Never before have so many companies from the region received the Voka Charter Sustainable Entrepreneurship (VCDO) certificate Voka – Chamber of Commerce Flemish Brabant guided 33 companies from the region in 2021 with the realization of sustainability actions.
They now receive the VCDO certificate for all their efforts during the 'Together for tomorrow' event of Voka - Chamber of Commerce Flemish Brabant.
“We increasingly expect entrepreneurs to pay attention to sustainability in their business operations. The VCDO is a great incentive in this regard. The companies that receive the certificate today, some for the fifth time already, show how it should be done and we can only encourage that further," says Kris Claes, CEO Voka - Chamber of Commerce Flemish Brabant.
That sustainability is high on the agenda of many Flemish Brabant companies was proved again yesterday. In the 3 Fonteinen Brewery in Lot, no fewer than 33 companies that participated in the VCDO process received their certificates. This is the final piece of the tailor-made trajectory that they followed at Voka – Chamber of Commerce Flemish Brabant. “We guide the participants with the VCDO based on the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations”, explains Sophie Dings, advisor to Sustainable Entrepreneurship at Voka Vlaams-Brabant. “We do a baseline measurement with the company and help them draw up a tailor-made action plan. That is also the strength of this charter: instead of pursuing general and vague goals, as a participant, you set up concrete and relevant actions that contribute to an internationally recognized framework.” After three successive, successful participation, international recognition as 'SDG Pioneer' follows from UNITAR, the training and research institute of the United Nations.
Happy participants
Kim's Chocolates has already been awarded a certificate for the fifth time, making it the company with the most VCDO certificates in Flemish Brabant. “It was one of our customers who made us realize in 2015 that we were already working sustainably. When we heard their story, we realized that we were already doing a lot ourselves as a company, but that we did not communicate about it with our employees and certainly not with the outside world. The VCDO charter and the SDGs associated with it were the ideal frameworks for us to do just that. Here in Tienen, too, we have to show that we have to treat our 180 people of 27 different nationalities with care when it comes to energy and water consumption. Also in Tanzania, where we help build schools for children of cocoa growers through our non-profit organization Cocoa For Schools. By obtaining the certificate for the fifth time, we are also recognized by the outside world as a sustainable company and that is of course also a great recognition.”
Marc Quirijnen, CEO Kim's Chocolates
