Innovative entrepreneurs leading green businesses

<< Background >>The InnoGreen project aimed to develop educational materials and tools to help adult educators teach future and current entrepreneurs how to innovate and transform their business to be environmentally sustainable. The project focused on increasing entrepreneurial competence related to green business practices and stimulating innovation to meet consumer demands for sustainable products and services.The following needs were addressed:1. Providing resources for adult educators to improve their teaching on sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation.2. The need for entrepreneurs to understand the value of business models that integrate sustainable and innovative aspects and to use them in their management.3. The challenge for entrepreneurs is to find innovative solutions for sustainable production, raw materials, delivery and supply.4. Rapid adaptation of companies to sustainable practices due to the increasing demand for sustainable products and services.5. Lack of awareness and accessibility to examples of companies that have successfully implemented sustainable processes.<< Objectives >>The main objectives of the InnoGreen project were:1. Improving the skills of adult educators to effectively educate sustainable business models.2. Developing educational materials used by adult educators to stimulate entrepreneurs’ innovation skills.3. Helping entrepreneurs to design sustainable business models4. Promoting EU policies in the field of education and sustainability.These were achieved with four sub-objectives linked to the work packages:(WP2) Collecting and analysing case studies of green business models in partner countries to identify the characteristics of innovative sustainable practices. Finalising in the Good Practice Guide.(WP3) Realising the online tool Green Business Innovation Canvas (GBIC). Implementing the examples from the Good Practice Guide with GBIC.(WP4) Creating a Step-by-Step Guide for using GBIC. Development of an educational platform with diverse resources (texts, videos and assessments) and a Trainers' Guide to facilitate the teaching of innovation in business models.(WP5) Dissemination of educational materials developed based on the EntreComp and GreenComp specifications.<< Implementation >>The activities implemented within the InnoGreen project were:2.1 Search for sustainable businesses, interview managers and entrepreneurs about green practices and analyze their green business models. Creation of a set of case studies.2.2 Identification and analysis of good practices and innovative features implemented in the studied businesses. Development of the Good Practices Guide.3.3. GBIC - Green Business Innovation Canvas design3.4 Creation of educational materials based on case studies from the Good Practice Guide and exemplification with GBIC4.5 Creation of a Step-by-Step Guide on how to use GBIC to transform a business into a green one and video scenarios4.6 Creation of short videos to describe the modules in GBIC4.7 Translation and integration of all educational materials into the e-learning platform4.8 Development of a guide for training in business model innovation5.9 Testing activities with participants (adult trainers, entrepreneurs, students) in all partner countries5.10 Dissemination activities<< Results >>1. Development of an open questionnaire structured around the 9 modules of the Business Model Canvas (BMC), targeting motivation, obstacles and positive impact from an environmental, social and financial point of view.2. 63 interviews with SMEs in 8 countries.3. Translation of responses into English and extraction of 159 innovation triggers.4. GBIC - interactive online tool - facilitates the design and evaluation of sustainable business models based on triggers.5. List of triggers explained.6. Creation of a Good Practice Guide (45 pages) for entrepreneurs, with 21 representative examples.7. GBIC user manual.8. Development of a structured educational program 1) challenges and opportunities in sustainability. 2) Basic notions about BMC. 3) Green Business Innovation Canvas (GBIC). 4) Case studies and success stories. 5) A pedagogical guide for tutors. 6) Pre-test and final test 7) Competency frameworks from GreenComp and EntreComp. Each module includes video content, texts and interactive questions.9. Integrating the developed educational materials into an online e-learning platform that requires credentials for access, increasing usability and security for trainers and entrepreneurs