Although modest in size, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a massive impact on the Canadian economy. Their owners employ 90% of the Canadian private-sector workforce and make up most of the companies in Canada. But beyond business, these entrepreneurs are increasingly recognized as key actors in driving social, economic and environmental value for community well-being both in Canada and around the world.
Recognizing this potential, a global network of researchers led by the University of Waterloo committed to helping SMEs build their capacity thanks to a $2.5 million grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. Spanning five countries and reaching as far as Australia, the funding enabled TRANSFORM to catalogue what SME leaders are doing to accelerate sustainability and, most excitingly, launch new projects.
> Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Governance and Innovation
> Professor in the Faculty of Environment
> Executive Director, Waterloo Climate Institute
> Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs
"This is where the project became really interesting," says Dr. Sarah Burch, TRANSFORMS's lead project investigator. "We collaborated with SMEs and nonprofits for the last few years to help them design new sustainability experiments, implement them, evaluate them, see what's working and how we can help."
From thought to transformation
The ideation for these new projects started with capacity building events held in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. In Canada, researchers invited small business owners, municipal practitioners and civil society to a High-Level Sustainability Summit to consider how to accelerate sustainability-oriented practices in small firms.
