Welcome to the Sustainable Future for Enterprise Centres Project  

The SFEC project brings together a range of partners from all over Europe, from the UK and Ireland to Denmark, Spain & the Netherlands. The Primary Objective of SPEC is to initiate a replicable model of learning that enables enterprise centre managers, tenant businesses and learners to adopt sustainable and responsible business practices. Focusing on the dimensions of sustainable practice such as: sustainable buildings (NZEB), energy and resource efficiency, sustainable eco-systems and collective action, the SFEC programme will assist the participant cohort in developing practices that will make a transformative contribution to addressing climate challenges.

Our focus is on the following questions:

  • What are the best practices that our participants can replicate in order to carbon footprint, improve their services/supports and future proof their infrastructures?
  • How best to guide enterprise centre leaders and tenant SMEs through a strategic climate change process which will bring sustainable practices from learning into concrete actions?
  • What are the mechanisms by which we can transfer those skills to the widest possible enterprise centre + tenant cohort?

The transition to a low-carbon economy means a new economic model is necessary, focused on low-carbon growth, resource efficiency and sustainable development. That presents significant transformational challenges for enterprise where sustainable transitions are highly dependent upon technological solutions: industrialisation has catalysed a linear economy in which take-use-dispose culture is accentuated. A transition to a circular, sustainable economy is essential.

The SFEC project will work to:

  1. Identify best practices that enterprise centres can replicate to reduce their carbon footprint, improve their services/supports and future proof their infrastructures (IO1)
  2. Guide enterprise centre leaders through strategic sustainability planning which will bring sustainable practices and ideas to fruition via concrete actions (IO2)
  3. Empower enterprise centre leaders to become Sustainability Educators and Agents of Change capable of teaching and training SME and start up clients about the principles of sustainability and green business (IO3)
  4. Develop a self-learning sustainability and climate-action online course for Enterprise Centres tenants and wider SME’s to enable them to operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner and align their sustainability goals with those of the enterprise centres where they are based (IO3)

Specifically, SFEC targets

Target group 1: Enterprise Centre leaders

Develop the competences of leaders in enterprise centre management in sustainable business practice to include sustainable buildings (NZEB), energy and resource efficiency, sustainable eco-systems, collective action, state of the art digital technologies and working practices. Target staff include: Board of Directors, Management Team, Operational Staff, Volunteers

Target group 2 – Enterprise Centres business advisors, mentors and VET educators

  • Upskill business advisors, mentors and VET educators in applied sustainable competencies as target group 1
  • Deliver train the trainer workshops to enable the dissemination of above to their SME and start up clients.

Target group 3 – Enterprise Centre Tenants, business clients and wider SMEs

  • Introduce new pedagogical in sustainability and climate-action into existing business start-up curricula. This requires teaching enterprise centres to “practice what they preach” and create new tools and resources so that business educators can teach a complicated issue effectively.

Target group 4 – Sustainability Advocates:

Nonaffiliated members, public or otherwise, who may be interested in learning about the newest models and best practices in the sector and who wish to to encourage established and emerging leaders to develop mutually beneficial sustainability and climate action change.