Why should Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) become ‘Friends of WW2BW’?

Coping with environmental issues is a cost of doing business in today‘s global reality – not only for large corporations, but also for small & medium enterprises (SMEs). The fact is that today’s increasingly environmentally active consumer base demands more and more environmental responsibility from the business it supports.

But while SMEs may want to be good corporate citizens, they may find it difficult to know how and where to direct their environmental resources. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) with civil society groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, and government organizations can provide SMEs the means to fulfill their environmental requirements and raise their leadership profile as well as their visibility as good environmental citizens.

So, how does your SMEs determine which PPP is the right one to work with? How can SMEs identify those organizations that are credible and best suited to their environmental needs? Can your SME afford to invest time and effort in identifying the best partners for your own needs?

In the Caribbean region, White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) can help SMEs connect with environmental organizations that are already working to make a difference. Just as importantly, WW2BW can help support and publicize partnerships that maximize an SME's environmental investment.

Easy ways that local businesses can partner with WW2BW:

There are a variety of ways to form and implement effective WW2BW PPPs. The best way for you to collaborate will depend on the size and needs of your business. Collaborations can vary in their size, impact, geography, and duration. WW2BW’s network helps SMEs to identify groups and projects that match their desired level of commitment and the outcome they hope to achieve.

Here are a few easy ways the SME’s can conribute:

• Provide internships for environmental students
• Foster study programs with NGOs or research institutions
• Sponsor WW2BW partners to participate in study tours and to travel to meetings/conferences
• Participate in hands-on environmental research at your own place of business<
• Contribute to WW2BW grants for local projects
• Get to know your watershed and nearest Marine Park to find out how to get involved
• Sponsor community-based environmental initiatives such as river or coastal clean-up, garbage disposal sites, or other mini-projects in your own coastal or watershed area
• Hire environmental NGOs to provide essential environmental services for your own organization – such as water quality testing, recycling, monitoring and evaluation, environmental education, Blue Flag certification, compliance and enforcement, as well as other services. WW2BW can help you link with the right people for your needs
• Provide support for WW2BW publications
• Provide in-kind resources (accommodation, venues, materials and products, prizes, volunteers for environmental events and meetings).
• Promote WW2BW partnerships through your own networks, business contacts and service clubs
• Help to monitor environmental regulations at your own place of business
• Sell WW2BW promotional products to help raise funds for worthwhile programmes environmental education, Blue Flag certification, compliance and enforcement, as well as other services. WW2BW can help you link with the right people for your needs.

How can your SME benefit through WW2BW partnerships?

1. Many WW2BW partnerships are regional in scope. The Caribbean Blue Flag programme, for example, works with small, medium and large tourism interests, but can also benefit businesses that serve this industry. Partnering with regional initiatives can give your business regional profile and status.
2. When joint partnerships are formed across a number of Caribbean states economies of scale are reached. Individual governments can join the same programme – saving money, time and personnel – while maximizing output and visibility. SME partners will then have a multinational impact.
3. NGOs, civil society groups, educational and research organizations have unparalleled connections and expertise that can benefit your SME. PPPs give SME a means to affect environmental change by linking their environmental efforts with organizations on the ground.
4. PPPs allow private and civil society groups to join resources both financial, material and human resources to further leverage and stretch the value of private sector contributions.
5. Partnerships are a source of positive public relations. The WW2BW network profiles partnerships through its website, listserv announcements, and various conferences and forums at local, national and international levels. SME partners get great visibility and recognition through their partners and WW2BW.
6. The WW2BW ‘logo’ is recognized as a regional brand that communicates environmental quality. The same quality will extend to SMEs who collaborate with WW2BW initiatives.
7. Private sector interests may partner with high profile, highly respected research institutions, U.N. agencies, and regional bodies which can increase the profile and credibility of projects that interest the private sector.

Here’s an example of WW2BW PPPs that are already at work….

Coastal and Marine Cleanup and Restoration Project in Panama

Seeking effective ways to restore and maintain healthy marine environments, CATHALAC has initiated, with the support of the Ocean Fund a Coastal and Marine Cleanup and Restoration Project in the Districts of Chagres, Donoso, Portobelo and Santa Isabel, continental Caribbean zones in the Republic of Panama. The districts are composed of 26 townships with a population of 35,000 people. SME’s are also important stakeholders.

Partners and Contributors:

• Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
• The Ocean Fund (part of the environmental protection program of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises)
• Panama’s National Environmental Authority (ANAM)
• Water and Environmental Management Volunteer Groups and Local Governments of the Districts of Chagres, Donoso, Portobelo and Santa Isabel
• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama (STRI)

With private sector support, this local project can be scaled up elsewhere to have larger impact in neighboring districts and other coastal populations in the Caribbean that share similar socio-economic and environmental challenges. For more information on this initiative, visit www.cathalac.org

To find out more about how your SME can and benefit through WW2BW partnerships, contact the WW2BW secretariat at:

Franklin J. McDonald
UNEP – CAR/RCU
14-20 Port Royal St., Kingston, JAMAICA
Phone (1-876)-922-9267 to 9
fjm@cep.unep.org
or visit: www.cep.unep.org/ww2bw