On 12 May 2022 (10:00-11:45 CET), the Green Industry Platform and Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) in cooperation with the European Union funded “European Union for Environment” (EU4Environment) Action are hosting the online I-GO Regional Workshop for the EU's Eastern Partner and Central Asian countries.
This virtual workshop aims to build an understanding of the I-GO Assistant tool and I-GO Network amongst SME supporting organizations in the region. The workshop will include a live demonstration of the I-GO Assistant tool and explain how to best promote it to SMEs. It will also provide an opportunity for SME supporting organizations to learn more about the I-GO Network, its benefits and how it can support national and regional RECP activities using the example of the I-GO cooperation with the EU4Environment project.
The I-GO initiative has been developed by the Green Industry Platform to help upscale regional and national SME resource efficiency efforts. At the core of the I-GO initiative is the I-GO Assistant, a rapid online SME self-assessment and navigation tool that matches an SME to the most relevant resource efficiency knowledge and support services that can help it implement the recommendations, considering the SME’s resource efficiency status, geographical location, and sector of activity. I-GO has been piloted with the support of GO4SDGs in three regions, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The EU4Environment Action aims to help the six partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine preserve their natural capital and increase people's environmental wellbeing, by supporting environment-related action, demonstrating and unlocking opportunities for greener growth, and setting mechanisms to better manage environmental risks and impacts. The Action is funded by the European Union and implemented by five Partner organisations: OECD, UNECE, UNEP, UNIDO and the World Bank based on a budget of some EUR 20 million.
The I-GO workshop will host participants from business associations, development organizations, government agencies, NGOs, financial institutions as well as country and donor representatives.