This pilot for establishing a regional eco-business recognition mark, funded under the ERTDI Programme 2000 - 2006, set out to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of applying a combination of training, networking and use of a locality-related performance recognition mark to enhance the environmental and economic performance of Small to Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are thought to have a substantial collective impact on the environment. As a sector, they have been identified as problematic in terms of environmental issues and tend to lag behind their larger counterparts in terms of environmental activeness and performance, and therefore require assistance to improve this area of their business operations . Promotion of certified environmental management systems is often undertaken as a route to improving environmental performance, but this has generally been unsuccessful with SMEs . Therefore, this project examined the possibility of adapting a successful and well-established Austrian environmental recognition mark model and applying it in an Irish context. The long-term expectation of such a transferable award programme is the improvement of the local sustainability, environmental awareness and economic performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The main basis of this research project was to pilot a self-help programme for business in a defined area, and to establish whether this model has potential for use across the SME sector. The use of a locally recognised award as a driver for fostering community spirit, environmental networking and improved business efficiencies was also an important aspect of the research. The use of continual monitoring of resource consumption values (including waste generation) was identified as a method of quantifying the successes generated during this programme. However, the lack of accurate information at the outset was a major barrier for most participants and, as such, quantification in the absolute sense was difficult.

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Gibson, C. Bowen, M.   "Pilot Programme for Establishing a Regional Eco-Business Recognition Mark". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=c153bb9b-7350-102d-b891-8d8f2407b579 (Last Accessed: 2024-12-13)

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SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=151
Resource Keywords	Environmental, Support, businesses, SME, performance, Macroom, economic
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	2006-UE-MS-48
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Environmental Technologies
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	In the event of the download datasets, data, or information resources being used in a journal article or other means of publication the original authors should be informed of this usage and an appropriate acknowledgement or citation is included within the published article. The EPA advise that this acknowledgement should take one of the following forms dependent upon how heavily the published work relates to the downloaded data: * Co-Authorship(s) for the original author(s)* Written acknowledgement within the body of the article* Written acknowledgement by means of the inclusion of a bibliography entry which clearly cites the original authors.
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	7
Project Start Date	Sunday 1st October 2006 (01-10-2006)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Sunday 1st October 2006 (01-10-2006)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Monday 30th March 2009 (30-03-2009)
Published on SAFER	Thursday 25th February 2010 (25-02-2010)
Date of Last Edit	Thursday 25th February 2010 at 12:02:05 (25-02-2010)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Thursday 25th February 2010 at 11:55:29 (25-02-2010)

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Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
Macroom (Irish: Maigh Chromtha) is a small market town, lying in a valley, on the River Sullane, a tributary of the River Lee, between Cork and Killarney A radius of 25 kilometres was decided upon in order to incorporate the rural areas that would associate themselves with Macroom. Beyond this distance, the unique aspect of ?localness? could be lost as affiliations with other ?competing? towns with similar businesses and make-ups to Macroom would have occurred. This had the potential to dilute the effectiveness of the local area brand that was deemed to be an important factor for its local success. The area involved in this research, Macroom town and hinterland, was chosen due to its nature being that of a typical provincial Irish town. The format of the model applied was based on the well established EcoBusinessPlan programme that has been functioning well in Vienna since 1998. This programme is a business support model developed by the local authority to enhance environmental and economic performance, through the medium of limited consultancy and workshop based training. Importantly, its continued success is driven by an awards scheme which sustains interest from participating businesses.

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In this section some supplementary information about this resource is outlined. Lineage information helps us to understand why this project was carried out, what policy or research requirements did it fulfil, etc. Lineage is important in understanding the rationale behind the carrying out of a project or the collection of a specific dataset etc. Links to web sites, applications, papers, etc are outlined to provide you with additional information or supplementary reading about the project or dataset

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The following is a list of projects, datasets, and resources on SAFER-Data from which users downloaded attachments from soon after downloading attachments from this resource Pilot Programme for Establishing a Regional Eco-Business Recognition Mark. You can view the full description for projects, datasets, and resources by using the links supplied.

• Sustainable Rural Development : Managing Housing in the Countryside View Full Metadata Description
• Evaluating the Role of the City and County Development Boards in Promoting Public Participation in Local Sustainable Development View Full Metadata Description
• Inventories of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Ireland 1990 and 1995-2006 View Full Metadata Description
• Assessment of the Potential for Geological Storage of CO2 in Hypothetical Deep Saline Aquifers in the vicinity of Moneypoint, Co. Clare. View Full Metadata Description
• Waste - A Biotechnological System for Production of Value-added products, Bioethanol and Methane from Non-animal Food Wastes View Full Metadata Description

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