The Environmental Integration Tool Approach, also known as the "OIE" Approach, is a system designed to effectively and systematically integrate the environment into all Louvain Coopération projects linked to food and economic security. It is based on questionnaires covering soil, water and air quality, as well as biodiversity, waste, energy and the ability of local players to integrate the environment into their activities. They provide a precise description of the state of the ecosystem before, during and after the project, as well as identifying the influences of the project on the environment and vice versa.
Thanks to these observations, objectives and actions are formulated by the micro-entrepreneurs and producers supported, as well as by our teams working in the field, and are translated into concrete commitments in favour of the environment. This approach was born ten years ago and has come a long way since then. At the end of 2020, the DGD (Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid) chose it as the benchmark to be used by Belgian NGOs "to ensure a better understanding of expectations and focus structured attention on environmental issues."
The next project is to digitise one of the specific tools of the Approach. For the time being, it still takes the form of a paper questionnaire to be completed by producers with the help of technicians who visit the villages. Digitising it would make it easier to use, disseminate more widely and compile the objectives and results for use in scientific research.