European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

Veerle works as a policy maker and facilitator for the public/private partnership Circular Flanders, which was initiated by the public waste agency of Flanders (OVAM). It serves as a hub, inspiration and matchmaker for the transition to a circular economy in Flanders.

To move forward, six thematic strategic agendas have been identified:

1. circular construction
2. chemicals and plastics
3. water cycles
4. biobased economy
5. food chain, and
6. manufacturing (textiles, furniture, electronics, batteries, etc.).

Each strategic agenda is a partnership in itself and is assigned a public and a private lead.

Drawing up and implementing strategic agendas, however, doesn’t guarantee success. To make the transition to the circular economy a reality, there is a whole series of habits, rules and barriers inherent in the linear economy that need to be tackled. What’s more, communication, funding and robust scientific research are also required. The strategic agendas are therefore accompanied by seven levers: financing, communication, research, jobs and skills, circular procurement, innovation and entrepreneurship, and policy instruments.

Oana Neagu is Director of the General Affairs team at Copa Cogeca. The team covers topics related to the circular and bio-economy, the environment and climate change, research and innovation, food waste, etc. Oana is an agricultural engineer and has a Master’s degree in business administration. She previously worked at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture as a policy officer, in charge of managing market measures. Prior to joining the Commission in 2006, she was the adviser on European integration at the Ministry of Agriculture in Romania, and was involved in preparing Romania’s accession to the European Union.

She is a member of the management committee of the multi-stakeholder platform on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU and actively involved in various expert groups on the bioeconomy, forestry and rural development.

Copa and Cogeca are the united voice of farmers and agri-cooperatives in the EU. Together, they ensure that EU agriculture is sustainable, innovative and competitive, guaranteeing food security for half a billion people throughout Europe. Copa represents over 23 million farmers and their families whilst Cogeca represents the interests of 22 000 agricultural cooperatives. They have 66 member organisations from the EU Member States. Copa and Cogeca are among the founding members of the European Bioeconomy Alliance.

Alyssa Jade McDonald-Bärtl is a social entrepreneur working to evolve standards to influence food sovereignty and agroecology. She is a board member of UnternehmensGrün, the German Federal Association of Green Economy and currently holds the seat of Vice President on the board of Ecopreneur, the European Federation of Sustainable Business, who's purpose is to set a course towards sustainable economic policies on the European level to support the economic and societal transformation across Europe and beyond.  

Commercially, Lyss founded BlyssChocolate.com, CACAO.Academy, and ChangeMaker.Land. 

Jana Žůrková is the Network Development & Innovation Manager at RREUSE. She joined the organisation in 2016. In her role, Jana coordinates key support services to RREUSE members - social enterprise active in a circular economy, notably in the field of re-use and repair. She leads capacity building of the network by facilitating exchange of good practices, business models and innovation and coordinates data collection, research and partnerships among RREUSE members and external partners.

REUSE is an international network representing social enterprises active in the field of re-use, repair and recycling. Drawing on the first-hand experience of its members, RREUSE's mission is to ensure that policies, innovative partnerships and the sharing of best practices promote and develop the role of social enterprises in the circular economy. At the heart of RREUSE's vision for Europe are circular activities that foster social value and create locally inclusive jobs whilst supporting vulnerable individuals. RREUSE federates 31 members across 29 European countries and the USA.

François-Michel Lambert is a Member of Parliament, having been elected in the 10th constituency of the Bouches-du-Rhône (Southern France).

He is a member of the Sustainable Development and Country Planning Commission at the National Assembly, and also holds the position of president of the France-Cuba Friendship group at the National Assembly.

He is founding president of the Institute for Circular Economy, a multi-stakeholder association composed of 200 members, companies, communities, NGOs and schools that defines and implements a transformation of our economic model to emerge from a society of waste and move towards the development of an economy focused on the preservation and efficient use of resources. The Institute has become the French reference and the main partner of the public authorities.

Mr Lambert received the Marianne d'Or award for sustainable development for his proactive action to bring about a shift towards a circular economy.

Simina Lakatos has been founding president of the Ernest Lupan Institute for Circular Economy and Environment (IRCEM) since 2012. She has economic and technical knowledge, abilities and experience: she holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. Honours in Materials and Environment Engineering. She obtained a Doctorate in Engineering and Management in 2011 after defending her thesis on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Simina has been part of the Department of Management and Engineering Economics of UTC since 2011, where she teaches and researches the following areas: sustainable development with a focus on the circular economy, strategic management with a focus on the social economy, enterprise assessment and marketing and international management, all of which helps her to develop IRCEM. Her focus is on accelerating the transition towards circularity from the bottom up with concerted actions, developing practical and scalable solutions, organising local/regional/EU campaigns, and communicating and involving others in the dissemination of information on the circular economy and messages on sustainable development. Simina is Romanian and speaks fluent English and Italian.

Prof. Joanna Kulczycka is president of the Waste Management and Recycling Cluster, a key national cluster in Poland formed of 99 entities: SMEs, research units, NGOs and consulting companies promoting cooperation between business and research in the field of recovery and recycling various industrial and municipal waste, mainly WEEE.

Joanna Kulczycka has a Ph.D. in management from AGH UTS (Cracow) and a D. Sc. degree (habilitation) in economics (commodity science) from Poznań University of Economics. She was the founder of and now heads the Department of Strategic Research at MEERI Polish Academy of Sciences. She is Professor in the Faculty of Management AGH University of Science and Technology, where she lectures on eco-innovation in industry and circular economy. 

Joanna Kulczycka is also author of over 100 publications. These include the first book on LCA in Polish, the first Polish Minerals Yearbook, and the first book about critical raw materials in Poland, and she is also editor of several books concerning the circular economy in Poland. Her research experience stretches from the economics and management of industrial processes, mainly in the raw materials and recycling sectors, to CSR, to eco-innovation and to the circular economy.

In her role as Director of Programmes, Hatty leads Circle Economy’s thematic and sector-focused portfolio (textiles, finance and built environment). Having worked for over 14 years in democratic strengthening and sustainable development, Hatty has extensive international experience of working with governments and parliamentary systems to enhance their capacity for effective oversight, scrutiny and representation in the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Hatty is an experienced portfolio manager, delivering a wide range of multi-year, multi-stakeholder international development programmes in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. She has taken the lead on projects as wide ranging as enhancing the representation of women in public life in Pakistan to institutional strengthening in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis.

Hatty has a background in project management and strategic organisational planning, with strong links across government and multilateral organisations. 

Key objectives at Circle Economy

- Build a comprehensive portfolio of sector + cross-sector programmes; working with government + industry  

- Develop multi-stakeholder projects, across government + industry, to support the circular transition at national level 

- Expand the profile and viability of Circle Economy in the Global South.

Romina Giovannetti joined Ecoembes in 2019 as Head of EU Public Affairs. She has 20 years' experience in public policy and communications in Brussels, together with a track record in journalism in South America.
 
Romina previously served as Public Affairs Associate Director at the consultancy Weber Shandwick. With expertise in European funding and industrial and environmental policy, she acted as advisor to a number of associations, corporations and NGOs.
 
Prior to that, Romina worked with a number of Brussels-based associations, spearheading their employment, sustainability and transport dossiers. She spent the early part of her career as a news reporter and editor in Argentina’s leading media group Clarín.
 
Ecoembes is a non-profit organisation that cares for the environment through recycling and the eco-design of packaging in Spain. While implementing Extended Producer Responsibility, it engages collaboratively with individuals, public authorities and companies so as to improve the environmental impact of household packaging.

Brendan Edgerton is the Director of Circular Economy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in Geneva, Switzerland. Since arriving at WBCSD in 2015, he has managed the delivery of the Practitioner Guide (www.CEguide.org) and the 8 Business Cases to the Circular Economy and contributed to the Environmental Priorities for Business in the Circular Economy and the CEO Guide to the Circular Economy.

Brendan also contributed to the development and launch of Factor10, WBCSD’s circular economy programme. This programme was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2018 with over 30 members, spanning 16 industries and generating over USD $1.3 trillion in annual turnover. He now manages multiple workstreams under Factor10 on circular metrics and sector deep dives.

Prior to WBCSD, Brendan’s work experience included life cycle assessment and costing at Walt Disney Imagineering, renewable and energy efficiency project identification at Office Depot and green building consulting with Green Dinosaur. Brendan has an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of California Santa Cruz.