Studies show that despite a concerted attempt by UK policy-makers to portray 'ecoefficiency' measures as cost reducing, most owner-managers of small firms view environmental measures as expensive to undertake. As a result, owner-managers tend to be highly resistant to voluntarily improving their environmental performance. Given that SMEs are such a vast sector of the economy, this perceived discord between profits and environmental protection is clearly a major barrier to the 'greening' of industry. This ESRC-funded study has sought to unearth the underlying motivations for why SME owner-managers in the UK resist or accept the idea that there are business benefits for improving their environmental performance. The findings from 40 in-depth interviews with SME owners in the UK's construction and restaurant sectors and 12 'key informants' from industry and government are presented, followed by a discussion of SME perspectives on the 'business case' for sustainability and its implications for policy-makers.

Previous studies on the environmental practices of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and beyond have portrayed owner‐managers as laggards who underplay their firm's environmental impacts and resist environmental management due to its perceived cost. Yet a recent cross‐sector survey of 220 UK SMEs suggests that this intransigent stance may be slowly changing. Responses indicate a high percentage of owner‐managers actively involved in recycling, energy efficiency, responsible buying and selling, and efforts to reduce their carbon emissions. Owner‐managers saw it as their responsibility to help solve environmental problems and were reportedly willing to accept the costs of tougher environmental regulations and taxation. Business owners were motivated not just by the ‘push’ of legislation and environmental concern but by the ‘pull’ of potential cost savings, new customers, higher staff retention and good publicity for their firms. The survey also found that owner‐managers had resonance with the Stern Review's (2006) conclusions that the benefits of strong early action on climate change outweigh the costs, and that a transition to a low‐carbon economy will bring opportunities for business growth. This indicates that SMEs may be coming round to the idea that there is a business case for sustainability, although there is still some scepticism on the overall profitability of environmental action. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The poor environmental performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK has been attributed to a wide range of barriers, both internal and external to the firm. However, the debate has seldom considered the interplay of factors beyond 'the firm'. In order for the debate to progress we emphasize the importance of situating the environmental practices of small firms within a context of national policy arrangements. A lack of institutional enfranchisement for SMEs in the UK is a key factor in understanding why environmental policies have yet to be successful in encouraging more environmentally proactive behaviour within this sector.

Previous studies on the environmental practices of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and beyond have portrayed owner-managers as laggards who underplay their fi rm's environmental impacts and resist environmental management due to its perceived cost. Yet a recent cross-sector survey of 220 UK SMEs suggests that this intransigent stance may be slowly changing. Responses indicate a high percentage of owner-managers actively involved in recycling, energy effi ciency, responsible buying and selling, and efforts to reduce their carbon emissions. Owner-managers saw it as their responsibility to help solve environmental problems and were reportedly willing to accept the costs of tougher environmental regulations and taxation. Business owners were motivated not just by the 'push' of legislation and environmental concern but by the 'pull' of potential cost savings, new customers, higher staff retention and good publicity for their fi rms. The survey also found that owner-managers had resonance with the Stern Review's (2006) conclusions that the benefi ts of strong early action on climate change outweigh the costs, and that a transition to a low-carbon economy will bring opportunities for business growth. This indicates that SMEs may be coming round to the idea that there is a business case for sustainability, although there is still some scepticism on the overall profi tability of environmental action.

This research explores 'teaching excellence' by examining the perceptions of geography academics and students at Brunel University as to what makes a lecture 'unmissable'. The findings from 10 interviews with lecturers and five focus groups with undergraduate students suggest that whilst there is probably no such thing as an entirely unmissable lecture, attendance rates are significantly enhanced by three key factors: (i) a high degree of participation and interactivity ('active learning'), (ii) a clear structure which enables integrative links to be more easily made, and (iii) a passionate, enthusiastic lecturer, who can bring a subject to life for students. As research has shown that a high degree of interactivity encourages deeper approaches to learning, the paper argues that a move away from conventional lecturing towards more applied methods and small-group teaching may be a way of improving teaching excellence. Yet as large-group lectures are unlikely to be replaced any time soon, making them as participative as possible is one way to ensure that higher cognitive functions are at least partially acquired.