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The paper looks at the feasibility of university placements supporting small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to operate in a sustainable manner. Due to size and resource constraints, many SMEs may regard sustainability more as a burden than a value-adding commercial strategy.

A two-year study was conducted on the sustainability-themed placements of 101 students of De Montfort University, United Kingdom, in SMEs. The placements were designed with the purpose of acting as a traditional work experience scheme while also equipping students with learning, skills and orientation with which to act as sustainability champions within companies. The study combined the use of students' reflections (via tools such as monthly logbooks) with interviews and questionnaire surveys of both employers and students, in order to evaluate the outcomes of the placements.

Students engaged with the sustainability aspect of their placements mainly by obtaining information on the sustainability performance of SMEs, with significant engagement also occurring in the areas of sustainability advocacy (e.g. proposing socio-environmental plans to companies) and initiatives/action.

Placements can potentially serve as a means of knowledge generation for universities while providing SMEs with cost-effective staff and innovation sustainability resources.

A circular approach to university placement programmes is proposed whereby the knowledge gained from previous placements about SMEs' sustainability performance is used to prepare later cohorts of placement students with a pragmatic understanding of challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of sustainability by SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to establish opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become environmental businesses. The “Environmental Business” concept refers to a commercial organisation that provides goods and/or services which provide socio-environmental value and which are produced in such a way that the organisation addresses environmental and social problems.

Interviewing and observation were used to conduct a case study of how 30 SMEs prepared for the UK’s Green Deal programme in the West Midlands County, UK. In total, 20 interviews were conducted and 23 field notes were recorded. Based on the literature review, the research enquiry into practice, and the philosophical approach of pragmatism adopted by the research, a “Three Ps” (profit, process and product) analytical framework was established with which to operationalise the environmental business.

The research identifies tactical opportunities that assist SMEs to function as environmental businesses whilst maintaining the traditional focus on economic performance. It also shows the benefits and challenges involved.

The research focused on a case study related to specific sectors (building and energy) within a specific UK region (West Midlands), which limits the generalisability of the results.

The research highlights practical opportunities for SMEs to address existing environmental and social problems through their products and processes and prevent new problems arising due to their operations.

This research represents an initial step in developing a pragmatic implementation model by which SMEs can overcome barriers to being environmental businesses whilst maximising business advantages.