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Partnership between the Western Cape and the Agency for Facility Operations
The real estate sector faces significant challenges: climate-related investments need to increase, costs for building materials and labor are rising, and regulations are becoming more complex. Innovative solutions and strategic collaboration are crucial. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals emphasize the need for global cooperation—not only regionally but also from a global (North-South) perspective—to achieve these objectives.
The Agency for Facility Operations is strengthening its sustainability ambitions by partnering with the infrasrtucture Department of the Western Cape Procince in South Africa (in Dutch)(opens in new window). They manage an extensive portfolio of office buildings, hospitals, schools, and more. The collaboration focuses on knowledge sharing and support for concrete projects and is based on three principles:
Developing and/or enhancing the sustainability frameworks, policies, and strategies applied within the respective fields of the partners.
Exploring best practices and providing training related to ISO certification and circular entrepreneurship.
Exchanging knowledge on management structures and governance to achieve UN SDG certification.
We maken onze duurzaamheidsaanpak SDG-proof
At the core of this initiative lies our ambition to make our sustainability approach fully aligned with the SDGs. We follow the PCA2030 sustainability pathway—a journey organizations undertake to learn about, implement, and communicate their SDG efforts.
PCA stands for SDG Pioneer, SDG Champion, and SDG Ambassador, representing three levels of ambition in achieving the SDGs. The “2030” refers to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. This pathway is an initiative of CIFAL Flanders(opens in your email application)..
Each level of ambition is rewarded with a UNITAR Training Certificate of Completion.
The SDGs emphasize collaboration to achieve the goals—not only locally and regionally but also from a global perspective. To earn the UN SDG Ambassador certification, the pathway therefore requires the realization or co-support of a project contributing to the SDGs in the ‘Global South,’ connected to the organization’s core mission. This includes strengthening international knowledge exchange and supporting local actors (comparable institutions) on the ground.
Why the Western Cape, South Africa?
As an internal organization within the Flemish government, international cooperation in a Global South context is not the agency’s primary activity. In consultation with colleagues from Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, we explored where this initiative could strengthen an existing partnership. They quickly advised us to focus on South Africa and the provincial government of the Western Cape, with whom collaboration already exists in other areas—specifically with the Provincial Public Works (PPW) department of the Department of Infrastructure.