ECESP Annual Conference: Towards to a new normal: Sustainable products for sustainable consumption

 

On 1 and 2 March 2022, ECESP Annual Conference titled Towards to a new normal: Sustainable products for sustainable consumption brought together Europe's largest network of stakeholders in the Circular Economy.

The French EU Council Presidency joined the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Commission to host this flagship stakeholder conference, bringing together leaders from business, public authorities, NGOs, knowledge communities, and other civil society organisations to advance our transition to a Circular Economy.

Full program, recordings of both days as well as recently published reflection papers of ECESP 2021 leadership groups can be found on ECESP website.

The insightful worskhop Network Governance and Circular Economy Hubs: The power of network governance for a successful circular transformation - was hosted by Ladeja G. Košir, co-chair of the ECESP CG, founder and director of Circular Change.

This workshop aimed to better understand the key ingredients for the successful circular transformation as well as the definition of the optimal profile of the transition broker: competencies, added value for the client, financial aspects, contribution to the Green Recovery process on national and EU level, as well as to the creation of new circular economy jobs strongly promoted by the Green Deal. Orchestration is needed to bridge top-down and bottom-up approach and bring system change from theory to practice.

Points of discussion:

  • Circular economy hubs - how they operate, what is their main role, what are the barriers they are facing

  • Brief introduction of network governance and transition brokers - "what is in it" for different stakeholders

  • An exclusive preview of the newly published book by Professor Cramer

  • A collection of ideas on how to strengthen the power of circular hubs - priority topics, joint projects, an overview of events, available financial resources, knowledge & competencies needed

  • Ideation on what the optimal profile of the transition broker

In the rich program with fruitful exchange of ideas and experiences the participants were able to hear Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Cramer - Utrecht University, Member of the Amsterdam Economic Board, Board Chair of Holland Circular Hotspot and former Dutch Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, and representatives of CE hubs and transition brokers: Mrs. Darja Figelj - General Manager, Interseroh d.o.o, Arthur ten Wolde - Ecopreneur , Shadow Chen - Circular Taiwan, Sarah Miller - Rediscovery Centre and Freek van Eijk from Holland Circular Hotspot.

The recording of the session is available here.

 
Circular Change