Scientific/academic knowledge and expertise provided by the higher education institutions can be used to provide solutions for the industry in relation to effective design and implementation of low carbon strategies and environmentally responsible practices. The industry provides the realistic setting where scientific knowledge can be applied – a process which is important for scientific scrutiny, replication, and development. In order to achieve environmentally sustainable company operations within the EU, it is necessary to build strong connections between related academic institutions and research centres and the world of work. PrESS responds to that need by aiming to enhance the skills of European SMEs in relation to environmental sustainability and growth.
The motivation for PrESS: PrESS emerged from the need to equip organizations and SMEs in Europe with the necessary skills and tools needed to effectively tackle the environmental challenges of globalized economic activity and expanded supply chains. Although supply chains are expanded globally, and economic activity is even more aggressive than in the last 15 years, enterprises are faced with the challenge to respond to such changes and at the same time respect the environment and minimize their impact on natural resources.
The aim of PrESS is to develop an online DSS and a training approach that will allow European companies monitor and assess their current decision-making strategies in relation to environmental concerns, adopt low carbon decision-making patterns, and develop a long-term plan for low carbon management and environmental sustainability of their supply chains.
Up to know the PrESS consortium has made serious progress in terms of identifying the training needs requirements of SME managers for becoming environmentally sustainable as well as getting accommodated with the decision support tool that will be used. The next challenges for the PrESS project are to devise proper strategies and map them with the training needs as a first stage and secondly, to recruit SME case studies on which the decision support tool will be applied in order to measure the positive impact on becoming environmentally sustainable.
