Robin Bruninx is in the running for CSR Professional of the Year 2019

Founder of sustainability firm Encon among the final three

“The CSR Professional of the Year 2019 plays a strategic and indispensable CSR role within their company or organisation as a motivator, inspirer or implementer,” says the non-profit organisation Time4Society, which, in collaboration with Trends and Engie, among others, is the initiator of the award. Words that perfectly describe Bruninx, an enthusiastic entrepreneur and champion of the sustainability revolution. “I started Encon in 2002 based on the conviction that investing in sustainability pays off in any case,” says Bruninx. “Al Gore’s film (An Inconvenient Truth, ed..) hadn’t been released yet. Nor did I realise at the time that what I was doing would later come to be known as CSR. But I felt that sustainable business was the only option for the future of our planet.”

Sustainability in the DNA

That Bruninx’s sustainability vision pays off is made clear by the journey Encon has undertaken over the past 18 years. The sustainability company that started without capital but with a good idea has since grown into an established name in the sector, boasting the most sustainable office building in Europe. Bruninx: “I must admit that I set the bar much higher for our company than for our clients. Our new office building, Infinity, is a good example of this. It wasn’t easy to realise this project, and yet here it stands. Because we owed it to ourselves.”

That far-reaching approach is evident in Infinity. Given Encon’s activities, the fact that the building is technically very advanced is, to some extent, to be expected. But in Infinity, the concept of sustainability has been applied to absolutely everything: from coffee beans to water consumption and from restaurant furniture to the products used for cooking. Everything is locally sourced, reused or fair trade if not available locally. There are even plans to build a greenhouse on the site, where vegetables will be grown for the company’s own use. Infinity also boasts one of the largest private charging station networks in the country, with 300 kW of charging capacity. The number of charging stations will soon double. And that is necessary, because Encon aims to have a fully electric fleet within two years

But Bruninx also promotes the concept of sustainability with great enthusiasm to the outside world. With the Encon Energy Prize, for example, Bruninx aims to motivate both students and educational institutions to pay more attention to sustainability. But he also contributes to programmes designed to boost girls’ interest in STEM subjects: “In industry today, almost half of all technical creativity goes unused. The creativity of the female half of the population,” says Bruninx.

In addition to the impact his company can have in its own region, Bruninx also looks to the other side of the planet. He is a director of a non-profit organisation that plants trees in Africa. The aim is to plant 10 million trees. These not only help in the fight against global warming, but also provide food and an income for the local population. 600,000 of these trees have already been planted. They are helping around 2,500 people to a better life.

An intensive selection process

But you don’t just become CSR Professional of the Year overnight. More and more companies are investing in sustainable business practices and view CSR as a key part of their corporate strategy. No wonder, then, that a large number of candidates were nominated again this year, all of whom submitted a substantial application. During the selection period that followed, the jury and the core committee shortlisted 10 candidates, five per language group. These candidates were invited to present their dossiers to the jury. From this group, the six finalists were ultimately chosen, three per language group. In the final for Flanders, Robin Bruninx will compete against Caroline Pauwels, Rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Greet Vanderheyden, Sustainable Development Manager at Alpro.

The award is being presented for the fourth time this year. Previous winners have included Ann Claes (JBC), Pascal Léglise (Carrefour Belgium) and Eric de Deckere (Port of Antwerp). “No small names,” says Bruninx. “I also feel very honoured to be standing on the CSR stage alongside Caroline and Greet – whom I greatly admire. Sustainability is in our DNA and is woven into our company’s mindset. Not just for me, but just as much for our employees,” says Bruninx.