Strengthening SME Sustainability Outlook
▶Summary
Most environmental legislation targets large organisations, but it is SMEs that have the greatest impact. A European Commission study showed that 'SMEs contribute 64% of the environmental impact' ...
▶Objectives
SustainSMEs aims to 1. Develop a monitoring mechanism within SMEs to increase or maintain their sustainability performance. 2. Define a new role (Sustainability Regulator) within the SME structure, assigning specific roles and responsibilities related to sustainability. 3. Promote the recognition of competences and qualifications under the EQF in Europe. 4. Improve the sustainability practices and perspectives of SMEs. 5. Promote innovation, education, social inclusion and climate and energy preservation, in line with the EU SME Strategy. 6. Create more employment opportunities through sustainable development. 7. Strengthen the role of VET in training SMEs on sustainability policies and practices. 9. Emphasise the use of the EQF and ECVET as tools for achieving lifelong learning.
▶Activities
- The EFQ Level descriptors for the role of Sustainability Regulator (SR) in an SME - create an agile training course 'SustainSMEs VET Curriculum and Course' - design and develop a Digital Sustainability Audit Tool as a tracking tool for SRs to monitor the sustainability performance of their SME - organise a VET training of trainers event which will aim to equip VET trainers with the additional knowledge and skills needed to train SME managers or future SRs in sustainability monitoring in their SMEs - five multiplier events to disseminate the project results and SustainSMEs activities. In order to successfully carry out the above activities, the SustainSMEs consortium has also carried out: Project management activities: - Four transnational project meetings - online consortium meetings every 2 months - Biannual internal financial reports to manage budget expenditures Quality assurance monitoring and evaluation activities: - Elaboration and implementation of a Quality Evaluation Plan. - Evaluation of consortium meetings. - Collection and processing of feedback from participants in project activities. - Monitoring of project indicators and ensuring the high quality of project results.
▶Impact
The following project results have been achieved: - EQF Level Descriptors for SRs ; - a Digital Sustainability Audit Tool that will be used to monitor all sustainability KPIs; - the SustainSMEs curriculum and vocational training course with corresponding training and learning materials as a set of bite-sized learning modules; - A 3-day transnational training course (C1) with the participation of VET trainers appointed by the partners; - SustainSMEs Project Management Manual; - SustainSMEs Quality Assurance Plan; - SustainSMEs Dissemination Strategy Plan; - The SustainSMEs project website, social media page and other dissemination materials; - Six local multiplier events.