, ESG, procurement, operations, HR and finance professionals whose work is not project management.
Read the P5 Standard for Business Practice
The same 52-element impact standard, written for how an organization runs rather than for a single project. Free. It is the standard your CSF or CSP portfolio is measured against. Open the P5 Standard for Business Practice.
Read Sustainability in Practice
GPM's professional standard for people who do sustainability work: what competent practice looks like, function by function. Free, with print and Kindle editions. Open Sustainability in Practice.
Take the Regenerative Leadership course
GPM's Professional Certificate in Regenerative Leadership covers the eight competence units of the Sustainability Competence Standard: assessing impacts, designing regenerative systems, leading change and measuring results. Self-paced, online, 3.4 IACET-accredited CEUs. Programs of this kind are priced in the thousands elsewhere. GPM's is US$499. Take the course.
Certify: CSF or CSP
Read the competence units on the learning portal first, at no cost; if you can point to real outputs for most of them, you are ready. The CSF is for people who carry out the work; the CSP for people who lead it. Both are evidence-based: your own documents, an assessor, an interview, no exam. Valid for five years. Compare the CSF and the CSP.
Also on this path: The Sustainability Competence Standard, About the Regenerative Leadership certificate, The glossary.
Path · I need help for my organization
From the case for projects to a conversation with GPM, then a measured, trained and reporting organization
Who this is for. Executives, PMO directors, portfolio leads, sustainability managers and public bodies that have made a commitment and need it delivered through projects.
Understand why projects are the lever
The guide to sustainability in project management explains, in plain terms, why strategies are delivered or lost in projects and what the four layers, impact, method, competence and reporting, do. Read the guide.
Measure where you stand with PSM3
GPM's maturity assessment for portfolios and PMOs: where sustainability is already embedded, where it is asserted, and what to fix first. PSM3 organizational assessment.
Tell GPM what you need
Advisory on policy, governance and method; PSM3 or GPM360° assessment; training for teams and leaders; PMO support. Use the form, a person replies within two working days, and the first conversation is free. Get help from GPM.
Train, certify and report
GPM's courses through the learning portal or an Accredited Training Partner in your region, certification for the project leads and the sustainability team, and results reported with the Reporting Guide. Assessment, advisory and training for organizations.
Also on this path: The Sponsorship Guide, The Reporting Guide, GPM Consulting, The PMI-GPM joint venture.
Path · I teach, train or research
The standards are free to use in teaching; the partner programs add accreditation and material
Who this is for. University faculty, corporate trainers, training companies and researchers.
Use the standards in your teaching
The P5 Standard, the Practice Guide and the Sustainability Management Plan template are free to download and cite. The interactive ecosystem map shows how they fit together in one picture. The interactive ecosystem.
Join the University Partner Program
For faculties that teach project management or sustainability and want GPM's material, cases and certification pathways for students. University Partner Program.
Become an Accredited Training Partner
Deliver GPM's IACET-accredited courses and CSPP preparation in your region and language. Accredited Training Partner program.
Draw on the research
Insights into Sustainable Project Management® with the Association for Project Management, Executing Sustainability Strategy with PMI, and the Perspectives journal, running since 2015. Insights research.
Also on this path: Perspectives, Glossary of 231 terms, How to cite GPM.
Path · I need to verify a certification
Two registries, one minute
Who this is for. Employers, clients and recruiters checking a candidate's GPM certification.
Search the GPM registry
Every GPM-issued certification, by name or number: the certification, its number, the dates and whether it is active. No account needed. Search the registry.
CSPP holders: check PMI's registry
The CSPP is issued by PMI, so current holders appear in PMI's certification registry. Holders who transferred from the GPM-b appear there once their record has been sent across. PMI certification registry.
Know what you are looking at
Five certifications, two kinds of assessment. The comparison page shows who each is for, how it is assessed and how long it is valid. The five certifications compared.
Just exploring
The ten-minute tour
Five pages, in order, for someone who wants to understand GPM before choosing anything.
Stop 1
What is GPM?
The organization in five minutes: identity, what it does, how it works with PMI.
Stop 2
Sustainability in project management
The subject in one guide, with GPM's definition and the four layers.
Stop 3
The P5 Standard
The impact standard, free, in its fourth version.
Stop 4
PMI-GPM
What the joint venture publishes and who does what.
Stop 5
Perspectives
Essays from GPM since 2015. Pick one and see how GPM thinks.
Questions
Frequently asked
Where should a complete beginner start?
With the P5 Standard. It is free, it is short enough to read in a sitting, and every other piece on this site refers back to it. If you manage projects, follow the first path on this page; if your work is sustainability in another function, follow the second.
Do I have to pay for anything to get started?
No. The standards, the guides, the Sustainability Management Plan template and the P5 Impact Analysis workbook are free, and enrolment on the learning portal is free so you can read every certification criterion before you decide. Courses, certification assessments and organizational assessments are paid.
How long does each path take?
The reading in each path is a few hours. Running a first P5 Impact Analysis and writing a first plan takes a working week alongside a live project. Certification portfolios take most candidates four to eight weeks; the CSPP exam depends on the preparation course you choose.
Can I follow more than one path?
Yes. A PMO leader often follows the organization path and the project path at once; a sustainability manager who also runs projects may take the CSP and later the CSPMs. Every path ends in the same two places, a certification and the Ambassador network.
Page updated 5 September 2026.
GPM®, Green Project Management® and Sustainable Project Management® are registered trademarks of GPM Ltd. PRiSM™, P5™, CSPP™, CSPMs™, CSPMx™, CSP™, CSF™, GPM360°™ and PSM3™ are trademarks of GPM Global and, where applicable, PMI-GPM. PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute.
Lost on another page?
Most pages on this site carry a small "you are here" strip that names the path they belong to and the next step. The interactive ecosystem shows the whole system in one picture.