EU accompanying measure helps SMEs become more 'eco-innovative'
A recently completed project is helping small business establishments get to grips with European environmental regulations and management concepts in an effort to improve their environmental performance. Funded under the 'innovation and SME [small and medium sized enterprise]' programme of Fifth Framework Programme (FP5), the ECOINNOVATION accompanying measure worked from the premise that, more often than not, European SMEs lack sufficient knowledge of the environmental regulations affecting their activities, while managers and employees alike remain uninformed regarding the environmental issues relating to their work. In light of this, environmental management experts from Spain, Germany and France teamed up and developed a set of non-technological measures and services to be incorporated into innovation projects as environmental management techniques. These services and measures consist of the following: - identifying innovation opportunities and best practices; - providing a platform for exchange of ideas, experience and training on environmental management techniques; - raising awareness among key players of environmental issues; - advising companies on EU legislation. - The ECOINNOVATION consortium has launched a web portal containing its methodology and results. It is hoped that this will ensure the diffusion of the consortium's work to SMEs throughout Europe.
Countries
Germany, Spain, France