Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers (ESChE) Capacity Building Training on Greening of Ethiopian Manufacturing1 As part of Capacity Building Training European Union External Actions No.: ENV/2017/391-389 Through the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations Module one Sustainable production and consumption and Greening of businesses 1 This training document is prepared by the Team of Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers consisting of: Professor Desta Mebratu, Dr. Hundessa Desalegne and Engineer Lelissa Daba. Ato Heyeru Hussein from Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations provided comments and inputs in finalizing the document Page | 1 Outline of the Module Training Guide 1. Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and Green Economy 1.1 Basic concepts of Sustainable Consumption and production and Green Economy 1.1.1 What is sustainable production and consumption (SCP) 1.1.2 What is Green Economy 1.1.3 Relevance of SCP and Green Economy for SMEs in Developing countries 1.1.4 Exercise: Identify opportunities related to your enterprise on SCP and Green Economy 1.2 Practical tools for SCP and Green Economy 1.2.1 What is Cleaner Production 1.2.2 Basic tools of Cleaner Production 1.2.3 Cleaner Production audit 1.2.4 Exercise: Identify possible cleaner production opportunities in your enterprise 1.3 Work ethics and Motivation related to sustainability and Green Businesses 1.3.1 Why sustainability principle is important for a Green Business 1.3.2 Key sustainability principles for Green Businesses 1.3.3 Key work ethics for Green Business 1.3.4 Exercise: Identify key possible areas of improvement you would work on to improve the sustainability profile of your enterprise. ESChE Training Document for Greening Ethiopian Manufacturing (GEM) Project Training guide The main purpose of this training program is to equip participating enterprises with the basic necessary knowledge and skills that will enable them to continuously improve their Page | 2 industrial operations and become a more sustainable businesses. While the training to be provided under the three modules will provide you with the basic information under the key topics related to Greening of Ethiopian Manufacturing, the ultimate utility and outcome of the training will be very much dependent on your level of preparedness to be creative and innovative. Experience from similar training in other developing countries have shown that changing existing dominant mindsets in relation to industrial operation is the major obstacle faced by most trainees. The following are some of the manifestations of the dominant mind sets that hamper industries and enterprises from being creative and innovative in their operation. • We have always worked like this • We are too big/too small for this • Do not forget we have to earn money • This does not affect my department • It is not my business • I am very busy, let someone else do this • It is too early for this or it is too late now There are a number of steps the trainees could take in order to overcome most of these mental barriers at the personal level. From methodological perspective, it is valuable to divide the process of creative problem solving into the following four stages. • Problem analysis: The focus of this phase is to arrive at a clear understanding and description of the problem and related opportunities. During this phase, the focus should be drawn to identifying and understanding the actual problem. Some of the key questions to ask are, for example: where do I stand in sustainability of my business? Where do I want to be in five or ten year time? What are the key challenges and problems? What has been done in the past to solve the problem, what has worked, what has not worked? • Options identification: The purpose of this phase is to identify all the possible options that could be considered to utilize available opportunities and manage the key challenges. This step requires to take a step back from the problem and look at it from a broader solution framework perspective. Option identification is done as an open- ended idea generation process and should build on all available information. The goal is to end up with as many creative ideas as possible and is supported with processes such as brainstorming. • Evaluation: In the evaluation phase, the options generated from the previous phase are evaluated one-by-one on the merits of their technical feasibility, their economic payback time and their ecological impact. The most promising options are selected for either trial or full scale implementation after going through detailed evaluation. ESChE Training Document for Greening Ethiopian Manufacturing (GEM) Project • Realization: options selected through the above process are implemented under this phase. This may require developing an implementation plan which will start with the least-cost operational management options and move towards more complex interventions that may require higher investment and technological know-how. Having clear designation of responsibility and engagement of different teams is one of the key prerequisite for effective implementation. Page | 3 Carrying out different levels of brainstorming as a team is another useful approach that assists overcoming some of the mental barriers and promote creativity and innovation. There are four principles of brainstorming that should be strictly followed to support the creative process of brainstorming. • Any kind of criticism is strictly forbidden: in the creative innovation process there should be a strict separation between the phase of actual generation of ideas (brainstorming) and the evaluation phase. This is because criticism too early can break the flow of association and prevent the team from using all their experience and resources. • No limits to creativity: There are no stupid ideas and there are no ideas too wild to be considered in the process. The limits of our knowledge should be explored. Every association, every idea that possibly could contribute to the identification of a new way of solving a problem is welcome. • Quantity comes before quality: As already explained the idea of brainstorming is to explore the full width and range of possible innovative approaches to problem solving. This is sometimes known as ‘blue sky thinking‘. The individual quality of brainstormed ideas is assessed in the Evaluation Phase. The goal is to come up with as many ideas as possible. • Adapting is encouraged: Take up the ideas of others and develop them further. There is no right to intellectual property during the process of brainstorming. Many good ideas are triggered when ideas are connected, combined or varied with the ideas of others. Starting with someone else’s idea might stimulate new ones in the minds of the participants. So, connecting and building on other ideas is strongly encouraged in brainstorming. At the end of each presentation sessions of the training, Trainers will ask you to carry out to address specific questions in a combination of individual and group exercise. This will provide you the basis to apply combination of the above approaches and develop the required appreciation on creative process. You will also be encouraged to engage the resource persons in interactive discussion by raising questions that are directly relevant to your operation and functions. This reading material will be complemented with a set of presentation slides for each session that would highlight the key concepts, principles and approaches on the respective topics. ESChE Training Document for Greening Ethiopian Manufacturing (GEM) Project Module 1: Introduction to Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and Green Economy and Work Ethics The promotion of the transition to sustainable consumption and production and the development of Green Economy have provided the basis for the emergence of tens of thousands of Green Businesses across the world. Under this module, trainees will be: introduced to the Page | 4 basic concepts and tools related to sustainable consumption and production and Green Economy; assisted to identify possible opportunities related to their enterprises; and be trained about the core work ethics and principles that need to be upheld by sustainable enterprises. They will also be guided to carry out exercises on utilizing available tools and techniques; 1. Basic introduction on SCP and Green Economy In this section, trainees will be introduced to the basic concepts and tools associated with sustainable consumption and production and Green Economy and will be assisted to identify possible opportunities related to SCP and Green Economy in relation to their own enterprises. They will also be introduced to the basic principles of work ethics and motivation for sustainability. 1.1 Basic concepts of Sustainable Consumption and production and Green Economy The last few decades have been a time of dynamic changes across the world. Increasing demand for energy, food, water and other resources has resulted in resource depletion, pollution, environmental degradation and climate change, pushing the earth towards its environmental limits. With society consuming more resources than ever before, the current patterns of development across the world are not sustainable. One of the key elements for achieving sustainable development is the transition towards Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). This need was first highlighted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and was later reiterated in the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also called Rio +20 summit, in 2012. The Rio+20 Summit adopted the 10 Year Framework of Programs. SCP is about fulfilling the needs of all while using fewer resources, including energy and water, and producing less waste and pollution. SCP can contribute to poverty alleviation and the transition towards a low carbon, green economy and is essential for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people, who depend so closely on the natural resources provided by their environment. SCP can lead to an improved quality of life and greater employment opportunities, complementing poverty reduction strategies.