In 2022 the Podravje region (Slovenia) became part of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) and was selected as one of the 12 CCRI pilots being supported for the implementation of Circular Systemic Solutions (CSS) which could provide answers to major challenges beyond resource management and waste/water recovery.
The region is now developing a circular bioeconomy strategy which is the key document describing the available regional resources and linking them to suitable CSSs.
So far, two rounds of consultations with regional stakeholders have been organised and 9 key CCSs have been identified as the key activities within 4 priority areas:
The BRILIAN project workshop "Seeds of Change in Rural Areas" will address several crucial policy-related topics, including developing new materials from agricultural feedstocks.
There will be presentations by representatives of the European Bioeconomy Bureau, the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC), as well as a round table session on unlocking resources from agricultural produce and waste.
Biorefine Cluster Europe (BCE) links up projects and people in the area of bio-based resource recovery, with a view to contributing to more sustainable and circular resource management.
It focuses on the biorefinery sector, i.e. chemicals, materials, energy and products from bio-based waste streams:
Bio-based (waste) streams as an input for the circular economy
Bioprocesses
Sustainable bio-energy production in its various shapes, and
Resource recovery: extracting minerals, chemicals, water and materials from biomass.
Its main objectives:
Strengthening interaction between projects
Fostering dissemination and stakeholder outreach
Enhancing research
Identifying gaps in knowledge.
BCE aims to build its community and promote knowledge exchange.
The FUSTARISE Project aims to find more sustainable ways to deal with lignocellulosic waste - plant waste from agriculture and forestry. Most of this waste currently ends up in landfills - this project uses solvent-free mechanochemical techniques to transform it into products such as capsules and adhesives.
The GO-GRASS final event will be a chance to discuss the project's final results and the implications for grass-based businesses in a future bio-based economy. It will feature a session on circular business models and technologies developed by the project, two policy panels with high-level representatives from EU, national and local level stakeholders and an excursion to a grass-based paper production facility in the Netherlands.
The CEE2ACT project is organising its first 2024 online event in the Knowledge Transfer Series. This international webinar will take place on 5 March at 13:00-15:00 CET via Zoom, and is entitled “Gearing up for Knowledge Transfer in the Circular Bioeconomy: Financial, Legal & Collaboration Issues”.
Three keynote speakers from Sweden and The Netherlands will share their experiences about:
Tackling financial barriers to the implementation of a bioeconomy
Strategies to promote legal support for and alignment on the development of a bioeconomy
AgriLoop is a groundbreaking project funded by Europe and China which is identifying innovative solutions for converting agricultural and food residues into high-value, environmentally-friendly products. It's holding a webinar on Developing high-value products from agricultural residues, to take place on 6 March at 10:30-13:30 CET.
Take part in the high-level event organised by the European Commission as part of the Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival!
This high-level event is part of the Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival, a collection of events organised by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) in cooperation with the Bioeconomy Youth Ambassadors from 11 to 17 March.
Along with the high-level event, the festival will comprise over 30 satellite events organised by third party organisations all over Europe. The festival aims to engage young people as drivers of the transformative change needed to address the multiple challenges facing Europe and to unlock the potential of the bioeconomy to make that transformation happen.
The 8th World Circular Economy Forum hits Brussels from 15 to 18 April 2024 to turn circular visions into actions. The world’s leading event for circular economy thinkers, doers and leaders will showcase the most impactful circular solutions from Europe and around the world. Online participation is open to everyone.
The workshops on Nutrient recycling policy will be held by the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform in Brussels and online on 12-14 March 2024.
Objectives:
To elaborate ambitious, feasible and consensus proposals for regulatory targets for phosphorus and nitrogen reuse-recycling from municipal wastewater and
To identify policy tools to support market pull for recycled nutrients which could achieve consensus across industry and users.