A series of specialist virtual masterclasses have launched as part of the West of England Sustainable Technologies Scale-up Programme with the aim to give participants an understanding of business sustainability covering key topics.

The West of England Sustainable Technologies Scale-up Programme provides funded support to organisations in the region that are looking at ways to start their sustainability journey or are developing low-carbon technologies and exploring ways to scale.

Funded through the European Regional Development Fund the programme is run through the No1 business incubator SETsquared and linked with the University of Bath with scope for organisations to connect and collaborate with academic researchers.

The programme is now offering a series of new masterclass sessions, providing a brilliant opportunity to develop practical skills which will enable the growth of your organisation in a sustainable impact-led economy in a time-friendly manner.

The series of masterclasses comprise of 4-hour sessions with the option to choose three out of eight insightful masterclasses and tailor the programme to your organisation’s individual needs.

For organisations in the early stage of their sustainability journey or who are not familiar with sustainability, the Impact Workout is an excellent foundation route to understand the basics of sustainability in business and can then be built upon with any of the other masterclass sessions.

Other topics include Sustainability Policies, Impact Leadership, Becoming Tender Ready, Digital Sustainability, Grant Writing, and a Life-Cycle Assessment. The timetable of masterclasses has been scheduled and the 4-hour sessions will be led by expert facilitators in their field. The aim of each masterclass is to provide organisations with a better understanding of the social value principles and come away with practical action-oriented skills offering sustainable growth for the business.

Further information about what each session will cover, with dates and times can be found on the webpage, along with the online application form:

Talking about the Sustainability Masterclass sessions, Laurent Perge, Innovation Advisor for the programme says, “I’m very excited that these masterclass sessions have launched, I have every confidence that these shorter, topic-specific sessions will appeal to a broader market and the pick-and-mix style will provide a more tailored and flexible approach for organisations to choose from.”

“How fantastic is it for organisations who are keen to progress with their sustainability objectives to have access to this funded expert support? We have spent a lot of time fine-tuning the content and picking up elements that we think organisations want to focus on for the masterclass series.”

“As the funding for this programme completes at the end of May 2023 we are keen to support as many organisations as possible and I think the new masterclass format will appeal to organisations who might have previously felt a little daunted with the more fast-paced 2-day Sustainability Workout. The programme now offers various pathways to support organisations with their sustainability challenges and with the growth of their business.”

Sarah Stables, one of the SETsquared Programme Managers who helped design the masterclass series, goes on to say, “As Laurent has said, we wanted to make the Sustainability Masterclass sessions as appealing as possible – not only from a content point of view but also from a time-management point of view.”

“The masterclass sessions have been designed to offer support to organisations that are at different stages of their sustainability journey – the foundation masterclass (Impact Workout) is an excellent entry-level course and will help align organisations with current sustainability and social value trends. The other sessions work up to understanding key areas and skills identified. We really think this is an excellent resource and a convenient alternative for organisations unable to commit to the time-sensitive Sustainability Workouts also on offer. Attendees will come away with practical skills which can enable the growth of their business.”

In order for organisations to be accepted onto the programme they must be a registered Limited Company (Ltd), Community Interest Company (CIC) or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), either located in the West of England or willing to explore collaborations with the University of Bath or Bristol. It is a requirement that participants of the Sustainability Masterclasses complete 3 sessions which amounts to 12 hours of funded support before the end of May 2023.

For further information about the programme and the support options available visit the West of England Sustainable Technologies Scale-up Programme homepage and navigate through to either the Sustainability Masterclasses or Sustainability Workout pages. Applications are accepted via the forms available online.