The Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme has had a great impact on South Africa’s journey to improve industrial parks such that they are resilient and respond to socio-economic and environmental challenges. To date, the Eco-Industrial Parks journey in South Africa has grown in scope and importance over the years owing to partnerships and collaboration between government, policymakers, academia, industrial parks and other stakeholders. This however did not happen by chance but through proactive engagement.
In a discussion at the COP 27 side event on ‘A global vision of Eco-Industrial Parks for climate-resilient and sustainable industrial development’, Bernd Oellerman shared a number of lessons learned by South Africa that resulted from EIP activities. Among these were an EIP roundtable, an initiative he took during his tenure at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) upon establishing a need for collaboration. He also acknowledged that the journey takes time, “We started this journey almost 7 years ago with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and we are only seeing a growth momentum now,” said Oellerman. He added that “industrial parks can serve as catalysts for economic growth and social development.”
A full recording of the discussion is available at this link: https://bit.ly/3UswHpD.
