Generali on the lookout for Sustainability Heroes among Austrian SMEs

On April 15, Austria, one of the seven countries participating in the international SME EnterPRIZE project, has introduced specific initiatives to unveil the country’s most sustainable SMEs.

Generali Austria aims to identify and reward the best sustainability strategies implemented by entrepreneurs of SMEs in the following three categories:

• Sustainable business models, based on business ideas that make a positive contribution to the environment and society;
• Sustainable products and services with the lowest possible environmental impact throughout their life cycle – from planning to production, from deployment to recycling, and disposal.
• Digitalisation, as an essential means to accelerate sustainable development in many areas of business, making a significant contribution to the economy, society, and the environment.

From 26 to 31 July, the three Austrian SMEs that have distinguished themselves in these areas will be officially awarded at the Generali Open Kitzbühel 2021 event.

The three winners, chosen by a jury made up of Sustainability experts, will each receive a cash prize of €10,000 to further develop and implement sustainability projects within their firms and will benefit from extensive media exposure, not only in Austria, but also at European level. Together with the media partner Kurier, Generali Austria will promote and advertise all stages of the Austrian Generali SME EnterPRIZE initiative.

The CEO of Generali Austria, Gregor Pilgram, said: “Thanks to its long-standing history, Generali has an extraordinary wealth of experience and knowledge. This enables us to meet current challenges and contribute to a better future. With Generali SME EnterPRIZE we give sustainable small and medium-sized enterprises the opportunity to promote themselves and win attractive prizes, significantly increasing their visibility and competitive advantage“.

All SMEs interested in the project can apply until 31 May 2021 (here). The selected  “Sustainability Heroes” will become Austria’s Ambassadors for the international SME EnterPRIZE project and will be awarded also at pan-European level on September 29, 2021 at an international event in Brussels in the presence of the main European institutions and media.

Austria is not alone in endorsing the SME EnterPRIZE project: Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Hungary are also actively involved. Soon also the projects from Italy and Spain will be announced.

For further information, please visit also sme-enterprize.at.