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FOCUS<br />
Harnessing the green economy<br />
for growth and increased<br />
job opportunities<br />
The Atlantis SEZ has dedicated Infrastructure and Integrated Ecosystem (IES)<br />
teams. Integrated Ecosystem Executive Ellen Fischat explains how they help to<br />
create shared value.<br />
The IES team, left to right: Christelle Brown, Ellen<br />
Fischat (Integrated Ecosystem Executive), Michael<br />
Webster, Ursula Wellmann, Charlotte Perang and<br />
Florenchia Solomons.<br />
The Atlantis Special Economic Zone<br />
Company (ASEZCo) for green technologies<br />
aims to harness the green economy for<br />
growth and increased job opportunities.<br />
It does this by driving sustainable, socioeconomic<br />
development and job creation, while<br />
positioning itself as a world-class eco-industrial<br />
park through its Living Lab. A Living Lab (LL), in<br />
contrast to a traditional laboratory, operates in a<br />
real-life context with a user-centric approach. The<br />
physical or organisational boundaries of a Living<br />
Lab are defined by purpose, scope and context.<br />
The scope, objectives, activities, resources and<br />
degree of participation and boundaries of a living<br />
laboratory are open for definition by its participants.<br />
These participants consist of multi-disciplinary<br />
stakeholders, from public to private sector, tertiary<br />
to research institutions and most importantly<br />
the local community and civic society. Industries<br />
adopting Living Labs share an approach to finding<br />
innovative solutions to open and real-world<br />
contexts, as opposed to closed laboratory settings.<br />
The task of convening and connecting the<br />
multi-disciplinary stakeholders falls mostly on<br />
the Infrastructure and Integrated Ecosystem<br />
(IES) teams, both supporting the ASEZCo’s<br />
establishment as a resource-efficient, carbonneutral<br />
and socially-inclusive industrial hub.<br />
Through its positioning as this eco-industrial<br />
park the ASEZ aims to attract Greentech investors<br />
who embody the elements and ethos of green<br />
technology manufacturing. It also means bringing<br />
the principles of the green economy into how the<br />
Atlantis SEZ is run and how the utility service needs<br />
of the investors are ultimately met and delivered.<br />
In recent years, purpose has gained<br />
momentum in business. With societal issues on<br />
the rise, government and community resources<br />
are under pressure. And increasingly, consumers<br />
expect organisations to step in and play a greater<br />
role in advancing social or environmental issues.<br />
But, while companies understand the moral<br />
imperative in delivering value for all stakeholders,<br />
a huge opportunity exists in seeing the business<br />
imperative. This can be explained through a simple<br />
but powerful idea: a company’s success and social<br />
progress are interdependent. This is the key<br />
principle of shared value.<br />
Tourism companies can’t thrive if a<br />
pandemic prevents us from travelling. Food<br />
suppliers can’t thrive if extreme weather<br />
events spoil farmers’ crops. Farmers can’t<br />
thrive if supply chains are fragmented. And<br />
communities go hungry when there is limited<br />
access to food supplies. And financial services<br />
can’t thrive amid financial hardship.<br />
WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS <strong>2022</strong><br />
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