International Journal of Regional Development ISSN 2373-9851 2021, Vol. 8, No. 2 21 htttp://ijrd.macrothink.org Innovation Competencies and Sustainability: A Proposed Model for Project Team Members Afaf Hassan Dept. of Environmental Health and Safety, Abu Dhabi University PO Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates E-mail: afaf.h-adjunct@adu.ac.ae Received: July 1, 2021 Accepted: July 18, 2021 Published: July 20, 2021 doi:10.5296/ijrd.v8i2.18841 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijrd.v8i2.18841 Abstract Acquiring the right innovation competencies can lead to a successful implementation of sustainability projects. Hence, the purpose of this study is to identify the innovation competencies required by project team members to adopt and implement innovation effectively in sustainability projects. To achieve this target, a comprehensive literature review has been performed to build a model that integrates innovation competencies of project team members with the successful achievement of substantiality projects. In specific, these innovation competencies are leadership, communication, teamwork, creativity, and commitment of project team members. The paper also reveals that a successful implementation of innovation in sustainability projects leads to economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity as main outcomes. Accordingly, this research proposes a model that presents the associations between project team members’ innovation competencies and the implementation of sustainability projects (considering the three pillars of sustainability that are economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity). As a result, the project team members, who acquire the required innovation competencies, have the capability to implement sustainability projects, successfully. Keywords: Innovation competences, sustainability, project team 1. Introduction 1.1 Innovation Competencies and Sustainability Projects from Project Team Perspectives The adoption and implementation of innovation in projects is a challenging task (Cunha et al., 2014; Lahi & Elenurm, 2015; Samson & Gloet, 2014), specifically, if these projects are designed to attain sustainability (Hassan, 2021a; Secundo et al., 2020). Here, it is essential to point out that innovation challenges in projects come from clients’ pressure to minimize costs,