NatureBizz project meeting was held in Valmiera, Latvia 21.11-22.11.2018. During these two days we aligned and discussed the joint business skills of green micro-entrepreneurs in the Central Baltic area. The discussions was based on previous published Country Reports from Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. The Country Reports.
There are available a lot of education for entrepreneurs, horizontal education, that can be applied to all micro-entrepreneurs regardless of their sector. However, in NatureBizz the idea is to create a curriculum that is designed specifically for green micro-entrepreneurs.
One big question is also, what is understood with green micro-entrepreneurship. In this project we defined it as “Business activities related to development of sustainable, small-scale products and services based on local natural resources that also contribute to human wellbeing.”
Our common understanding was that entrepreneurs benefit most from a curriculum (app. 20 ECTS) that includes following themes: 1) Running green microbusiness, 2) Quality management and steps towards eco-certificates, 3) market knowledge and trends, 4) brand management, 5) sales and consumer communication 6) green product development and design management 7) supply chain management and 8) exporting & importing. ICT and sustainability are horizontal themes.
Next we start developing interesting, practical courses that are useful for green micro-entrepreneurs who use natural resources.
Jaana Ruoho (SAMK) & Marit Piirman (UTPC) 23.11.2018
Photo: Marit Piirman