Raising awareness of Baltic SMEs along the supply chain as a tool to improve environmental performance and competitiveness in furniture industry sector

The project aims at increasing environmental performance and competitiveness of Baltic small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) operating in the supply chain of furniture industrial sector. It will transfer know-how on higher environmental protection, raising awareness and understanding of environmental legislation requirements and environmental behaviour among SMEs. Also, the project will enhance cross-border communication practices along a supply chain on implementation and related implications of EU environmental legislation requirements.

Main project activities:

• analysis of existing information sources is carried out. It will result in collecting and assessing available information and literature for the furniture industry branch on requirements of environmental legislation and environmentally sound technological solutions, efficient communication practices especially by using tools of information technology;
• national meetings are the instruments planned to map furniture supply chain actors and identify information flows along the supply chain, current practices, and their practical problems, while enterprises also need to perform homework between the meetings to increase their learning effect;
• one international workshop and two smaller scale Baltic events will be organized for networking supply chain partners in the Baltic States for sharing best practices and finding solutions for efficient communication in the supply chain on environmental and other relevant matters. Western experience on technological solutions and communication practices will be shared by invited German participants;
• finally a guidance material (a helping tool) for SMEs of the furniture industrial branch will be elaborated to provide information on environmental legislation requirements, respective recommendations for implementation, and sources of information available on best technological solutions.

The main target groups of the project are SMEs that are part of furniture industrial branch supply chain, and enterprise associations whose memberships cover targeted SMEs wholly or partially. Other stakeholders involved consist of relevant state authorities that influence SMEs by setting the legislative background and enforcing it.