Energy efficiency, climate and environmental protection are crucial objectives of the EU and likewise of considerable and growing importance to the economy of the member states. SMEs can make crucial contributions to the achievement of objectives and at the same time strengthen their competitiveness, develop new market segments and create jobs on a large scale. Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a promising and innovative method of circular economy with 100% recycling rate, which corresponds to the objectives of policy and business particularly. C2C has been successfully employed by individual large enterprises; over 1,500 C2C products have already proven themselves in the market. In SMEs are currently no knowledge of the C2C application. Therefore, further trainings are being developed that eliminate the deficit of knowledge and apply to the specific conditions of SMEs. Lead Partner is the Hanse-Parlament, an umbrella organisation of 50 chambers of commerce/crafts from 13 countries. In 2010 the Hanse-Parlament established the Baltic Sea Academy, an association of 17 universities from 9 countries that focus on promotion of innovation and qualification for SMEs. The 50 chambers and 17 universities will be integrated as associated partners in the project and disseminate the results on a wide basis. Core partner is the research centre “Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency“, that develops C2C and is expert for the very basis of any further training in this field. Further project partner are three chambers with their educational institutions from Germany, Poland and Hungary, and an university from Finland as well as a public education administration from Poland, that introduce the needs of SMEs, test the developments and participate in the transfer. A train-the-trainer program addresses universities and chambers, that can then inform SMEs in their regions and impart qualifications and support C2C applications in the firms. Thus, constantly qualified instructors and consultants for the Development of C2C application in SMEs are available. The second course is aimed at SMEs and their employees who get knowledge and skills in an interactive, multi-stage process and C2C train the application in the enterprise. The developed further trainings will be practically tested in Germany, Poland and Hungary and subsequently transferred to 50 chambers and 17 universities from 13 countries, who receive constant advice for the sustainable implementation. As further results two curricula with application guidelines, teaching materials, etc. as well as a manual with C2C concepts for SMEs in multilingual form are produced. SMEs will be qualified on a very broad base in all countries, so they utilize this innovative C2C processes in production, marketing and sales permanently, are successful in their business and make important contributions to the European energy and environmental policy.
Energy efficiency, climate and biodiversity protection belong to the EU top priorities and are likewise of considerable and growing importance of the economy in the member states. In order to meet the challenges of growing landfills, scarcity of resources, air pollution, to name a few of them, new ways of thinking and of innovative economic activity are essential. This is exactly what the Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) concept is: products flow in infinite material life cycles thus being economically successful, conducive to the environment and healthy for consumers without producing any kind of waste. Cradle to Cradle® concept, born as vision by Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and William McDonough in 1990ies, has become real, and now it is well known on the world market: more than 2.000 products have been developed according to the C2C principles. The way of production "from the cradle to cradle" is directly counterposed to the prevailing production model "cradle to grave", where the material cycles are set up regardless of conservation of resources or environmental protection. So far, though, there lacks targeting of C2C concept in SMEs while increasing energy efficiency and environmental protection is of growing importance in SMEs. Moreover, SMEs with C2C are more future oriented, capture new market segments and create new jobs to reduce their costs and make a vital contribution to tackling the energy and environmental challenges in the long term. Despite the benefits the Cradle to Cradle approach in SMEs can bring it has been used only in individual large companies and in SMEs it is hardly known. For this reason, the project aimed at the development of further training measures that eliminate the knowledge deficit on C2C, meet the specific conditions of SMEs and start with C2C implementations in enterprises. The lead of the project took over the Hanse Parlament being an umbrella organization of 50 chambers of commerce, crafts and industry from 13 Baltic Sea Region countries. In 2010 Hanse Parlament established an association called Baltic Sea Academy to which currently belong 17 member universities from 9 countries. Together they focus on promotion of innovation and qualification for SMEs. Those 50 chambers and 17 universities are important associated partners and disseminated the project results on a wide basis. An important project partner was the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA), research and advisory centre, which has developed C2C and has all the bases for the realization of further training courses. As further project partners were involved three chambers with their educational institutions: the Chamber of Crafts Schwerin from Germany, the Lower Silesian Chamber of Craft and Small and Medium-sized Businesses from Poland and the Hungarian Ipartestületek Országos Szövetsége. These partners introduced the needs of SMEs, implemented further trainings for SMEs and contributed to the transfer. Satakunta University of Applied Sciences from Finland represented the university sector in the project, developed pedagogical concepts, implemented trainings for lecturers and conducted evaluation. The Project partner Provincial Fund of Environmental Protection and Water Management in Gdansk was involved as relevant public administration and fulfilled advisory and transfer tasks. The developed Train-the-Trainer program addresses universities and chambers so that well qualified personnel are constantly available for SMEs as trainers and advisors for individual support. The second developed advanced training on C2C for SMEs introduces C2C methodology, products and the way to apply C2C, receiving knowledge and skills in an interactive, multi-stage process with the excellent possibility to apply C2C methodology during the training in own enterprise. The environmental management in SMEs is particularly addressed, so that environmentally conscious entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills are promoted. The developed advanced trainings was tested in practice in Germany, Poland and Hungary and subsequently transferred to 50 Chambers and 17 universities from all Baltic countries that receive constant consultations to enable sustainable implementation of C2C. As results - in some cases in multilingual form - two curricula with application guidelines, teaching material, etc., an official training regulation and a manual with C2C concepts for SMEs are presented. This created all the prerequisites for SMEs in many countries to be qualified on a very broad basis in the future, and to successfully use these innovative C2C processes in production, marketing and sales, and to be able to make successful contribution to energy and environmental policy.