<< Background >>Digitalisation is taking place at a fast pace in all European countries and across almost the whole world. The Covid-19 pandemic is also accelerating digitalisation at many levels. Digitalisation is transforming the economies, societies, forms of communication, jobs and the necessary skills for the workplace and everyday life. Digitalisation as a systemic enabling process that has enormous potential to boost the circular economy and contribute to the sustainable transition. On the other hand, as one of the drivers of growth of production and consumption globally, digitalisation is also a challenge for environmental and social sustainability. The scope and speed of the digital transformation varies across European countries, sectors, organisations, and places. For example, less than a fifth of companies in the EU are highly digitised, leaning toward much greater levels of uptake in large enterprises as opposed to SMEs (2020, EIO Biennial report). Despite progress in waste management and recycling across the EU, circularity rates remain relatively low. Digitalisation can help to minimise waste, enable more efficient processes in companies, promote longer product life cycles and reduce transaction costs through significantly improved information. There is an enormous spectrum of possible applications to scale-up and mainstream eco-innovations toward a sustainable circular economy. The commercial benefits of greening stem from the potential to increase market share and capture new markets from eco-innovation, eco-entrepreneurship, and eco-adoption among SMEs. The rationale here is that “green” products, niches, and practices represent previously untapped business opportunities that SMEs are uniquely suited to tackle, especially because of their small size and flexibility. Broadly, sustainable SMEs contribute to the protection of the climate, environment, and biodiversity through their products, services, and business practices. But they do so in different way; some SMEs focus on reducing the environmental footprint of their production process (e.g. resource-efficient processes) while others focus on green outputs and offer green products and services (e.g. renewable energy products). Although there are many SMEs that really care for the environment, that largest portion of them perceives eco-innovations as a burden and pursuit eco innovations only when pushed by the legislator. There is a need to prepare the training scheme for SMEs representatives (employees dealing with digital technologies, managers running business operation, business educators dealing with business education) to enlarge the awareness about possibilities of using digital technologies for green purposes, as well as to show how much SMEs can benefit from implementing sustainable digital technologies. The cost reductions for SMEs generally arise from efficiency gains since less inputs are required to produce the same output. These cost reductions are realized through the following channels. These channels are applicable to SMEs in both developing and developed contexts (OECD, 2018).• Process efficiency: By optimizing current processes or introducing new more efficient ones, SMEs minimize the required inputs and waste production.• Product design: SMEs can re-design their products to reduce the required inputs without sacrificing the product’s utility.• Waste disposal: In addition to reducing waste by improving process efficiency, SMEs can reuse already-generate waste or pass it along to other companies. This reduces cost of waste disposal.• Source of raw material: SMEs can reduce cost of raw materials by switching to recycled materials.• Infrastructure efficiency: SMEs can generate savings associated with energy efficiency lighting, building insulation, and heating systems efficiency.• Packaging and transport: By reducing the volume of packaging and switching to local suppliers to decreasing shipping distances, SMEs can further reduce costs.<< Objectives >>Digital technologies can play an important part in tackling the climate emergency, provided they are designed and deployed with the kind of positive societal impact that the Sustainable Development Goals outline at their heart. Digital technologies bring revolution in the business reality, but there is a challenge on how to target those changes, to be beneficial for the climate, the environment and the society. And how to make those who introduce these changes the most to direct them towards sustainable effects - beneficial for the economy, the society and the environment.General idea of the project is to prepare employees of the SMEs for the sustainable digital transformation. General objective: Improve the skills and competences of employees in small and medium-sized businesses to accelerate the digital transformation for sustainable development.Specific objectives:·Define a profile of expert in sustainable digital transformation with associated knowledge, skills, and competencies.·Transforming entrepreneurs' thinking to act in the era of sustainable digital transformation.·Promote the skills and operational tools necessary to manage the implementation of new digital technologies that are sustainable .·Improving and fostering a deep understanding of sustainable digital transformation and its impact on business reality, as well as business and social relationships.·Building soft and hard skills to structure, organize and control innovation and digital transformation processes.·Increasing business efficiency through use of sustainable digital technologies.·Improving the understanding and ability to manage change and challenges for digital economy companies.·Introducing new teaching methods such as edutainment, digital case studies, simulations, and games.·Encouraging learners to think critically about the globalising world, looking for lasting solutions and a holistic approach. Hopefully with this project, we make a progress toward greater awareness of the employees of the climate change, but also, we make a great step towards sustainable development of SMEs.<< Implementation >>To achieve all projects objectives, Partnership needs to perform the following activities:·Structuring an innovative blended training scheme on Sustainable Digital Transformation in SMEs, which should prepare companies to adjust to the virtual business environment and take advantage of the participation in the processes of sustainable digital transformation (referring to the indicated professions),·Elaborating and producing Open Educational Resources, build on the following components:a)interactive video pills, which can be freely accessed online for at least two years after the project end, to allow a vast audience of trainees to acquire and maintain technical/managerial/commercial/relational skills, functional to develop the process to increase competitiveness of SMEs, through effective management of processes of sustainable digital transformation.b)Further investigation materials as supporting materials for developed OERs.·Self-assessment tool for checking own skills and assess the required range of the training.·Elaborating the manual on sustainable digital transformation – how to prepare a company to reshape an existing business model, how to use digital technologies to contribute positively to the climate change, environment protection and positive social transformation, how to earn money on the global sustainable digital transformation.·Designing the quality assurance system for inclusive education delivered with the given training scheme.·Validating the developed contents through during the multiplier events.·Managing all projects activities.·Sharing and promotion of delivered outcomes.<< Results >>The project shall produce the following Results:R1 - The methodology and curriculum for the sustainable Digital Transformation Training Scheme for SMEsR2 - Open Educational ResourcesR3 - Self-Assessment toolR4 - Check-upsR5 - Manual and Good Practices Guidebook.