Participatory circular economy initiatives in Europe and Italy

Organized by: Technical Scientific Committee of Ecomondo, ENEA and ICESP

The theme of resilience is even more relevant due to the recent crises, both the pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. Ensuring the security of resources supply, that also lead to financial stability for businesses and families, become as important as urgent, in order to guarantee sustainable growth and citizens well-being through innovation, eco-design, skills complementarity and expertise. In this sense, the actions envisaged in the European Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP, March 2020) are the reference for the initiatives and strategies of the member Countries. All actors are called to build a new economic model that requires integrated governance, research and innovation with a multidisciplinary approach, investments and incentives, procedural simplifications, market creation and cultural change. Important elements of the circular economy (CE) are the participation and collaboration between actors that can be engaged through networks and hubs, creating knowledge, dialogue, awareness and trust. Furthermore, it is essential to collect and disseminate good practices in order to foster winning solutions along the supply chains and in the cities/territories.

The multidisciplinary approach and the dissemination of good practices (GPs) can be the driving force and inspiration for the activation of transition paths to CE and ICESP implements the Italian GPs database (about 200 GPs), available on www.icesp.it. The GPs related both to supply chain and territorial approach, are reviewed by a specific committee and then published on ICESP web site and, in parallel, sent to ECESP. GPs are selected according to the following criteria: degree of innovation, replicability, maturity, quantification of impacts.

The conference will be an opportunity to explore current activities and ICESP GPs, in line with Italian and European initiatives, highlighting the perspectives for supporting the transition in a systemic view.

Session chairs

Roberto Morabito, Director of the Department for Sustainability, ENEA
Giulia Lucertini, IUAV University, representing the ICESP Coordinators Committee

Programme

14.30-14.50 Introduction by the chairs

Initiatives in Europe

14.50-15.10 European Circular Economy Action Plan progress
Paola Migliorini, European Commission, DG Environment for Sustainable Production, Products and Consumption Unit

15.10-15.30 ECESP and leadership group on "network and governance"
Ladeja Godina Košir, Coordination Group of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP)

Initiatives in Italy

15.30-15.50 The circular transition of value chains
Giacomo Vigna, Directorate General for Industrial Policy, Innovation and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, MISE

15.50-16.10 Role of technical standardization for the circular transition
Elena Mocchio, Innovation Division, UNI

16.10-16.30 ICESP in the Italian circular economy context
Grazia Barberio, ENEA and ICESP technical coordinator

16.30-16.50 Multidisciplinary approach and ICESP good practices
Alessandra De Santis, Economiacircolare.com and co-coordinator of the ICESP WG6

16.50-17.10 Circular Economy national strategy
Silvia Grandi, Directorate General for Circular Economy, Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition

17.10-17.30 Discussion and closure