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Industry Service Providers

Discover who is behind the selection of the participating companies at MED TEST II in Jordan

The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) is the largest applied research institution, consultancy, and technical support service provider in Jordan and is a regional leader in the fields of science & technology. We had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Jehan Haddad, who explained us what Jordan is doing to implement more sustainable measures

Please describe your organisation 

RSS aims at conducting applied research, specialized technical consultations and services serving the development process with special attention to industrial research and services.

The CP-Unit (CPU) at the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) was established in February 2004 with the support of the Swiss State Secretarial for Economic Affairs (SECO). The scope of work of CPU includes RECP, environmental audit with CP, LCA, major risk assessment, responsible production assessment, and currently working on introducing SwitchMed TEST in Jordan in cooperation with Amman Chamber of Industry


Can you tell us about yourself? 

My name is Jehan Haddad, and together with Mr. Rafat Assi, who is the project coordinator, we are the industry service providers local partners for MED TEST II. I am a Chemical Engineer with a Master in Environmental Technology and Management. I have acquired more than eleven years of experience participating and/or coordinating in CP in-plant assessments for many companies in metal, food, chemical and hospitality sectors.  I have also been involved in Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) studies, including the development of the GHGs mitigation chapter for industrial processes in the third national communication (TNC) report to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

I have also been closely involved in the preparation of a number of technical reports related to air quality studies in industrial areas in Jordan and in preparing environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies.

 

 What have been the criteria being used to select the participating companies?

 The main criterias to select the participating companyies have been the following:Top management commitment

  • Potential for improvement
  • Creditworthiness
  •  No conflict of interest

The secondary criteria we also used are:

  • Export oriented
  • Importance of the specific branches within the selected priority sectors in the country
  • Demonstrated commitment to sustainability issues
  • Commitment for introduction of a management system

 

What kind of activities or actions have you done in order to get companies attention? i.e. Extensive marketing campaign, one-to-one company site visits, workshops, etc....

  • Marketing campaign through introducing the project through national newspapers and at their electronic websites, CPU website, the Network for Jordanian Industrial sustainability and social media, design and disseminate a brochure for the project.
  • 4 workshops were conducted, 2 of them nearby the industries complexes; Amman (ACI on 8/6/2015), Sahab (King Abdullah II Industrial Estate on 10/8/2015), Marka (Eastern Amman Investors Industrial Association on 18/8/2015) and Zarqa (ZCI on 15/6/2015).
  • One-to-one meetings with the top managements of 15 companies were conducted.
  • Phones and e-mails were used to contact the companies and introduce the project to them.

 

How do you attract top management interest and commitment toward implementing sustainable measures?

We are planning to attract them through well prepared technical, financial, environmental and organizational feasibility studies accompanied with action plans and possible synergies with national green financing opportunities.

 

What are the companies’ motivations for joining MED TEST II?

The main concern is how to reach and inform the decision makers of the companies about the project. Some companies did not read the invitation letters well so they did not attend the workshops or nominate inappropriate staff to attend them, even we tried to call them via phones and e-mails to provide more details about the project. For some industries there is a need to overcome the resistance to change and the bad experience they gained in similar programs, as well as, their priorities to keep production and find new markets without recognising the benefits of matching these needs with TEST II project. However; the one-to-one meetings showed interest and motivation of most of the met managers to participate in the project.