The main purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study focusing on the potential of incubators as agents of public policies to promote sustainability in micro and small firms. One of the core premises of the authors is the nodal role that environmental decisions acquire in fostering competitiveness nowadays. Nevertheless, small firms face historical and structural problems in investing in dimensions other than economic ones. Theoretically and conceptually, the study is based on the fields of environmental management and of the Triple Bottom Line model, seen as means to translate the principles of sustainable development to the business field. In methodological terms, the study was conducted under the mantle of the qualitative method, as an exploratory study, based on a multiple case study. The results revealed a big gap between what Brazilian incubators actually do and what they should do as public agents to promote the conditions and the culture of sustainability among small firms in environmental terms in particular.
Business incubators; Micro and small firms; Environmental management