This toolkit, based on existing good practice, aims to help governments in the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) to design and implement key instruments to promote environmental compliance and green business practices among ...
This report is thus intended as “food for thought” for national, sub-national and municipal governments as they seek to address their economic and environmental challenges through the development and implementation of spatial strategies in pursuit of Green Growth objectives.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are essential drivers of sustainable economic growth in the Western Balkans and Turkey, where they make up 99% of all firms, generate 65% value added and account for 75% of employment. Nevertheless, SMEs across the region continue to face obstacles such as difficulties accessing financing, low levels of digital uptake, regulatory barriers and relatively low participation in international trade.
This volume critiques the current model of the creative economy, and considers alternative models that may point to greener, cleaner, more sustainable and socially just cultural and creative industries. Aimed at the nexus of cultural and environmental concerns, the book assesses the ways in which arts and cultural activities can help develop ideas of the ‘good life’ beyond excessive and unsustainable material consumption, and explores the complex interactions between cultural prosperity, place and the quality (and availability) of employment, leisure and the rights to self-expression. Adopting a deliberately wide and inclusive interdisciplinary and international perspective, contributors to this volume showcase current and future ways of ‘doing’ creative economy, ecologically, otherwise and differently. In 11 chapters, the book outlines some of the most relevant arguments from among the growing literature that critically analyzes the current creative economy, with a focus on issues of gentrification, inequality and environment. This volume is timely, as it emerges into a political and economic context that is seeking desperately to ‘reboot’ the economy, re-establish ‘business as usual’ and to do so partly through significant investment and expansion in the creative economy. The book will be suitable for upper level undergraduates and postgraduates studying a wide range of topics, including: cultural and creative industries, media and communications, cultural studies, cultural policy, human geography, environmental humanities and environmental policy, and will be of further interest to arts professionals, creative economy researchers and policymakers. The chapter “Towards a New Paradigm of the Creative City or the Same Devil in Disguise? Culture-led Urban (Re)development and Sustainability” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
This book provides measurement tools, including indicators, to support countries' efforts to achieve economic growth and development, while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which well-being relies. The strategy proposes a flexible policy framework that can be tailored to different country circumstances and stages of development. This report accompanies the synthesis report Towards Green Growth.
This report suggests that the role of skills and education and training policies should be an important component of the ecological transformation process.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a driving force of the global economy, contributing up to 50% of gross domestic product in some instances. They also contribute to economic development through various channels such as employment creation, economic growth and poverty reduction, key elements of the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, in many economies the majority of jobs are provided by SMEs. However, despite their support of the economy, SMEs are prone to several binding constraints, such as access to finance and market entry, as well as exogenous shocks and crises, most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on evidence from international experience, SMEs and Economic Development in Africa provides grounded solutions to challenges affecting SMEs, particularly in Africa, and offers guidance on how to build resilience to counteract future shocks. It also offers a number of policy measures which governments in developing countries may need to consider in order to encourage economic growth and development, such as increasing productive capacities, training, enhancing business ethics and professionalism and improving competitiveness. What makes this book distinctive is that fact that it brings together the literature concerning SMEs in one place, and using case studies, it showcases how policymakers can overcome the challenges affecting SMEs. The book also provides tested and practical remedies for African economies with a view to making SMEs a springboard for economic prosperity. The book will appeal to advanced students, scholars and researchers, as well as policymakers, development agencies and non-governmental organisations.
The SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2024 – Building resilience in challenging times is a unique benchmarking tool to assess and monitor progress in the design and implementation of SME policies against EU and international best practice.
This report marks the third edition in this series, following assessments in 2012 and 2016. It provides a comprehensive overview of the state of play in the implementation of the ten SBA principles, and monitors progress made since 2016. It also identifies remaining challenges affecting SMEs in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and provides recommendations to address them based on EU and international good practice examples.
