The Life-SMIGIN project
The aim of the Life-environment SMIGIN project – «Sustainable Managment by Interactive Governance and Industrial Networking» – is to improve the environmental management of companies located on the same business park.
Led by the Team of Environmental Advisors from the Union Wallonne des Entreprises (UWE, Walloon Business Federation), in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Valenciennois (CCIV), since November 2006, this project has been funded by the European Commission’s Life Programme, the Walloon Region, the ADEME and the Nord Pas de Calais region.
By means of a participative, “multi-participant” approach, the aim of the project is to reduce the environmental impacts of SMEs within the same business park by implementing joint solutions.
In fact, taken separately, SMEs do not generally reach the critical size or have the resources needed to effectively manage their effect on the environment. It is by organising collective action within a business park that sustainable solutions can be developed.
In this manner, initiatives such as waste collection, managing the flow of people, materials and energy, landscaping/land development and even disposal of wastewater/sewage may be implemented, at a low cost.
In effect, the resulting economies of scale and environmental improvements are greater than if each company were to act alone. The ultimate aim of the project is therefore to guarantee more sustainable business parks.
This scheme is predominantly based on the actual implementation of pilot projects on 8 business parks, six of which are in Belgium and two are in France
(see opposite).
As these projects have progressed, the UWE’s advisors and the CCIV have developed a methodological guide covering the technical, organisational and financial aspects with all the tools needed to handle this collective management scheme from A to Z (www.econetwork.eu). A database containing similar experiences of collective environmental management in Europe is also available on the web site.
