The Sustainability Academy launches its third free course dedicated to entrepreneurs in Romania who want to transform their businesses to be more sustainable and competitive. The course “Sustainability in the Retail Industry” aims to provide food stores and producers with the tools they need to contribute to a more responsible food retail.
The course, developed in partnership with Auchan Romania and moderated by Codruț Nicolau, founder of Sustain Future, wants all parties involved, from the supply chain to consumers, to adopt low-impact practices. Together with 16 industry experts and entrepreneurs, 7 educational modules were developed. The course starts with an overview of the industry and continues with each element that influences the sustainable path of a grocery store. One module is dedicated to food producers who want to adopt circular production models.
1. Sustainability in Retail: Discover how sustainability is applied in the retail industry, what benefits it brings and how to overcome specific challenges.
2. Sustainable Store
a) “Operations”: Learn to optimize costs and streamline store operations.
b) “Commercial”: Learn how to collaborate with local suppliers, integrate responsible commercial practices and respond to changes in customer behavior.
3. Packaging and Waste: Understand the legislation, analyze sources of waste and learn to manage and recover generated waste.
4. Store Employees: Explore effective methods to involve employees in the store strategy and successfully support diversity and inclusion.
5. Marketing and Positioning: Discover how to effectively communicate your position as a sustainable retailer and highlight your initiatives.
6. Sustainable Supply Chain: You will go through the steps to develop a sustainable supply chain and report data accurately.
7. Course Completion: You will end the course by creating your own sustainability strategy, tailored to your business needs.
Course Duration and Difficulty Levels:
• Advanced: A complete and detailed 7-hour experience, dedicated to those who are ready to implement the course recommendations in their business.
• Intermediate: By following only the chapters of interest to each entrepreneur, the course can be completed in 4 hours.
• Easy: A quick and accessible 50-minute format, designed for a clear and practical introduction to each module, without further in-depth study.
• Food Producers: The course can be consumed in 2 hours by food producers who want to follow only the chapters dedicated to them.
“Since the beginning of the project, we wanted the Sustainability Academy platform to offer concrete sustainable solutions, easy to understand and implement, for each of the major industries present in the local market. This time, together with Auchan Romania, we turned our attention to the retail market. It is a market in which we believe we can bring real changes and we can’t wait for interested SMEs in the country to take this course. Of course, as we have accustomed you, we will also offer a grant for the implementation of a grocery store’s sustainability strategy,” says Paul Nechita, Project Manager of the Sustainability Academy.
