Project in the spotlight

Sustainable entrepreneurship
for the circular economy

This project was made possible thanks to the support of Vlaanderen Circulair, the government organisation that wants to help boost the circular economy in Flanders.
The pilot case at Roof Food paved the way for a structured method to strengthen circular enterprises.
This method is being developed to support value-driven, circular entrepreneurs in the sustainable development of their organisation. With our pilot partner, Roof Food, we set out to implement the process effectively.

Who is Roof Food?

Roof Food wants to bring nature to the city, and as a result, make our cities healthier, more social and more climate neutral. That’s what both Sabien Windels and roof farmer Jonathan advise governments and building promoters who want to become hands on with short chain and sustainable urban agriculture.

In the social impact centre, De Punt, in Gentbrugge, you can take a look at a very unique vegetable garden, which is 500 square meters large, where they grow more than 200 kinds of fruit and vegetables on the roof of the building!

Our Approach

Step 1 - The Entrepreneur

Sustainable entrepreneurship starts in a place which you might not immediately think of: with the entrepreneur.

In order to give Roof Food the best chances of success, it is important that the entrepreneur is able to perform at the highest level. This means that it is best to avoid stress around money, work-life balance and demotivating work.

Therefore, in a first phase, we started working with Sabien in three sessions to see how she was doing in terms of finance, work content and quality of life and what she herself was looking for in order to be able to develop Roof Food sustainably.

Step 2 - The current activities

Financial situation and model

Business means money, costs and income. To give Sabien a better insight into her current organisation, we built a simulator (‘the Excel’) on which we mapped out her existing organisation in terms of a ‘costs, income and earnings’ model. In this way, Sabien was able to test her ideas against the financial desirability.

Activities and mission

Together, we analysed the extent to which the activities were in line with Sabien’s mission to bring the farm to the city.

Thanks to an extensive zero-measurement, it was mapped out what value was created for each stakeholder (customers, employees, society and Sabien herself). This also gave us the insight to do an upgraded value planning. That was when the Corona virus came along and it was back to the drawing board.

Current team

An organisation is only as strong as its team. That’s why we worked together with the employees of Roof Food to identify areas for improvement, talent and concerns within the organisation. Roof Food is also screened on employment law in order to identify any problems.

Current organisation

With Sabien’s guidance, an organisation folder was built that mapped out the most important responsibilities. We also analysed how Roof Food was managed, which tools were used and how the work was being done.

Step 3 - Curious about Roof Food’s sustainable transformation?

We contributed to Sabine’s story for a full year. Do you want to know what specific steps Sabien has taken to shape Roof Food’s current activities? Read her story on our site.

Articles about Roof Food

Videos about Roof Food

The first client

The City Farmer

The City of Ghent

If you’re excited by this, read on

Are you brooding on a plan yourself and do you want to start working with sustainable transformation after reading this case? If, like us, you believe that economics is a means to value and not an end in itself, feel free to contact us to see if we can strengthen your sustainable mission.