Economic entities influence the environment significantly. Economic activity in the EU lacks skills, experience and financial and management
tools. Innovation is a key element of sustainable economic activity, but economic activity needs a complex approach to cover economic,
social and environmental aspects. The most common measure for environmental improvement is the reduction of energy and material
consumption. This article analyses the development of economic entities using the Innovation and Small Business Act (SBA) approach. The
research objective is to analyse how economic entities in EU countries develop their activities to achieve sustainability by reducing their
environmental impact. A comparison of the sustainability aspects of economic entities was carried out. The contribution of innovations was
analysed to assess the level of sustainability of economic entities in EU countries. The results show that the impact of the activities of economic entities needs to be assessed along the entire value chain, which assesses the social environment of economic entities. EU countries such as Finland, Germany, Slovenia and Sweden are leading the way in investing in innovation and sustainability measures. However, EU countries face challenges in implementing sustainability goals, because of the complexity of the system and a lack of attention from responsible institutions. Nevertheless, innovation is essential to reduce negative environmental impacts.
In the world of the globalised economy, local socio-economic structures are gaining importance again. The economies of European countries, including Poland, are mostly based on SMEs, which constitute the majority of all enterprises, employing more than half of the employees in the national economy. In this context, local initiatives that bring together entrepreneurs operating in the area, local government bodies and scientific centres, should be considered, which, by working together, influence local development. The aim of the article is to show the importance of the SME sector against the background of trends in global entrepreneurship. The authors ask whether local government can stimulate local entrepreneurship in the SME sector, and consider the effectiveness of Local Economic Development workshops, referring to the example of the Otwock district. Workshops in Local Economic Development based on the model of the American workshops have developed practical results in the form of ready-to-implement projects. Moreover, they have revived the network of local contacts that is vital for regional entrepreneurship.