Design and implementation of a framework for sustainability integration in scrum agile software development

Abstract

Sustainability in software engineering remains an under-addressed concern within fastpaced Agile workflows, where environmental, social, economic, technical, and individual dimensions are often treated as afterthoughts. This thesis introduces FISC (Framework Integrating Sustainability Concerns), a lightweight, end-to-end approach that embeds multidimensional sustainability tagging, impact logging, and likelihood-by-impact prioritization into core Scrum events: backlog refinement, sprint planning, in-sprint development (via CIgate checks), sprint review, and retrospective. Grounded in Design Science Research and refined through eight Delphi-informed cycles, FISC was co-designed with a Finnish ICT partner and validated by industry practitioners and academic experts. Semi-structured interviews, surveys, and pilot sprint data demonstrate that FISC fills six identified gaps: artifact integration, role clarity, real-time tooling, depth of impact analysis, empirical scale, and dimensional balance and seamlessly aligns with existing Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) toolchains (e.g., Jira, Confluence). Practitioner feedback underscores FISC’s minimal overhead, broad tool compatibility, and methodological flexibility, while preserving team velocity. By operationalizing sustainability as a first-class concern within Agile, FISC not only raises awareness but also drives measurable improvements in code quality, operational cost, and stakeholder engagement. This work advances both theory and practice by delivering a field-tested, extensible framework that empowers Agile teams to make informed, sustainable decisions throughout the software lifecycle.