Research

The Flourishing Enterprise Innovation Toolkit has been developed through a rigorous programme of systemic design science / action research starting in 2011.  This research program continues to this day.

The Flourishing Business Canvas was originally conceived as part of a graduate thesis at York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies and Schulich School of Business between 2010 and 2013.  It was then refined by members of the Strategic Innovation Lab at the Ontario College of Art and Design University.

Specifically, the Flourishing Business Canvas stands on the shoulders of the 2004 PhD by Alexander Osterwalder where he defined the first Business Model Ontology.  This was then developed into the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology defined by Antony Upward in 2013. The Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology “powers” the Flourishing Business Canvas.

The following are the key items arising from the research programme to date.  All citation counts are as of March 2026 from Google Scholar.

  • Original masters thesis – citations 106 (very high for a masters level thesis): Upward, A. (2013). Towards an Ontology and Canvas for Strongly Sustainable Business Models: A Systemic Design Science Exploration (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). York University Libraries. hdl.handle.net/10315/20777  For a short video summary of this research please watch this video: youtube.com/watch?v=nfWRAWUGs6k
  • Summary of masters thesis – citations 954 (very high for a paper in its field; one of the top papers ever for citations in this highly ranked journal – this from the editor; citation count growing by ~100/year for past 3 years): Upward, A., & Jones, P. H. (2016). An Ontology for Strongly Sustainable Business Models: Defining an Enterprise Framework Compatible with Natural and Social Science. Organization & Environment, 29-Special Issue: Business Models for Sustainability: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Transformation(1), 97–123. DOI:10.1177/1086026615592933
  • Flourishing Enterprise Strategy Design Method – citations 14: Peer reviewed book chapter for leaders of established organizations that describes a method for the use of the  Canvas to develop enterprise strategies that aim to flourish: Upward, A., & Davies, S. N. (2019). Strategy Design for Flourishing: A Robust Method. In T. Wunder (Ed.), Rethinking Strategic Management: Sustainable Strategizing for Positive Impact (pp. 149–175, Chapter 8). Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-06014-5_8
    To our knowledge this is the first, and so far only, book on strategy which acknowledges the need for a scientific basis for sustainability (aka strong sustainability), and indeed that the real goal needs to be flourishing.  The opening chapter of the book, by the editor, links the science of sustainability to the design of business strategy in a unique and important way.
  • Flourishing Startup Method:
    • Overview of the method for starting flourishing organizations that includes a strong recommendation to use the Canvas for business modelling work:  Hogeboom, O., Upward, A., Hoveskog, M., & Leipziger, D. (2026 – Forthcoming). The Flourishing Startup Method: A Proven Approach to Fit-for-the-Future Enterprise Design. In M. T. Lee, A. Yemiscigil, & M. Pirson (Eds.), Transforming Business and Education for Flourishing. Routledge. DOI: TBA
    • 2 Citations: Report on the testing of a method for starting flourishing organizations that includes a strong recommendation to use the Canvas for the necessary business modelling work: Hogeboom, O., Hoveskog, M., Upward, A., Jones, P. H., & Fath-Kolmes, E. (2025). Lean Startup Supporting Sustainability-as-Flourishing during the Early Stages of Enterprise Development. Journal of Business Models, 13(1), Article 1.  DOI: 10.54337/jobm.v13i1.8222
  • Connection of Canvas to Future-Fit Business Benchmark and leadership – citations 310 (moderate level for a paper in this very highly ranked journal)  Kurucz, E. C., Colbert, B. A., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Upward, A., & Willard, B. (2016). Relational Leadership for Strategic Sustainability: Practices and Capabilities to Advance the Design and Assessment of Sustainable Business Models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(1-Special Issue: Systematic Leadership Towards Sustainability), 189–204. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.087
  • How Entrepreneurs Integrate Thinking About Value Co-Creation and Co-Destruction: Taylor, S., & Kivi, S. (2025). Enabling value co-creation and mitigating value co-destruction: Uncovering the role of a Flourishing Business Approach [Masters Thesis, Halmstad University]. urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-56957
  • Introduction to the Canvas explicitly and connection to leadership and appreciative inquiry – citations 76 (high for a paper in this minor journal): Elkington, R., & Upward, A. (2016). Leadership as Enabling Function for Flourishing by Design. Journal of Global Responsibility, 7(1), 126–144. DOI: 10.1108/JGR-01-2016-0002 
  • Report on the use of the canvas in a masters-level classroom – citations 110 (low/moderate level in this very highly ranked journal): Hoveskog, M., Halila, F., Mattsson, M., Upward, A., & Karlsson, N. (2017). Education for Sustainable Development: Business Modelling for Flourishing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172(Special Issue on Education for Sustainable Development), 4383–4396. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.1122
  • Report on strongly sustainable business modelling and business models which includes the Canvas as a valid design tool: Baue, B., & Thurm, R. (2018). Blueprint 4: New Business Models—Business Model Design for Catalyzing Regenerative & Distributive Economies (Blueprint 4; R3.0 Blueprints, p. 122). R3.0. r3-0.org/blueprint-4-new-business-models

The Canvas has also been featured in approx. 3 other textbook / anthology chapters by others…including:

  • Hope, A. (2018). Tools for Developing Responsible Business Models. In L. Moratis, F. Melissen, & S. O. Idowu (Eds.), Sustainable Business Models: Principles, Promise, and Practice. Springer International Publishing. springer.com/us/book/9783319735023 

The Canvas has also been the main subject of, or mentioned in, a significant number of masters and PhD thesis… two of note are:

If you have published research (peer reviewed, book chapters, etc), or completed a masters or PhD thesis that mentions the Flourishing Business Canvas, or any other elements of the Flourishing Enterprise Innovation Toolkit, and would like us to list your work here, please reach out here! me

Take Action

Download the Flourishing Business Canvas

Download Now

Join the Community Bringing the Canvas to the World

Join Now