SME Perceptions Workshop May 2007

Thirty Welsh SMEs were identified, many from the Design for Growth Survey, to attend three concurrent facilitated workshops to explore their attitudes to environmental and social issues. Attending alongside the SMEs were representatives from design-led large businesses from Wales, recycling companies and policy makers.

These workshops ran directly after EDC’s Industry Launch Event held in May 2007. They aimed to provide an opportunity for SMEs to openly discuss ecodesign successes and challenges, and for EDC to capture some of their perceptions.

Benefits of ecodesign
During the workshop the attendees were initially asked to discuss the potential benefits that ecodesign and social responsibility could bring to their business. The responses were very broad but they generally were related to either strategic, internal or external benefits.

One clear output from the workshops was that most delegates demonstrated a clear understanding of the commercial benefits of ecodesign, and that it should be good business practice. There is no doubt that the company’s attending will have been influenced by the event but in general the perceptions were positive and reflect what has been previously discussed in ecodesign literature.

Competencies and support required to implement ecodesign
After the companies discussed the potential benefits ecodesign could bring to their businesses they were asked to identify the competencies and support required to allow them to implement ecodesign. We found that the sector, scale and previous experiences of the companies heavily influenced this discussion.

The workshop findings showed that within design-led SMEs in Wales there is a concern at both a managerial and operational level regarding how to embed sustainability issues. Organising further workshops and developing a web resource were identified by delegates as effective ways to provide additional support.

Date: 15 May 2007