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GGGI Provides Sustainability Training to Young Entrepreneurs in Fiji

GGGI’s Pacific team is helping instill green growth knowledge in up-and-coming small businesses in Fiji. In March 2018, GGGI trained young entrepreneurs on how to develop green business ideas and how and why to incorporate sustainability principles into any business.  The training sessions were delivered as part of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Tourism’s (MITT) Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES), which provides grants, training, and mentorship for youth ages 18-30 who have innovative business ideas but difficulty finding funding to make their concepts a reality.   GGGI trainers delivered a one-hour session in each of MITT’s three “Start Your Own Business” workshops in Suva, Lautoka, and Labasa, Fiji.   

Fiji Project Officer Ulaiasi Butukoro works with  training participants in Labasa.

The YES workshops covered topics including financial planning, sales projections, marketing, and writing a business plan.  GGGI’s “Sustainability In Business” sessions supplemented this content by providing an overview of environmental issues in Fiji and the country’s climate change goals, and discussing how and why businesses can play a role in addressing these issues.  Specific topics included ways that any business can “go green” by reducing waste and saving energy and water, as well as how they can contribute to the larger community on a social level.  Examples of local green businesses were presented, and participants brainstormed ways to incorporate sustainability into their business concepts, as well as generating ideas for new green businesses that can make money while improving the environment and combatting climate change.  GGGI and MITT plan to continue this collaboration at monthly YES workshops for the rest of the year.

GGGI Pacific Regional Officer Kristin Deason leads a session on sustainability in business in Suva.