The Belgian Chambers win Voka Charter Duurzaam Ondernemen – Actions for a fairer, greener, more sustainable future

With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the critical framework they provide, the Belgian Chambers have succeeded in implementing concrete actions to contribute to a fairer, greener and more sustainable future.

The Voka Charter Duurzaam Ondernemen (VCDO) by the Flemish Chambers is another important step in the process. To win the title of SDG Pioneer, businesses have three years to carry out actions to achieve all of the SDGs. The action plan will then be evaluated by an external committee.

All Flemish Chambers have taken the leap so far and developed their own action plan. In the meantime, the Walloon Chambers have also laid the groundwork of their own initiative. In 2020, the Federation also decided to embark on the adventure, with the aim of becoming an SDG Pioneer Certificaat winner by 2024.

On 22 March, the Federation successfully completed the first part of its action plan and was awarded the title of VCDO Laureate 2022!

Discover the actions we took in 2021!

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Mens sana in corpore sano

Our motto at the Federation? “A healthy mind in a healthy body”! That is why we set ourselves the collective challenge of walking 1250 km and cycling 2000 km. We proudly reached and even surpassed this goal! Together we covered a nice distance of 1463 km on foot and 2222 km by bike.

Knowledge empowers us

With the same motto in mind, we gave the Chambers unique trainings in the form of educational videos, to support them and help them expand their export formalities skills.
Even in a small team of seven people, we often notice that we don’t know much about our colleagues’ daily tasks. That’s why we decided to organise various trainings on communication tools, ATA carnets and CRM management. We were able to slip into our colleagues’ shoes for a few hours and to upgrade our skills.
Personal growth is an essential factor to well-being at work. So we asked ourselves what personal skills we wanted to emphasise, and we focused on improving our learning attitude, our digital skills and our sense of innovation.

Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Choosing green energy

The Federation has moved to a more sustainable energy contract.

A healthy workplace, in the office and at home

The Covid situation proved that homeworking has many benefits and that most employees appreciate it. But there are two sides to every coin. At the Belgian Chambers, we have developed a structural framework to guarantee an efficient practical organisation and to ensure that homeworking doesn’t spill over into private life.
We strive to ensure that all employees are provided with a safe and healthy work environment, in the office and at home. We have created a list of ergonomics do’s and don’ts and we talked individually with each employee to optimise their work environment.

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

“Our participation in the VCDO created a great dynamic within our team. Everyone was able to contribute to this excellent result. We would also like to thank the Chamber of Commerce Vlaams Brabant for their support and advice.”

profielfoto International Manager Veerle Geeraerts

Veerle GeeraertsProject & International Affairs Manager, Belgian Chambers

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

“Sustainability checklist”

We aren’t always aware of the environmental impact our activities have. Nowadays, we mainly consume energy through our homes and our internet consumption. That’s why we have listed a series of tips to raise awareness around digital pollution and how to limit its impact.
The Federation has developed a responsible purchasing policy and a “sustainability checklist”, which starts with the question: do you really need to make this purchase?
In addition to reducing the amount of waste we produce, we now sort according to each specific type of litter: plastic, metals and drinks cartons (PMC/PMD), paper, glass, residual waste and organic waste.

Sharing, exchanging, raising awareness

In its 2021 activity report, the Federation presented the actions the different chambers took to adhere to the 17 SDGs. Our aim is to inspire all chambers to do more, while giving information about our approach to the rest of the world.
Sustainability is also about seizing opportunities. Using a detailed PESTEL analysis, we have assessed the various political, economic, socio-cultural, ecological and legal factors that influence our operations, to identify possible threats and opportunities for the Federation.
A couple of years ago, the Federation introduced the system of non-recurrent result-based benefits. Until now, these benefits were always granted according to the achievement of financial targets. But for the first time this year, sustainability targets were chosen, with the aim of achieving the VCDO certificate.
All employees of the Federation were involved in drawing up and implementing the VCDO action plan, with each of them completing one or more actions. That way, we also increased awareness of the SDGs internally.

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

A global approach to sustainability

In other countries, people are also looking for ways to draw the attention of companies to sustainability issues. In that sense, we presented the VCDO process on several occasions to the European network of chambers and we encouraged the Flemish chambers to take part in the World Chambers Competition. With the help of the Federation, the Walloon chambers also managed to implement the Voka Charter for Sustainable Entrepreneurship.
In partnership with CIFAL Flanders, the Federation organised an information session “Start to SDGs” for the bilateral chambers of commerce abroad. The aim of this session was to provide bilateral chambers with some tools and expertise to promote the importance of sustainability among their members.

Work in progress!

Sustainability is a long-term process that requires sustained effort. Rather than seeing it as a reward for hard work, we prefer to see the award as an incentive to continue along this path.