Sustainable local development: closest to the population

Sustainable improvement of the quality of life

The underlying principle of sustainable local development is to improve the quality of life today without compromising the future of generations to come. The current conventional economic system is all too often geared to generating maximum profit at once without taking into account the possible repercussions for future generations. It is therefore a matter of managing and using resources in a responsible manner, including for the long term. Sustainable local development tries to meet current needs and to strike a balance between the economic, social and environmental dimensions that guarantee a better quality of life for the populations of today and tomorrow.

Social and environmental areas

Thanks to substantial projects at local, municipal and regional level, the work of OPE’s initiative and management centres (known by the French acronym CIG) is beneficial to the population directly, as it is conducted at the very core of people’s lives. Particular attention is obviously paid to the fact that these projects improve the quality of life of the population in a sustainable manner.

OPE tries to meet new needs, especially in social and environmental areas that are neglected by the private market and the public services; while social innovation, as a major element of the OPE network’s activities, helps to create new jobs and thus to bolster local economic prosperity.

To guarantee optimal success for its projects and to promote the principles of solidarity and of sharing knowledge, OPE tries to join forces with every organisation or person that has the will and capacity to contribute to its development. To that end, OPE concludes partnerships with different local stakeholders and engages in an active employment policy.