As Programme Partner of the World Resources Forum 2021, the Green Industry Platform in collaboration with the Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) will organise and host a workshop titled “In Africa for Africa: SMEs weaving solutions for textile circularity challenges“, part of the Circular Economy conference track.  In this short interview article, the team at the Green Industry Platform led by Hannes Mac Nulty tells us more about their work, what the workshop will be about and why you should join it.  

•  •  •

What is the mission of the Green Industry Platform and what activities does it engage in?

The Green Industry Platform has the mission to provide tailored resource efficiency knowledge and support services to businesses, in particular SMEs. To be able to engage with the very diverse and large numbers of SMEs on a country level, the Green Industry Platform has developed the I-GO initiative.

I-GO aims to address several key challenges that both SMEs and SME intermediary organizations often encounter in relation to resource efficiency uptake:

• Systematizing the business case for resource efficiency
• Helping large numbers of SMEs identify their individual resource efficiency opportunities
• Simplifying access for SMEs to customized knowledge and support services
• Supporting SMEs implement ongoing effective measures and easily report on progress

The main objective of I-GO is to develop a clear business case for resource efficiency and then align the relevant guidance, capacity building and financing with the daily operations of an individual SME.

I-GO has been designed as a support structure to underpin the complete resource efficiency implementation cycle. This support structure is based on the integrated provision of interactive tools and development of strategic partnerships. The tools include the SME Support Centre which consolidate country and sector specific resource efficiency knowledge and support servives, and the I-GO Self-assessment tool which provides SMEs with tailored resource efficiency recommendations based on their specific status and access to support adapted to their particular operational needs.

What will your workshop at WRF2021 be about? What stakeholders will be engaged and what goals does it have?

This workshop will focus on how to bridge the communication gap between end-product manufacturers in the textile sector and the SMEs in their supply chains down through the different tiers. Importantly, this workshop will also consider how to deliver a more coordinated support structure for both end-product manufacturers and SMEs based on the vast array of existing support services provided by many different national and international organisations.

The key objectives this workshop will address are:

• The business driver: How to support end-product manufacturers collaborate on circularity efforts across shared supply chains to provide a uniform and fair sustainability procurement process for their supply chain SMEs
• Becoming circular to improve business: How to support SMEs understand the circularity requirements of end-product manufacturers in relation to their current operations and then access the most appropriate support services to improve their circularity

The workshop will engage with all supply chain stakeholders from large companies and SMEs to intermediary organisations such as business associations, NGOs, government agencies, development organizations and financial institutions

What excites you about being a programme partner of WRF2021 and what do you wish to achieve in the context of the event?

WRF2021 with its focus on A Green Deal for Sustainable Resources brings together the wide range of key stakeholders required to act in a collective fashion to achieve the level of impact required to arrest climate change and destruction of our ever increasing fragile ecosystem. To be part of this impressive effort to connect the different stakeholders across the whole circularity system is a key reason for the Green Industry Platform to be a program partner. In particular, WRF2021 provides the Green Industry Platform with the opportunity to bring the end-user perspective (companies required to implement the changes recommended by national and international entities) to the heart of the circularity discussion.

Why should participants attend your workshop and for whom would it be particularly interesting to attend?

Participants attending this workshop will hear directly from companies situated at different levels of the supply chain and the different every day and practical challenges they face in trying to implement sustainability measures. Such insights can be invaluable to many different types of stakeholders from companies to NGOs, but in particular to policy makers and those national and international organisations providing support to companies to help them improve their sustainability.

•  •  •

The World Resources Forum 2021 (WRF2021), under the theme of “A Green Deal for Sustainable Resources” will take place on October 12-14 in an innovative hybrid format: three days of online sessions and two small scale-events in Accra (Ghana) and Zürich (Switzerland). All the workshops, such as the one organised by the Green Industry Platform, together with scientific sessions and plenary sessions will take place online, in a dedicated virtual event platform. WRF2021 is co-hosted by the Ghanaian Ministry for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN/BAFU).

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from the work of the Green Industry Platform and be an active participant in the discussion.

Register now for WRF2021!

Learn more about the Green Industry Platform