The Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) and the University of Oum El Bouaghi have officially entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening sustainability education and advancing capacity building in green building practices across Algeria. The agreement was formalized during a high-level signing ceremony represented by Dr. Yousef Alhorr, GORD’s Founding Chairman, and Prof. Fawzi Choug, Rector of the University of Oum El Bouaghi.

The collaboration marks a significant milestone in the regional expansion of GORD’s flagship Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), extending its institutional and academic presence beyond the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and into the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Yousef Alhorr, GORD’s Founding Chairman, said: “At GORD, our core mission is anchored in accelerating scalable climate action and driving systemic sustainability across the MENA region. Following the recent adoption of GSAS by the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) as the unified regional green building standard (GSO 3000:2025), expanding its footprint into North Africa is a natural next step. By embedding this performance-based framework into the academic fabric of the University of Oum El Bouaghi, we are equipping Algeria's future architects and engineers with a globally proven, regionally tailored toolkit.”

Prof. Fawzi Choug, Rector of the University of Oum El Bouaghi, said: “As a recognized regional leader in environmental assessment and the developer of GSAS system, GORD provides a robust platform for integrating sustainability into higher education. Through this collaboration, we aim to strengthen academic programs, enhance faculty capacity, and ensure that sustainability principles are fully embedded in the training of future professionals who will shape Algeria’s built environment in alignment with national and global climate goals.”

The MoU directly underpins Algeria's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which pledges an unconditional 7% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 utilizing domestic resources. Given that the construction, operations, and broader lifecycles of buildings and infrastructure constitute a significant share of global energy consumption and carbon output, the MoU between GORD and the University of Oum El Bouaghi serves as a strategic intervention to lower emissions from Algeria’s built environment.

Central to the bilateral agreement is the formal integration of GSAS into the university’s engineering and architectural curricula, establishing a sustainable foundation for capacity building and professional readiness among Algerian youth. Through direct interaction with the GSAS framework, students will acquire specialized knowledge in resource conservation, waste minimization, environmental pollution mitigation, and indoor occupant well-being. The partnership establishes a robust operational framework where GORD will extend access to specialized GSAS tools to the university for educational and instructional purposes, bridging the gap between theoretical academia and industry-standard technical applications.

To ensure long-term scalability, GORD plans to deliver advanced training and GSAS’ professional certification programs tailored for the university’s faculty members whose academic specializations intersect with sustainable engineering. This professional development pathway will enable university faculty to become licensed trainers equipped with the pedagogical expertise to instruct undergraduate and postgraduate students on the rigorous compliance metrics of the GSAS Design & Build (D&B) Certification.

With the latest MoU, the University of Oum El Bouaghi has joined an expanding pan-regional network of academic institutions – spanning Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman – that have incorporated GSAS knowledge and training into academic and professional development frameworks. As the first performance-based green building rating system native to the MENA region, GSAS has achieved unprecedented market penetration within the Gulf region, boasting more than 2,700 certified projects and retaining its status as the fastest-growing sustainability framework in the territory. This upcoming expansion into Algeria signifies a pivotal geopolitical shift, pushing GSAS knowledge dissemination across North Africa and unifying regional standards to address the specific climatic and ecological realities of the arid and semi-arid MENA zones.