Empowering SMEs through Sustainability and Innovation
Strengthening Sustainable Business Practices and Boosting Innovation in SMEs through Education and Partnerships
Empowering SME Employees through the Green Change Agents Project: A Sustainability Initiative in Ruse, Bulgaria
The main aim of the Green Change Agents project is to implement crucial green practices in the region of Ruse, Bulgaria by transferring knowledge and good practices from Norway. Therefore, the project will empower SMEs employees to develop their skills and competences in order to become “Green Change Agents” and thus fill the role to support companies with ideas and practical knowledge, as well as implementation skills in the context of green transition and sustainability.
About the Project
Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry sees the future of the Ruse region through the prism of innovations and new ideas, effective dialogue between the private and public sectors, as well as the establishment of a modern entrepreneurial culture. Looking to this future, the focus of the Chamber’s activities falls on the transfer of knowledge, building effective partnerships and exchanging international experience, all contributing to the prosperity of business and society.
The “Green Change Agent” project is in accordance with the Chamber’s goals to support local business environment by boosting innovation and training and providing an opportunity for better integration on the labour market. As the secondary target group of the project are businesses and RCCI is a representative of the local business itself, by participating in this project, the Chamber will be able to provide a direct benefit to e great deal of local stakeholders by contributing to the innovative development of both businesses and individuals. Moreover, RCCI will be able to offer tailored sustainable solutions for green innovation to a wider scope of its member companies.
The project will put the region of Ruse in a position to create new jobs based on a circular economy and maintain and improve the competitiveness among SMEs by meeting the new demands. Such an effect is vital for a region which desperately needs to transform itself from traditionally suffering from industrial contamination to a region where sustainable businesses are thriving.
Based on previous experience, many of the companies in the Ruse region admit that they are ready to incorporate green practices and integrate green solutions in their way of work, but this requires specific skills and dedication from their team which often lacks. The “Green Change Agents” project will transmit such knowledge and competences to SMEs staff and will assist in the development of the “Green Change Agent” occupational profile – a professional within a company, who will be able to lead and guide the whole team towards achieving greener solutions to be embedded in the company’s day-to-day work.
In addition, SMEs concrete understanding of their own status and opportunities are the main motivator for them in order to implement new ideas. Therefore, it is important to develop an assessment tool, which assesses and scores the SMEs capacity to implement green innovation and transition projects, as well as the potential improvement of their business, and provide concrete results to work further on. As part of the implementation of the “Green Change Agents”, such assessment tool will be developed and explored, in order to define companies’ readiness for green change.
“Working together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.”
The Green Change Agents
Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of the “Green Change Agents” project might be summarized as follows:
To enhance the capacity of RCCI to support green transition across its members and regional companies.Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry and all SMEs, participating in the project (both member and non-member companies).
To inspire SMEs to introduce “Green Change Agents” and equip them with internal green innovation knowledge and implementation skills.
To ensure sustainability of results and initiate greener transformation.
To establish long-lasting cooperation and exchange between SMEs from Bulgaria and Norway.
Target Groups
The target groups that directly or indirectly fall under the scope of the “Green Change Agents” project are:
Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry and all SMEs, participating in the project (both member and non-member companies).
The members of Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, not directly involved in the project, as well as government and public institutions in the Ruse region working to develop and implement the Bulgarian Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2027.
Key Activities
The project will be implemented in close cooperation between the Bulgarian coordinator Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Norwegian partner Prios. The following activities will ensure that the partners achieved the project goal and objectives:
Activity 2: Development of training materials and resources
During this activity, a digital SME self-diagnostic tool to assess companies’ readiness to green transition will be elaborated. In addition, an innovative blended learning upskilling program for “Green Change Agents” will be created – a role that requires a combination of technical knowledge about sustainability, strong leadership and communication skills, as well as the ability to influence and inspire others.
Activity 3: Capacity building of RCCI & SMEs
During this activity, the Chamber’s staff will be trained to maintain and implement the upskilling of the “Green Change Agents”, thus implementing the training program in the most effective way.
Activity 4: Regional and national collaboration and sustainability
During this final activity, several events are foreseen to be organized: 2 regional workshops in both Bulgaria and Norway, 2 awareness raising webinars to showcase the need and the benefits of the “Green Change Agents”, and last but not least, a final event involving policymakers from both industry and governmental institutions in Bulgaria.