Bibi Looijestijn on her assignment at COA

Bibi Looijestijn has been working at Improven as a young consultant for over a year. After working on projects at Ab Ovo and Oasen, she started her third job at the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) in early 2020. Looijestijn talks about the assignment and her role.

COA deals with the reception and guidance of asylum seekers on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Security. Recently, the 'Multi-Year Strategy COA 2020-2025′ was launched, which I worked hard on. A very interesting project, in which I organised and attended several strategic sessions as project secretary. I was also closely involved in discussions about core values, communication with internal and external stakeholders and gave input on the document.

The information sessions to all managers within COA were great fun to give. Taking them through the creation, trends, mission, vision, core values, goals and implementation ensured that the Multiannual Strategy really came to life and was embraced by the organisation.

After the realisation of the Multiannual Strategy, I became part of the support team. As part of this team, I support management teams in translating goals from the Multiannual Strategy into activities in the management contract. I assess per contract whether all goals are described, the activities for 2021 are sufficiently SMART and the risks and control measures are clearly defined.

In addition, I get to deal with the topic of sustainability within COA. In recent months, I have been busy preparing and providing input for the 2019 carbon footprint. Quite a job, as COA has many locations and departments. Also, this was the first time COA had compiled a CO2 footprint. I am currently working on work for the 2020 CO2 footprint. I am also leading the circularity and consumption project. For this project, together with four pilot locations, I am analysing what COA can do in terms of waste separation and energy consumption. With this research, I hope to pick up nice initiatives that will later be rolled out within COA.

The nice thing about my assignment at COA is that I participate in a team with a lot of experience and with colleagues from whom I can learn a lot. In addition, COA operates in a dynamic playing field with many partnerships. An instructive and above all fascinating assignment!