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Through this analysis, we define axes that highlight the prominent differences in characteristics between diverse approaches to sustainability. These are: (1) “top-down—bottom-up”, based on who initiates and maintains the sustainability initiative; (2) “ecological—socioeconomic”, defining the relative emphasis on ecological and/or social systems; (3) “holistic—subject-specific”, defining the initiatives’ breadth of the planning and management focus; and (4) “regional-local”, defining the spatial scale of the initiative. These axes are useful for highlighting considerations that may have been neglected within an initiative, possibly preventing successful outcomes. We suggest that successful sustainability initiatives are introspective and work progressively toward balance between the extremes of these axes. This conclusion is buttressed by the evolutionary development of three global-scale sustainability efforts initiated by UNESCO’s Man and The Biosphere program, the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, and the Urbanist movement.