The author of the thesis: Mg.sc. env. Lilita Ābele The thesis title is Sustainable Development and Digitalization: Mutual Synchronization in Municipalities. The hypothesis of the thesis: Several development scenarios can ensure the synchronization of "twins" in the transition to paperless internal management processes in municipal administrations. Research object: internal management processes of Latvian municipalities. The research subject is the transition of Latvian municipalities to paperless internal management processes, considering the synchronization of sustainability and digitization goals. The aim of the thesis is to Evaluate Latvian municipalities' readiness for the transition to paperless internal management processes and, using the "twin transition" approach, develop development scenarios and recommendations for their implementation. To achieve the aim, the following tasks are set: 1. Summarize theoretical positions on systems theory, sustainable development, digitization, circular economy and other concepts used in the doctoral thesis. 2. Analyze the regulatory act regulating sustainable development and digitization to identify obstacles to municipalities' transition to paperless internal management processes. 3. To assess the readiness of Latvian local government administrations to transition to paperless internal management processes, synchronizing sustainable development and digitization goals, and compare the obtained results with Lithuanian, Portuguese, and Polish local governments. 4. Identify the most important criteria of the external and internal environment which influence the development of development scenarios for the transition to paperless internal administration processes. Based on the criteria identified, develop four possible development scenarios for synchronizing sustainable and digitization goals. 5. Conduct an in-depth study in Liepāja municipality administration on the financial benefits of switching to paperless internal management processes. 6. Develop recommendations for transitioning Latvian municipalities to paperless internal management processes, ensuring the synchronization of sustainability and digitization processes. The first chapter summarized the most important theories of systems, sustainable development and digitization. The concept of sustainable development has evolved from a simple exchange of knowledge on environmental protection to broader and more integrated approaches that consider economic, social, technological, and environmental aspects. The literature on three conditional periods of development of the IA theory: embryonic, formation, and development is analyzed. The main approaches to traditional sustainability are reviewed, including weak and strong approaches and Bolding's theories for applying systemic thinking in various fields, including economics. One of the first attempts to use the systems approach in economics, which characterizes environmental, economic and social systems, is evaluated. Defined concepts that can be combined into one "sustainability" family, of which the circular economy is particularly highlighted. Analyzing theoretical positions, the concept of "twin transition" and its system of five driving forces have been developed to assess the synchronization of sustainable development and digitization processes. The second chapter examines the regulatory framework and policy in the context of sustainable development and digitalization internationally, in the European Union, and in Latvia. The internationally recognized UN Environmental Conference in 1972, which was a starting point to include environmental and sustainability issues in international conventions and other policy and planning documents, is analyzed. Circular economy is defined as one of the driving forces of the "twin transition", which is implemented in municipalities as a reduction in the consumption of paper and other resources. To assess the possible obstacles to the transition of municipalities to paperless management, the regional policy guidelines, the Municipal and Accounting Laws, and the planning documents of the Liepāja municipality administration have been analyzed. The third chapter conducts an in-depth study of the two driving forces of the "twin transition": human capital and the circular economy. When conducting the first employee survey, the Latvian local government administrations were compared by planning regions and the readiness of Latvia as a whole and Lithuanian local government administrations to start the transition. When conducting the second employee survey, the driving force of Human Capital was analyzed in depth according to the developed indicator "digital skills". The second survey was conducted in the municipal administrations of Liepāja (LV), Vila Nova de Poiares (PT) and Mielec (PL), assessing the differences between them. The financial benefits of the transition to paperless management in the mentioned municipalities for 2023 were also evaluated. In the fourth chapter, two expert groups were formed after surveys and evaluation of financial benefits. One, consisting of five experts, evaluated the internal and external influencing factors of the transition to paperless management with a modified PEST and SWOT analysis, ranked by importance, and developed four possible development scenarios. The second, consisting of seven experts, evaluated the development scenarios according to the created hierarchy scheme using the AHP method. Based on surveys of local government employees and experts, recommendations have been developed for the transition of local government administrations to paperless management by synchronizing sustainable development and digitalization processes. The main conclusions, research results, identified problems and recommendations for their solution are given at the end of the work. The dissertation volume for the Doctor of Economics (Ph.D.) degree is 177 pages. The work contains 36 tables, 60 images, 12 appendices, and 393 sources of information.