Eco-innovation in SMEs - drivers of a holistic process of change

The paper aims to explore SMEs understanding of sustainability issues, how they adopt and innovate in terms of sustainability and the benefits and obstacles they face in developing, adopting and commercialising new products and processes. The concept of eco-innovation or developing 'new products and processes which provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impacts' (James 1997) is therefore applied to the specialised context of UK SMEs, a context which impacts cumulatively on overall environmental sustainability (Tilley 1999). In particular the concept of ecoinnovation is researched in the context of SME capabilities and competences, and how these relate to the change process that emerges as a reaction to the drivers towards eco-innovation