Background Poland’s 3.4 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up approximately 99% of functioning businesses and are now driving Poland’s economic growth. Their environmental impact, however, is sometimes unappreciated and often underestimated by policymakers, the public and very often by the businesses themselves. In general, environmental compliance is low among SMEs in Poland, mainly because they cannot afford to employ environmental specialists and are unaware of the fast-changing legal requirements with which they must comply. In 1998, the Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation jointly developed Clean Business with the UK’s Groundwork Trust and BP as a motivational and advisory scheme to help Polish SMEs to improve their environmental performance. However, while Clean Business was recognized as an innovative scheme in the pre-accession period, it only managed to attract an active membership of 200 participating companies by the end of 2003. Objectives To expand the reach and impact of Clean Business, the Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation teamed up with Multimedia Communications and the Regional Business Initiative of the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce to codify and make more widely available experience gained with Clean Business through developing an internet tool called Environment Manager. The project received funding support from the European Commission’s Life Environment programme for the period 2004-6. The objective of the project was to develop the Environment Manager internet tool as part of a strategy to demonstrate that cost-effective improvements can be made to the environmental performance of SMEs. The project aimed to involve 250 Polish SMEs and to use the internet tool to support and analyse their environmental performance. It also aimed to implement the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in ten of the participating companies. The objective was to secure the participation of businesses from the following sectors: healthcare, tourism, food processing, metal processing, production of car components, construction, plastic processing and business services. On a wider scale, the project will promote EMAS in Poland and develop a network of local experts. Results The main project result is an operational version of the Environment Manager internet tool (www.eko-spec.pl), which continues to be verified and tested through use by the 348 SMEs now operating in the Clean Business Programme (higher than the original traget of 250). The tool was initially used only by Clean Business members participating in the LIFE project. But from September 2006, was made available to any company or organisation that wishes to use it. An English version of the tool was also prepared and is also available on-line for use by companies, government agencies and NGOs in other EU member states. Environment Manager is an internet tool designed to manage and make available information, good practice and experience in environmental problem-solving relevant to SMEs. Environment Manager enables users to: • access publicly-available information and training resources relevant to the environmental needs of small and medium-sized enterprises; • collect and analyze data related to a specific company’s environmental performance, assuring security and confidentiality (following log-in); • administer a Clean Business Program, providing on-line services to logged-in users, organizing reporting, and monitoring Clean Business Club operations. Using Environment Manager, companies can assess and monitor their environmental performance and learn from the practical experience of other companies. Users can access information resources and Clean Business support services, including a help-line and news service. In 2006, 75% of companies participating in Clean Business declared that environmental improvement was a source of their business competitiveness, which represented an increase of 11% from 2004. Also in 2006, 67% Clean Business companies declared that they were undertaking or planning to undertake environmental investments. All 348 companies directly participating in the project undertook some practical action to reduce their environmental impacts and planned to continue to do so after completion of the Life project. The project did not succeed in the implementation and registration of EMAS in 10 SMEs. By the end of the project nine companies had started implementation of EMAS, and one of these had completed the registration process by February 2007. The other eight plan to continue the process after the end of the project. Several seminars and meetings were also organised to disseminate information on EMAS and on the potential benefits of its implementation. The project succeeded in enhancing awareness of EMAS among Polish SMEs. Disclaimer : This « results » section should be considered as a draft until the Commission has completed its evaluation .