The I-GO initiative implemented in collaboration with GO4SDGS – to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to scale up resource efficiency – is rolling out three regional pilots in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.
This global and innovative initiative is designed specifically for SMEs to simplify access to resource efficiency support services most relevant to their specific activity, location, and business needs.
The current pilot deployment phase was launched in the second half of the year following the second global I-GO workshop in May 2021. This was an opportunity for I-GO stakeholders, including representatives from international organizations, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and business organizations, to learn about the development of I-GO’s tools and share their feedback in terms of user-experience.
I-GO’s core feature is an easy-to-use self-assessment tool that quickly determines an SME’s resource efficiency status and provides a tailored list of recommendations along with specific support services most relevant to their needs.
The aim of this tool is to help SMEs develop a resource efficiency strategy and implement targeted actions in a range of areas, such as energy and waste management, material efficiency and chemical sustainability.
The basis of this self-assessment tool is the SME Support Centre that was launched in February 2021 - an online database that brings together the vast array of support services available on a country and global level.
Our regional partners include: South Africa National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC), Grupo de Pesquisa and Ukranian Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Centre.
To date it hosts nearly 400 resources, including technical guidance, tools and case studies, with financial solutions, training programmes and technical assistance to follow from leading organisations and experts from around the world.
The I-GO pilots will enable to test out the overall approach and adapt the tools according to the different regional specificities. For this, strategic partnerships in the regions is crucial for both the effective compilation of the wide range of resource efficiency guidance and support services available at national and regional levels, and to build awareness of the I-GO initiative among SME networks.