A new European eco-innovation platform is hoping to create the foundations for what could become an eco social network for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The project, GreenEcoNet, went live in June 2014 with a website that provides eco-innovation case studies, tools, expert guidance, discussion forums and news. The ultimate aim, however, according to Emily Benson of project partner the Green Economy Coalition, is for the project to be highly interactive, with the website developing into a networking tool that will help SMEs find each other and work together. It could become a “European marketplace for greener products and services and ways of doing things – a LinkedIn for SMEs.”
One aim of the project is to build up a database of SME “solutions” that other SMEs can access. These cover a number of technology areas, from bio-based materials to buildings, transport and greenhouse gas emissions. So far solutions have been uploaded from Belgium, Germany, Greece, India, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. One example from the Netherlands is Aad de Wit Verhuizingen, a removals company that offers zero-emission house moves with its fleet of electric trucks.
In terms of tools, the website collates sustainability codes and measuring and mapping tools that can help SMEs to reduce their environmental impact.
GreenEcoNet differs from similar online platforms that collate eco-innovation by attempting to encourage bottom-up sharing of information by SMEs, rather than by primarily providing information to SMEs. For example, the EcoWeb platform collates research results that can be used by SMEs, while InnovationSeeds collects the results of research projects that have reached market testing stage, and assigns them a “technology readiness level”.
Benson says that the challenge for GreenEcoNet will be to ensure SME participation. The gap that needs to be filled, she adds, is that there has been much green economy research and policy analysis, but now more needs to be done to understand how companies respond. Because “SMEs largely learn through working with each other,” the use of a social network approach could be the best way to promote the take-up of eco-innovation research results, she says. In addition, she notes that a lot of SME activity is “inherently localised,” so connecting small companies that might be geographically close but unaware of each other will be important.
Although the website went live only in June, Benson says that there has been a “good uptake” so far. To keep the momentum going, the project plans to participate in workshops and networking events, and to encourage chambers of commerce and business organisations to spread the word about the portal to their members.
Benson concedes that development of GreenEcoNet into a fully-fledged social network might not be realistic within the duration of the project, but the project will test the concept. “The end goal is to be able to link SMEs directly with each other,” and to create a “marketplace of opportunities” linked to green innovation, she says.
Source: EnvirocentreNews.ie – Social Networking for Green SMEs
