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Innovation et investissement
26 Mar 2021
On 26 March, the Dutch provinces of Overijssel, Drenthe and Northern Netherlands organise a webinar on the greening of Europe’s transport system and the contribution of inland ports to the transition to a sustainable and circular mobility sector.
25 Mar 2021
The European Commission, in partnership with the city of Mannheim (DE), will hold a European Social Economy Summit on 26-27 May.
On 23 March (1:30 - 3:00 pm), in preparation of this summit, the EESC is organising a workshop to discuss how to bring a civil society perspective to the debate on the contribution of Social Economy Enterprises to the transition towards circular economy in Europe.
17 Mar 2021
The ECESP Coordination Group had its second meeting on 16 March to discuss how to take the ECESP to the next level.
ECESP Coordination Group 2020-2023: second meeting
Abstract:
The ECESP Coordination Group held its second meeting on 16 March 2021 to discuss how to take the ECESP to the next level.
23 Apr 2021 to 24 Apr 2021
Tondo – an international non-profit organisation working in the field of circular economy – is pleased to announce its first hackathon, realised in collaboration with the Circular Economy Lab of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center and Cariplo Factory and under the patronage of the Cariplo Foundation. The hackathon on 23-24 April will be held entirely in Italian.
12 Mar 2021
The Commission would like to hear the European citizens' views on the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
23 Mar 2021
On 23 March an online event is organised to launch Circular Regions - a data-driven platform bridging bottom-up and top-down circular initiatives for mission-oriented eco-system transformation in a network of regions.
Fab City Global Initiative for self-sustainable cities
Fab City Challenge is an initiative launched in 2014 by the then mayor of Barcelona, “challenging” cities to become self-sustainable by 2054. Since then, the project has expanded to a global network of 28 cities and one country (Georgia), cooperating with each other to improve, implement and exchange their urban practices.
The end-goal is for each city to produce everything they consume. In order to reach its objective, the Challenge vividly promotes increased collective action and co-designed solutions for the common well-being of the planet. That is the main idea of its Manifesto, which contains 10 guiding principles for promoting sustainability and liveability – with actions at local and regional levels.
CIRCLES - the network of organisations contributing to the circular economy in the Eastern Netherlands
CIRCLES is a platform dedicated to disseminating circular economy solutions in the Eastern Netherlands. It encourages entrepreneurs to participate in the green transition, promoting their sense of ownership in the transition process. It offers a space for stakeholders to interact and exchange views on circular economy – digitally or physically - or simply a space to establish partnerships.
Several organisations – public, private and NGOs – interact in a range of ways, including workshops, publications, opportunities to access finance. One of the initiatives, for instance, consists of a space to submit ideas. If viable, cooperation with regional universities can be established, and entrepreneurs can collaborate to reach solutions.
SHAREBOX - secure management platform for shared process resources
The Horizon-2020 SHAREBOX project promoted industrial symbiosis by developing an online platform providing information on waste resources (i.e. energy, water, residues, etc.) that could be used to replace primary resources, to plant managers and other decision-makers.
Som Mobilitat: promoting green transport in Catalonia
Som Mobilitat is a non-profit cooperative working for a more sustainable mobility model. It seeks to promote the use of public transport, cycling and walking.
The cooperative also offers an electric carsharing service if none of the other options are available for certain routes. The cooperative is structured around communities where the shared electric vehicles can be used by individuals and private and public organisations.
26 Mar 2021
The Policy Lab for stakeholders will feature a discussion about the tools that are better able to speed up the transition towards a circular economy and ensure that it is delivered equitably. The findings of the Policy Lab for Regions will be used to kick off the discussion on 26 March 2021.
Accez: Accelerating the circular economy in the southern Netherlands
ACCEZ is a platform which aims to foster circular economy practices in the southern Netherlands. It pools initiatives by several regional universities and public and private actors in the following fields:
- area development
- circular agriculture
- manufacturing industries
- plastic.
The platform bolsters cooperation between partners to develop solutions for knowledge-intensive issues. To do so, they oversee and fund triple-helix research projects. The end-goal of the platform is to enhance the regional knowledge base and networks, with a view to substantially accelerating the transition to a circular economy.
Vanheede Environment Group: collecting packaged food waste to produce alternative fuels
Vanheede Biomass Solutions processes packaged or unpackaged food items that, for various reasons, are no longer fit for human or animal consumption. Fermentable residue is gathered and processed at a bio-methanisation plant in order to generate green energy.
Clusters dealing with circular transition in times of COVID-19
Across the world, cluster organisations have taken a leading role in the green transition. Cluster Excellence Denmark recently released a new e-book titled Towards a New Greener Normal – How Clusters are Dealing with Circular Transition in Times of COVID-19, exploring how this work has continued despite the current pandemic.
The e-book contains informative insights into how clusters are integrating the green transition and digitalisation, leading to brand new and innovative solutions with market potential.
Triade Electronique: recycling WEEE
Veolia has developed expertise and built specific facilities to tackle the complex process of treating, depolluting and dismantling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). This is a valuable source of recyclable raw materials: ferrous metals, plastics and precious metals can all be recovered and reused.
Sustainable Procurement Platform
The Sustainable Procurement platform is managed by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability with the aim of disseminating information to the public with case studies, events, guidance, and other resources about sustainable and circular procurement at the world level.
According to the platform, circular procurement refers to a range of ways of acquiring goods and services, taking into consideration the whole lifecycle of products throughout their supply chain.
Through circular procurement, it should also be guaranteed that the products and services acquired get value for money and generate benefits not only for the buyer, but also for the environment, society and the economy.
Remondis Aqua: extracting phosphoric acids from sewerage sludge
Remondis Acqua Group is a company specialising in systems for the production of high-quality water. They have developed new methods to protect raw materials and treat wastewater, with a new model of municipal sewerage treatment plant.
17 Mar 2021
LOOPS is a live webinar series organised by Veltha to explore state-of-the-art technology and foster knowledge exchange from research to industry in the field of the circular economy. Each episode will feature a discussion with Horizon2020-funded projects, providing valuable insights into the research produced so far in this field.
Refurbishing a kindergarten building with minimal environmental impact in Koprivnica
In 2018, the Croatian city of Koprivnica needed to replace a prefabricated kindergarten. Instead of demolishing the building entirely, Koprivnica opted for Green Public Procurement (GPP) and aimed to maintain as much of the physical structure as possible, while refurbishing and improving it.
18 Mar 2021
To access Recovery and Resilience Facility funds, Member States will need to prepare and submit national recovery and resilience plans. What kind of approaches can governments adopt to classify budget headings and measure the impact on climate change and circularity?
Cristian Stroia
Lessons Learnt from Circular Procurement Pilots
Between 2017 and 2020, Aalborg (Denmark), Malmö (Sweden) and Smiltene and Pļaviņas (Latvia) piloted innovative new approaches to buying circular goods and services as part of the Circular PP project. Their experiences have been collated in this report, which is a very useful guide for public buyers interested in trying out circular procurement. A summary of the report is also available.
The main results and lessons from six public procurement pilot schemes are outlined in the report:
- Buying back ICT equipment (City of Aalborg)
- Outdoor learning environment tender (City of Aalborg)
- Non-new furniture tender (City of Malmö)
- Waste management tender (City of Malmö)
- Catering services for schools (Latvia)
- Furniture for school dormitories (Latvia)
22 Mar 2021
Join Recyclers Talks #1 to discuss what needs to be done to deliver on Europe’s Green Agenda.