This project, "Start on Sustainability" (SOS), is focused on helping known as micro-enterprises in Europe operate in a more environmentally friendly way. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up a huge part of Europe's economy, with micro-enterprises being the majority. These small businesses have a significant impact on the environment, contributing to things like greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
Currently, many small businesses in the EU don't have a clear plan for being sustainable. This is a problem because sustainability can help them, especially during issues like energy crises where being more efficient can save money.
The SOS project wants to change this by creating a program that helps these small businesses to become more sustainable. The project will work with different partners with a range of contacts, such as training organisations, business advisors, and groups representing self-employed people. These partners are already involved in teaching businesses and helping them grow, so they're in a good position to help with this new sustainability program.
The aim is to encourage small businesses to adopt practices that are better for the environment. This will help meet the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030 and support the EU's strategies for a greener economy. The project is important because it can make a big difference in how Europe's economy affects the environment, by focusing on these very small but numerous and impactful businesses.
In Europe, there are many very small businesses, called micro-enterprises, and they have a big impact on the environment. These businesses contribute a lot to things like greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, but most of them don't have a plan for being more environmentally friendly. This project, "Start on Sustainability", aims to help these small businesses understand and take action on how they can work in a way that's better for the planet. This is important because helping these small businesses become more sustainable can make a big difference to the environment.
Our target group for this project includes three main types of people and organisations:
This part of our project focuses on very small businesses, like family shops or small online businesses, all across the EU. There are millions of these small businesses, and they all come from different backgrounds and do different things. Our goal is to help them learn how to run their businesses in a way that is good for the environment.
This group is made up of people who train, advise, and mentor small businesses. They can be teachers in training centres or consultants who give advice to businesses. They come from different places and have different levels of knowledge about being environmentally friendly. We want to give them new and effective ways to teach small businesses about sustainability.
The third group includes big organisations like education authorities, business networks, and policy makers. They are important because they make decisions that affect lots of people and businesses. Our project aims to give them the tools and ideas they need to help make Europe's economy stronger and more environmentally friendly.