Green Entrepreneurship

According to the World Economic Forum, entrepreneurs are considered key drivers of economic progress, contributors to technological innovation and new job growth. Accordingly, Green entrepreneurs are called to have a leading role in the transition to economies that integrate the environmental capital as an asset for development and that are socially inclusive. Green entrepreneurs propose business models that are not only economically profitable but also create an environmental and social positive impact. In summary, Green entrepreneurs:

1. are visionaries aware of the need of changing the approach with which human beings have understood development and prosperity during the last century
2. aim at integrating the environmental, economic & social axis into the core business of the company.
3. provide eco-innovative solutions to the way goods and services are produced, consumed & offered
4. propose business models whose scaling-up contributes to the greening of the economy
5. identify market opportunities inspired from the increasing citizen's shift to new consumption patterns and lifestyles.

According to all that, since 2010 the Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC) leads a training and support programme for Green Entrepreneurs as key drivers to mainstreaming sustainable consumption and production in the Mediterranean, the main objective of the centre’s mandate.

SCP/RAC’s MAIN LINES OF ACTION

Identification of the assets and challenges for Green Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region and collection and dissemination of successful case studies of Green Entrepreneurs

SCP/RAC prepares reports on the State of the Art on Green Entrepreneurship in most Mediterranean developing and developed countries. So far the centre has published reports on Italy, Tunisia and Turkey. Likewise, the center has collected and published more than 60 case studies on successful green entrepreneurs from several sectors, e.g. agrofood, tourism, energy, waste management, textile, etc.

Awareness raising and advocacy activities in support to Green Entrepreneurship

The Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, the advisory body on sustainable development of the 21 countries members of the Barcelona Convention, has recommended "supporting successful cases of green entrepreneurship among the Mediterranean countries so that they can have a better knowledge on the environmental, social and economic benefits brought by those initiatives to the transition to green economies".

Accordingly, SCP/RAC develops an intense awareness raising and advocacy action in support to Green Entrepreneurs among Government representatives, businesses, financial institutions, international organizations and Universities.

Recent regional and national events in which SCP/RAC has developed those awareness raising actions include: the ERSCP 2013 in Turkey, the UNDP Black Sea Conference, VI ECOMEDA Green Forum, etc.

Training and capacity building activities

SCP/RAC provides technical support with trainings on green entrepreneurship and eco-design. The most recent trainings have been organized in countries like Italy, Egypt, Lebanon, Montenegro, Turkey, Tunisia and Spain. The trainings are developed with the collaboration of relevant national and international partners, as for example, the Hub Syracuse (Italy), Barcelona Activa and Incubaeco (Spain), GIZ (Tunisia), American University in Cairo (Egypt) and Beirut (Lebanon), the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production and the Bogazici University (Turkey), etc.

Likewise, the center has developed a specific Training Methodology for Green entrepreneurs. The methodology provides the basis and structure for the development of sustainable business solutions through four innovative learning modules:

- Introduction to Green Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Dynamic Green Business Plan: methodology to undertake green businesses
- Eco-design and Eco-innovation
- Financial and advising resources for Green entrepreneurs