Whether it's renovating barracks and prisons, finding space for defense activities, or remodeling the Binnenhof: the environment plays a crucial role for the Central Government Real Estate Company (CGREA). That's why the CGREA works closely with WesselinkVanZijst. We advise and train environmental professionals, so that the SSE methodology is becoming an increasingly integral part of their daily work. What does that yield?

The Central Government Real Estate Company manages buildings and grounds of the Dutch central government and the Ministry of Defence: from courthouses, palaces, and ministries to barracks and military airfields. This presents significant challenges, especially in the area of Defence. The security situation in the world is changing rapidly, and Defence therefore needs more space. Furthermore, many buildings outdated. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence is renovating its real estate and making it more sustainable.

‘For the first time in 25 years, we are buying new real estate again,’ says strategic environmental manager Bart van Veldhuijsen. From the Central Government Real Estate Agency, he advises and supports the Ministry of Defence in the major transformation of its real estate portfolio.

‘The Ministry of Defence is working on a complex reshuffle: units will be relocated, and a significant number of people and resources will be added. Therefore, we must renovate, acquire, build, and reconfigure real estate with high urgency and speed. This demands something not only from our people but also from the surrounding community. Without good collaboration with stakeholders, you can't get projects like these off the ground.’

Projects that leave an impact

The military in the Netherlands primarily operates behind fences, in forests, and on restricted sites. It might seem like they have little to do with the outside world, but the reality is different, emphasizes Bart. ‘Think about renovating a barracks. Such a project can easily take several years, with trucks arriving and departing daily. That has a significant impact, from pressure on infrastructure to noise pollution.’

Conversely, there are also opportunities to create win-win situations, he continues. 'Take ammunition depots: they always have a safety zone around them where you're not allowed to do anything else. This creates opportunities for new nature. Or existing nature can be better protected in that zone.'

Not letting sleeping dogs lie

The collaboration between the CGREA and WesselinkVanZijst began with a Basic Training Strategic Stakeholder Engagement (SSE), for the Directorate of Materiel, Living Environment, Real Estate & Sustainability (MLVD) of the Ministry of Defence. The CGREA was also involved as an implementing organization. ‘I was immediately enthusiastic,’ says Bart. ‘The content of the training aligned very well with my way of thinking and working.’

It was striking that Bart and his team were already partly applying the SSE principles, says Bas Liebeek, ‘trainer/advisor at WesselinkVanZijst. ’They just didn't call it that yet. We helped them put words to what they were doing and taught them our established methodology. That's how you make your work recognizable. So that colleagues can also get started with it.'

Bart: ‘Some sentences from the training I still use daily. Like: “We must not let sleeping dogs lie.” Such a oneliner raises immediate questions and helps us with in-house discussions.’

Also the formulation of a so-called positive no proves valuable: how do you clearly say ‘no’ while keeping the relationship with the other party healthy? ‘We practice this during the training sessions,’ says Bas. ‘Because the stakeholder who currently has little influence on your project might be the exact person you need in six months to arrange a permit. There's always a next round, after all – another oneliner.’

Consultancy and embedment

Seven groups of CGREA employees have now completed the basic training. Stakeholder engagement professionals with extensive SSE experience can follow an advanced training, and Bas is on-site one day a week for advice and coaching on embedding SSE within the Dutch CGREA. Ultimately, the CGREA wants stakeholder orientation to become second nature.

This is how Bart and Bas work together to support various stakeholder engagement professionals and project managers with the real estate projects the CGREA is working on throughout the country. Sometimes a good environmental analysis is needed, other times advice on how to conduct the right conversations with stakeholders, or a participation plan for the next phase.

‘Many of our employees are involved in stakeholder engagement,’ Bart explains. ‘The next step is to ensure that all processes and systems support this approach. In other words, that SSE becomes an organizational competence. We are taking steps in that direction now.’

Sharing success stories

The duo encourages CGREA stakeholder engagement professionals, for example, to share their work and success stories with each other so that others can benefit. ‘For a barracks project in the south of the Netherlands, those involved developed a good participation approach. We created a template from that, so colleagues can also use it for a similar project in the north of the Netherlands. This way, you prevent reinventing the wheel every time.’

What also works well: pairing environmental managers who are exploring their approach with colleagues who have done something similar before. Bas: ‘For that, it is necessary to work with a certain hierarchy in environmental management roles. Ideally, you want Bart's team of strategic stakeholder engagement professionals to also know what's going on with project environmental managers and local stakeholders. This way, you can connect people, combine work methods, and help fellow professionals.’

The unruly reality

Managing security in a large organization – the Central Government Real Estate Agency (CGREA) has about three thousand employees – isn't always easy, Bas emphasizes. ‘You almost can't avoid standardizing processes, putting things down on paper, and making agreements. Otherwise, the approach won’t take hold. But when that starts to feel like a chore for employees, with yet another step-by-step plan, you lose them. It’s quite a challenge to find the right balance.‘

Indeed, Bart nods: practice is sometimes unruly. ‘But what helps is that the newspaper reports almost daily on stalled societal challenges. Yet another Council of State procedure, yet more protesting local residents… and just look at the protracted nitrogen discussion. Such examples underline the necessity of strategic stakeholder engagement. It's simply smarter to involve the outside world in what you're doing. Then you can jointly search for win-win situations: solutions that work for all parties.’

Independent process facilitator

For some complex CGREA assignments, WesselinkVanZijst acts as an independent process facilitator. ‘That works much better than me chairing our own project meetings,’ says Bart. ‘I prefer to be at the table as an equal on behalf of the CGREA with other stakeholders, with the freedom to represent the interests of our own organization. Bas' role is more independent: he doesn't speak from a single interest but serves the process. This allows him to more easily make a round of visits to all parties after a meeting.’

Bas adds with a smile: ‘And during such sessions, I am just as ‘strict’ with the Supervisory Board as with other stakeholders.’

Now that they've been working closely together for a while, Bas and Bart are noticing that it adds value in all sorts of ways. ‘We've really become peers and share a lot about the development of stakeholder engagement,’ Bas concludes. ‘Bart sometimes joins our sessions, and the other way around, I sometimes attend an event on real estate and spatial planning organized by government parties. It's incredibly valuable for your professional development and your network. That's how we strengthen each other: that's a win-win too.’

Want to know more?

At WesselinkVanZijst, we help organizations to develop their strategic stakeholder engagement (SSE) through training, consulting, and sharing knowledge. This way, we help to make addressing societal challenges smoother and more efficient. Would you like to discuss this further? Please contact Bas Liebeek (trainer/consultant) at
bas.liebeek@wesselinkvanzijst.nl.