4 Piecing the canvas together
The eleven blocks in the sustainable business model canvas are interconnected. Together they provide a comprehensive view of how a business creates, delivers and captures value. For instance, key partners can provide additional resources needed to deliver value, may perform key activities that complement the organisation’s own activities, could enhance value proposition via collaboration and resources sharing, could extend or support distribution channels, which may lead to additional revenue streams or reduced costs. Changes or decisions in one area can significantly impact others, therefore, keeping a holistic strategy in mind when designing a business model is important.
The four areas or blocks of the sustainable business model canvas piece together:
- the value proposition and the customer profile, which assesses how what the organisation proposes matches with what customers want
- the infrastructure area and the customer area of the business model canvas, which evaluates the balance between the resources and activities developed to create value and the way in which the value is provided to the customer
- the two blocks of the financial viability area: the cost structure and the revenue streams which should be balanced to give the business financial sustainability
- the two blocks of the sustainability area to maximise positive outcomes while minimising negative effects on both the society and the environment.
Together with Week 5, this week has shown you how to design a business model using the sustainable business model canvas. You have looked at Use Case 2 – Drone Spraying from the ICAERUS project as an example. Figure 10 shows you an integrated business model canvas of drone spraying. As mentioned before, all blocks in the business model are somehow related to each other.

Download the sustainable business model canvas template here.