The future of the circular economy and digitalization in the Alpine Space

  • Why is the transition to the circular economy a must?
  • Can advanced green and digital technologies such as blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality (VR/AR), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and others accelerate the transition, and how?
  • Are "product-as-a-service" business models the right answer to shift from the "take-make-dispose" paradigm to "make-recycle/reuse" business models and close the production loop?
  • How can advanced green materials replace the need for scarce raw materials in the Alps?
  • Do we have the right tools and instruments and the necessary resources to help companies adopt the circular economy and the Future Verse?
  • Who is orchestrating the changes?
  • What actions are being taken in the different countries of the EU Alpine Space and at the level of the European Union?
  • How are businesses and consumers adapting to environmental issues and scarcity of raw materials?

These are some of the intriguing questions to be answered during the Circular4.0 conference by small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), enterprises, leaders, learners, networkers, frontrunners, researchers, experts, activists, public actors at the national, regional and local level, intermediaries, business support organisations, sectoral agencies, technology parks, clusters, financial investors, solution providers, problem solvers, concerned employees and other curious people. The conference on 29 September 2022 (from 9:00 to 15:15 CEST) will address the contribution of SMEs to mitigate environmental issues in the Alps.

All participants are needed to ask questions, provide answers and share knowledge, ideas, experiments, solutions, technologies, tools, instruments, scale-up practices, policies, and funding instruments to foster SMEs' engagement and accelerate the transition to the circular economy in the Alpine Space and other European macro-regions.

Especially those who care about the Alpine environment, nature, sustainable/green and digital future are asked to help develop a new Alpine Circular Economy4.0 community, share information and exchange views on what kind of systemic changes are necessary to create greener and smarter jobs, increase the value of products, improve producer&user responsibility and address environmental issues, technological changes, and new business models in the Alpine region.

Connect. Engage. Participate. Act. Dare to share! Join the new alpine Circular4.0 community on the shores of the magical Lake Bled or online and help Alpine SMEs and industries accelerate the transition to a circular economy through digitalisation.

Full agenda

Registration is open till Monday 26 September 2022. The event is free of charge.