In the first two years since its launch, more than 17.000 SMEs from the CEE region registered on the platform.

Starting May 29th, following a coordinated regional investment in content development, marketing and local partnerships, the Academy becomes available to Slovenian MSMEs, in the local language.

This expansion of the platform comes as a result of an ever-increasing demand from companies to adopt business resilience and sustainability practices in order to better respond to geopolitical and market changes and to strengthen their long-term competitiveness.

“For the past 5 years we have seen entrepreneurs becoming more interested in the relationship between sustainability-derived concepts and the future of their business. Our experience in Romania and the feedback from local partners in Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia gives us strong reasons to believe that The Sustainability Academy will quickly become the go-to resource for this important piece of knowledge in Slovenia too.”, said Ciprian Stănescu, President of Social Innovation Solutions.

The Sustainability Academy features 2 main courses this year and it will expand its resources gradually and according to the specific local business needs.

“In Slovenia, there is already a considerable amount of educational content available in the field of sustainable business, primarily targeting experts”, said Ladeja Godina Košir, Founder and Director of Circular Change. She added that changes in business practices affect everyone, especially micro and small entrepreneurs, NGOs, and creatives — these are the core of the economy.

“The Sustainability Academy has already proven across four markets that its format is effective and its content valuable. It is intended for those who seek concrete, practical, and local content — the kind that can be immediately applied in practice and that will help ensure the longevity and profitability of their business.”

The first course is “Introduction in Sustainability” and the main benefit for the MSMEs that finish it is that they will be able to build their first sustainability strategy based on the accumulated know-how and the documents and templates provided.

The second course will be focusing on “Sustainability in the HoReCa industry”. This is the first in a series of courses developed around certain key industries and takes a deeper dive into the specific needs of HoReCa MSMEs, promotes relevant local study cases and offers curated information based on key experts’ insights, local and international.

The Sustainability Academy in Slovenia, available at www.akademija-za-trajnost.si, is part of a larger regional Program called “Sustainable Futures” which aims to prepare MSMEs for key future challenges.

Besides the Academy, MSMEs will have the possibility to join “TRANSFORMATOR”, a 10 week intensive transformative program that assists them in building their capacity and helps them develop their own business transformation plans. Applications are open today and interested parties can get informed and apply at www.transformator.global/slovenia.

TRANSFORMATOR will start in September and will close in November with a regional MSME event in Bucharest, Romania where participants from 5 countries will have the chance to pitch their plans and receive financial prizes.