Costa Rica Green Valley’s community strategy encompasses a vision and work pillars that were defined as a result of an in-depth analysis of the Central Valley’s western region. This strategy was designed in 2021 and its implementation began in 2022, thus building foundations for collaboration with local players; throughout 2023, its progress has solidified through concrete actions.
Each pillar establishes a medium-term objective, as these goals are what guide actions that contribute to local development.
The community’s vision is to be part of a group of companies that contribute to sustainable development in the Western region, via job opportunities and business chains that favor local talent in an inclusive way and via urban development, in such a way that it is possible to respond to varying social needs in the communities that surround the project, while also protecting natural resources and native species.
Based on this vision, Costa Rica Green Valley establishes the following pillars:
- Economic Promotion: This pillar addresses issues related to job opportunities and business chains, as well as training, so that people and companies in the West can opt for these opportunities. To enable this pillar, we have signed agreements with area municipalities, neighboring Professional Technical High Schools (CTPs, for their acronym in Spanish), and the Grecia Chamber of Commerce, and will soon do the same with other local chambers. Costa Rica Green Valley is initially working on basic training, to which other more technical ones will be added later, as aligned with the requirements for companies established within the free zone.Basic topics currently included in training extend to résumé preparation and job interview readiness, as well as training for a group of Grecia companies on issues of process improvement, customer service, and business sustainability. In addition, other actions will be added, to include job fairs and recommendations to address issues of inclusion and care, among other technical practices for students.
- Public Spaces: Community spaces and those with public access throughout Costa Rica Green Valley are included in this pillar, as are all issues associated with sustainable mobility. The main actions will include designs for a space recently acquired by one of the communities, and whose purpose will be chosen through community participation. In addition to donating a playground for the area’s Special Education Center, work is being done to connect Costa Rica Green Valley with its surrounding communities, as well as to create intervention via placemaking for other community-prioritized spaces, in partnership with various public and private players in the region.
- The Environment and Biodiversity: Included in this pillar are issues of reforestation, biological connectivity, wildlife passages, and environmental education for educational centers and communities. Immediate actions extend to installing a collection center for the Puente Piedra High School; training for students, teachers, and the administrative population on environmental issues for the Puente Piedra High School and the Ramón Herrero Vitoria School; and constant monitoring of wildlife passages. This last item will help protect the more than 15 different species of wildlife that have been identified in the area, with recommendations for Costa Rica Green Valley and Route 1 expansion.
Additionally, as a transversal component of the strategy, they are facilitating an element known as the Social Innovation Table – a workspace for players from multiple sectors, to work together on projects that contribute to sustainable development in the lower region of Grecia. The Board relies on active participation from the community, as well as the area’s public and private sectors, and has begun implementing projects with its own representatives.
Likewise, in matters of Eco-Construction, an important axis of the sustainability strategy involves all of Portafolio Inmobiliario’s construction processes, which seek energy efficiency, water consumption savings, and responsible waste management, to minimize construction’s environmental impact through processes to control and measure consumption, as well as the creation and treatment of waste. For this reason, we are working to achieve the Ecological Blue Flag in Sustainable Construction recognition, as an instrument to verify the best practices that we have implemented.
At the end of 2021, we began to execute Eco-Construction Axis control procedures and tools.
Costa Rica Green Valley operations also extend to managing environmental aspects, such as water quality and management, energy efficiency, and comprehensive waste management, through practices such as the use of alternate water sources for irrigation and cleaning activities, the use of efficient lighting and solar-powered lighting, and the recovery of waste generated through project operation.
Portafolio Inmobiliario is a partner company in the Costa Rica Green Valley project and the developer of Grecia Free Zone, which marks the first stage of this project. Sustainability is the backbone of the Portfolio Inmobiliario; therefore, Grecia Free Zone and Costa Rica Green Valley execute actions that enhance our positive impact in areas of the environment, social impact, and governance.