The need for climate action and sustainable resources management is more important than ever. The Green Deal presented by the European Commission on 11th of December 2019, sets the goal, Europe to be a climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Green Deal addresses the immediate need for specific actions that support Circular Economy, helping to reduce CO2 emissions, transform the energy industry, move the production to a more environmental-friendly stage and many more. The way to becoming Climat-Neutral continent will put in front of us new types of challenges. One of them lay in front of small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) which have an essential role in achieving a greener economy as it is indicated by the Green Action Plan. The upcoming regulations based on the Green Deal are extremely needed, but also they put many of the traditional business models in a transitional situation. The small business struggled in the past decay to recover from a financial crisis, finds it hard to adapt quickly to the challenges ahead. The most sensitive are the SMEs, where change management is challenged by the lack of present financial or human resources, sustainability and knowledge, especially for micro SMEs. BALANCE is a project that steps on the key learning points from the Green Action Plan for SMEs, to combine best practices around EU and back them up with financial knowledge in order to create a valuable and training program which curriculum is based on ECVET for the transformation of the small business into more greener without having to sacrifice the financial sustainability of the enterprises and allow them to keep their employees. The direct target group of Balance project are the SMEs (SME’s decision-takers, SME’s Consultants, Entrepreneurs) They will have access to the training program, e-learning program materials that will help them transform their operations. The SME's consultants are included as a direct target group in order to accelerate the dissemination of the results and reach up even more SMEs. Indirect target group - Employees in SMEs. The project’s results tackle the financial sustainability of the SMEs, who are providing 133 million jobs across the EU. The investment in knowledge in SMEs prepares them to become capable to handle the transition period and sustain the current level of employment. Moreover, they will know how to pre-qualify their staff when changes are applied. BALANCE has the objectives to: 1. Provide a Report over best environmental practises already implemented within EU 2. Provide financial analysis on those measures 3. Create a dedicated training program for Greener SMEs 4. Provide SME's consultants with a training program 5. Develop E-Learning program accessible to all 6. Provide workshops and Multiplier events and help more micro SMEs to embrace a greener future The direct results will be: - Report: Green policies and financial sustainability - presenting examples in the partnering countries and provides financial analysis over the current best practises in the business sector. - Training program: Green and stable SMEs - comprising of the training ECVET based curriculum and materials, presentations, framework - providing the needed information to SME's decision-makers how to transform their operations without causing a financial stress to the enterprises - E-learning web platform: Greener and Sustainable Business - complimenting the training program and responsive for desktop version, mobile and tablets for promotion on the green measures and including video materials, case studies, quizzes and other training materials. The activities and intermediate results will include: - Synthesis report of focus groups results and the surveys at EU level and needs analysis of SME’s decision-makers for change-management, environmentally measures and financial sustainability - 6 national reports on best environmental practices across the partnering countries - Project Management Plan, Quality assurance plan, Dissemination strategy - 18 workshops, 6 multiplier events and 4 transnational meetings The project will be carried by 6 partners from Bulgaria, Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Belgium. Four of the partnering organisations work directly with the target group as adult training organisations and consultants of SMEs, one organisation is a VET provider with Environmental Science Education program and one organisation is working on a European and international level for providing geographic and environmental education as an association. The expected impact on SME's decision-makers and consultants will be to enhance their knowledge of how to make a successful transition towards greener operations without having to sacrifice financial sustainability or employees. Through the project, it is expected project to reach 200000 people for the first two years and to involve directly over 500 SME's and consultants in the different activities and 600 stakeholders.
The BALANCE project set as its main priority to provide SMEs with: - Report on the best environmental practices across the EU combined with a deep financial analysis of the measures and benefits and the applied communicational strategies - A dedicated training program with clear learning outcomes that SMEs can easily implement in their business operations - A customized version of the training program for SME consultants (and business consultants in general) in order to achieve better reach - An E-learning platform accessible to anyone with materials for SME decision-makers and for business consultants, containing interactive training materials, textbooks, introductory videos, and more - Multiplier events and webinars in order to help more SMEs to embrace a greener future As a direct target group, SMEs are enabled to transform their operations by using the created materials and by participating in our workshops and multiplier event. They are equipped also with an e-learning platform containing all needed tools and resources to use on demand. The SME consultants are provided with high-quality customized materials so they enrich their capacity for valuable consultation and incorporate the green transition in their practices.
The BALANCE project stepped on the key learnings from Green Action Plan for SMEs and the goals that the EU set with the Green Deal in order to help SMEs (small and midsized enterprises) embrace and implement the needed green transition in their business operations. As indicated in multiple official statistics and reviews by Eurostat, GAP, Circular economy action plan (CEAP), and others, SMEs are a key asset for achieving the goal of Europe becoming a climate-neural continent by 2050. Around 25 million SMEs are currently operating in the EU market and serve as a backbone of the EU economy which makes their contribution to the green transformation essential. At the same time, SMEs struggle when it comes to transforming their operations due to a lack of knowledge and customized resources designed for their needs. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and the following restrictions put even more challenges to SME financial sustainability. The BALANCE consortium united its effort to support the European SMEs with the needed inspiration, useful knowledge, resources, and e-learning tools so they understand the Green Deal (and CEAP, GAP) objectives and easily transform their business in accordance with the climate goals.