Delivering sustainability strategies through local engagement
Elín Guðnadóttir, programme director at Kadeco, said the push for sustainability and decarbonisation in real estate will only succeed if global ambitions translate into locally grounded implementation. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, she emphasised that the sector’s biggest challenge is aligning municipal and institutional stakeholders behind a shared vision.
Guðnadóttir said the industry often treats sustainability as a fixed plan, but in practice it functions best as “a process” that creates space for collaboration. “You can make the strategy, like you have a beautiful project, and you make a very comprehensive sustainability strategy. However, if you look at it as a process, it is a platform for dialogue between key stakeholders,” she said.
For Kadeco, which works across two municipalities and alongside airport authorities, that dialogue-first approach is essential from the outset. “And in our states now, it’s more about dialogue with the municipalities, with airport authorities, creating that trust between those stakeholders and then taking it further to the implementation stage, getting financiers or companies or businesses that want to establish themselves,” she said. “Then we already have that trust between the key local stakeholders.”
Achieving alignment is rarely straightforward, she acknowledged, because sustainability still means different things to different groups. “Getting people on the same page with this is always a challenge, but it’s also getting people to an understanding of it. What does it mean? But it’s also about listening,” she said.
As a land developer, Guðnadóttir said Kadeco’s approach is rooted in understanding local needs before pursuing wider ambitions. “The key thing for us as a land developer, as the owner of the land, but actually operating within two local municipalities, is to listen and understand the local needs. And we won’t do anything globally unless we have the local stakeholders with us.”
