Finnish SMEs and SME stakeholders explore the why, what and how of sustainability reporting

The workshop, titled “From pain points to practice – together towards better sustainability reporting”, started by offering the participants an overview of sustainability reporting and presenting the results of the interviews conducted in the project in autumn 2025. The interview results, which can also be found at the project website, offered insight into the sustainability reporting challenges that SMEs and their stakeholders face in their operations.  

Participants were then divided into smaller groups to discuss why to engage in sustainability reporting, what to report, and what kinds of tools to use for the reporting. The workshop sparked lively discussion on the topics, which highlights the importance of sustainability reporting and the participants’ interest in it.  

The discussion brought up several benefits of sustainability reporting, such as competitiveness and business development, meeting customer and regulatory needs, securing funding, and ensuring transparency of operations. The question of what to report brought to light similar challenges that the interviews revealed: uncertainty of what exactly needs to be reported, and challenges with recognizing relevant topics and data points. All parts of the ESG framework – environmental, social and governance – were mentioned as important topics to report. 

As for the sustainability reporting tools, several solutions were suggested. Some existing tools as well as AI were mentioned, but emphasis was also placed on gathering data from the organizations’ internal systems. After all, storing the internal data in one place or system to help with the analyzing process is the first step to compiling the sustainability report. 

All in all, feedback from the workshop was positive and participants expressed their interest to learn more about sustainability reporting. The workshop gathered 13 participants, most of them regional developers. 

Find the workshop conclusions here: Workshop Conlusions Finland 2026 02 18