CLUSTER4GREEN Final Conference in Tunis: Supporting sustainable business in the Mediterranean
Published on 22 November 2023
CONECT, the Confederation of Tunisian Citizen Enterprises, gathered over 200 participants for its annual CSR Conference in Tunis on 7 and 8 November 2023, highlighting the achievements of CLUSTER4GREEN, a 2-year project which allowed to promote sustainable business practices and support 60 SMEs engaged in developing circular economy business models in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
ANIMA Investment Network, who coordinated CLUSTER4GREEN sustainable business activities, has collaborated with CONECT in Tunisia, as well as with the Federation of Egyptian Industries in Egypt, with Amman Chamber of Industry in Jordan and with Berytech in Lebanon, to support companies engaged in CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategies. In each country, programmes were tailored to national priorities to provide individual consultancy services to SMEs willing to improve their sustainability performance. IMPACT RATING, an online tool developed by ANIMA to assess the economic, social, environmental, and territorial impacts of companies, allowed to target priority actions leading to more sustainable – and cost effective business procedures.
In Tunisia, CLUSTER4GREEN also helped reviewing the methodological approach of CONECT’s CSR Label, paving the way for a partnership with Responsibility Europe, an international reference network aiming to showcase companies and organisations with the best CSR and sustainable development labels and certifications in Europe and beyond. This international level of certification will open up new prospects for Tunisian companies.
In Egypt and Jordan, a proposal of national framework aiming at supporting sustainable investment was defined through consultations with public and private stakeholders. Discussions allowed to define the most relevant organisations to be involved and possible support mechanisms to be implemented in order to encourage sustainable investments. In Lebanon, the IMPACT RATING tool was employed to facilitate the transition and shift toward sustainability of three businesses, which were able to define one-year strategic and sustainability plans aimed at enhancing their overall impact.
CLUSTER4GREEN is a capitalization project of the ENI CBC MED Programme, a cooperation platform in the Mediterranean supported by the European Union. It is implemented by a consortium of 7 partners who joined forces to support Mediterranean SMEs engaged in developing circular economy business models and adopting sustainable business practices.
About IMPACT RATING
IMPACT RATING is a tool that allows to evaluate the impact of an investment project or a company on its territory, through a rating. The rating is based on 33 criteria. Developed by the ANIMA network in collaboration with several development banks, business associations, investment promotion agencies and environmental NGOs, it is compatible with most international standards in terms of social responsibility or sustainable development. It is customisable, so that it can be implemented in different territories or by different organisations, while adapted to each strategy and priorities.
About CLUSTER4GREEN
CLUSTER4GREEN is a capitalization project of the ENI CBC MED Programme, a cooperation platform in the Mediterranean supported by the European Union. Its objective is to support MSMEs in adopting circular economy innovation processes and in establishing national and international consolidated collaboration agreements including the building of Public-Private Partnerships. It is implemented by a consortium of 7 partners who joined forces to support Mediterranean SMEs engaged in developing circular economy business models and adopting sustainable business practices.