The 2023 edition of the Circular Economy Hotspot event goes global!
The Circular Economy Hotspot event is going global: its 2023 edition will not be held in a single country and continent, but in three continents: Europe, Africa and Latin America! Each event will be aligned and spread out during the year to generate increased impact. For the first time ever, there will be an event in Ireland, one in Nigeria and one in Chile - each one of them fine-tuned to suit their own dynamics.
Since 2016, when the first Circular Hotspot event took place in the Netherlands, events have taken place annually in Europe, showcasing the organising countries’ circular activities and sharing their best business practices, policies and approaches. They have been successful in stimulating businesses to adopt circular principles and have inspired circular economy (CE) action in new countries. A circular legacy has been created year after year.
This week a jury consisting of previous CE Hotspot event organisers - Holland Circular Hotspot (2016), the government of Luxembourg (2017), Zero Waste Scotland (2018), the host from Catalonia (2020/21) and North Rhine-Westphalia (2022) - came together to decide on the location of the 2023 event.
The jury was delighted to see the interest shown in organising Circular Economy Hotspot 2023, with 4 candidates from Europe, 4 candidates from Africa and a candidate from the LATAM region. The quality of the proposals was exceptionally high and the passion of the presenters palpable.
The jury noticed that there is a specific and rather unique momentum for CE in every continent, as a solution to stimulate the economy and work on Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) and the Climate Goals, and decided to take the revolutionary decision to have the 2023 edition in Ireland, Nigeria, and Chile. The winners have a huge, but rewarding responsibility to carry forward the circular movement in their respective regions.
"The Netherlands initiated the Circular Hotspot event in 2016. It makes us - as Holland Circular Hotspot - incredibly proud and humble to see that it is now developing into a series of global events at a time when the world needs it most", said Director of Holland Circular Hotspot Freek van Eijk.
In making this decision, the jury recognised that, in a world slowly recovering from COVID-19, there is an increased awareness of the CE as a means to take action, especially amongst the younger generation. A circular world is the only way forward!
With the recovery funds and increased climate action, there is also a unique opportunity to embed circularity within every activity and action in every part of the globe. This ground-breaking jury decision to host the 2023 event in three continents supports the global goal to accelerate the transition to a CE. After 2023, each continent will continue this tradition and host a yearly CE Hotspot event locally. This also means that the elections for a 2024 event in Europe, Africa and Latin America, and potentially other continents, will be held in 2022.
As for the 2022 edition of the CE Hotspot event, it will take place in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (contact). Hope you'll join Holland Circular Hotspot on this inspiring circular journey!
2023 CE Hotspot event winners: