Shift 2 Green - Promoting Eco-friendly Habits at Work with Gamification

<< Background >>We initiated the Shift2Green project in response to the pressing need for accessible and engaging solutions that support SMEs in their transition towards sustainable practices. Despite representing 99.8% of EU enterprises and contributing significantly to environmental impact, SMEs often lack the resources, knowledge, and motivation to implement meaningful green changes. Project partners, themselves embedded in the SME and VET sectors, observed a gap in digital solutions tailored to workplace behaviours—tools that connect individual habits to broader organisational transformation. Existing approaches, often designed for large corporations, overlook the unique constraints and potential of smaller enterprises. As organisations either comprising SMEs or educating their leaders and staff, we also recognised the imperative to engage personnel more deeply in developing pro-ecological behaviours. Shift2Green was designed to address this by developing practical, gamified learning tools that empower employees, boost motivation, and help SMEs unlock the wider business benefits of eco-innovation—ranging from cost savings and staff engagement to improved competitiveness and public image.<< Objectives >>Through the implementation of Shift2Green, we sought to support SMEs in becoming active contributors to the green transition by equipping their leaders and staff with the knowledge, skills and motivation needed to drive sustainable change. Our aim was to raise environmental and climate awareness in the workplace and inspire the search for innovative, value-adding solutions. Project specific objectives were to:1. build environmental and climate-change awareness to encourage SME leaders and staff to actively look for innovative solutions that will lead to green transformation bringing value to their organisations and their business environment at the same time.2. develop SME leaders and staff competencies (with innovative tools & practical processes) that will allow them to start changes and become true agents of environmental change in their organisations.3. develop VET educators sustainability competencies and equip them with ready-made curricula, best practice examples & tools to support the adaptation of their training offers to SME leaders & staff needs to develop the skills and habits needed in the area of green skills development.<< Implementation >>To achieve our objectives, we implemented a series of interlinked activities aimed at addressing key competency gaps and fostering green transformation in SMEs. We began with a thorough analysis of partners’ and SMEs’ needs, creating space for knowledge sharing and mutual learning. Central to the project was the development of a gamified, web-based application designed to build environmental awareness at the workplace and support the adoption of sustainable behaviours. Alongside this, we created the Shift2Green Guidance Tool—featuring practical examples from pro-eco SMEs and clear guidance on how to integrate digital tools into green skills development. To ensure broad outreach and engagement, we organised six national events and maintained an active online presence to share project outcomes and promote the use of our tools among VET educators, SME leaders, and the wider business community.<< Results >>The Shift2Green project delivered a set of concrete, practical outputs aimed at supporting SMEs and VET educators in initiating and sustaining green transformation. (1)We produced a detailed report identifying key competency gaps in SMEs and among VET trainers, providing a foundation for targeted intervention.(2)A collaborative workshop enhanced partners’ and educators’ understanding of the green economy and equipped them with skills to design digital learning tools for lasting behaviour change.(3)We developed the Shift2Green gamification app, complete with engaging content and an accompanying VET curriculum.(4)We also created a comprehensive Guidance Tool, offering good practices and a methodology for building digital-resource-based curricula to develop green skills. (5)These two key tools were actively promoted in Work Package 5 where we created several promotion materials, posts, articles, videos distributed through virtual channels (Project website, Social Media Accounts) and face to face multiplier events.All of these results are now available to support ongoing ecological transition in the SME sector.