The Problem
Broadly, green SMEs contribute to the protection of the climate, environment, and biodiversity through their products, services, and business practices. SMEs can become green performers simply by incorporating green practices and improving their sustainability performance. However, women are still underrepresented and excluded by the green economy and the green recovery, having limited access to information, tools and financing creating a substantial gap especially when referring to women- owned SMEs. Today more than ever, there is an imperative need to invest in knowledge and skills development in women-owned enterprises that are willing to use sustainable practices in doing business and capitalize on opportunities to help women grow their businesses and simultaneously advance green economic growth. Procurement policies that allocate a minimum proportion of budgets to women-owned sustainable enterprises are a concrete and systematic means to meet these objectives.
The Project
The “WomEn Going Greener” project aims at developing the green skills and competences of women entrepreneurs, boosting them in adopting a greener approach of doing business and creating a more sustainable organization. This is achieved by the development of innovative learning material and implementation of trainings. The learning materials nclude all sectors of sustainable entrepreneurship (entrepreneurship, social sustainability, environmental sustainability) while through the expertise of the partners and the piloting of the materials we develop high quality learning opportunities that can be accessed by all interested parties. Going one step further, the project develops an Action Plan which includes specific actions, good practices and legal framework and constitutes a practical guide for Female SMEs to go greener, assisting them in minimizing their environmental footprint. During the last stage of implementation, the project uses all the knowledge and experience acquired and organizes a “hakathon” in order to develop a Policy Recommendation Paper for creating an environment that enhances the greening of female SMEs.
Objectives
- Developing green skills and competencies of female entrepreneurs and executives to create a sustainable business
- Developing exemplary learning materials for female entrepreneurs
- Foster capacity building for sustainable businesses
- Boosting the greening of women-led enterprises
- Fighting against climate change
- Setting the grounds on policy level for enhancing the greening of female SMEs
- Promoting business sustainability at national, regional, and European level
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The Project Number is: 2023-1-EL01-KA210-ADU-
