CITYCIRCLE MEDIA COVERAGE IN ITALY
CITYCIRCLE project and Circular Economy was the subjects of two articles in Italian press: Evolution, the magazine of Animaimpresa, an association that promotes Corporate Social Responsibility, and Il Friuli Business, a monthly magazine with regional distribution. The author of both articles is a member of our project team, Stefano Treu from APE FVG - Agenzia per l'Energia del Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Here is the english translation of the latter article:
FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULAR
The importance of the circular economy in terms of innovation potential and sustainable economic growth, now seems generally accepted at European level.
In this regard, several projects related to sustainable development have been activated at regional level, and among these we find CITYCIRCLE, whose focus is precisely the circular economy. This project, which is part of the Interreg program (a program of the European Regional Development Fund - ERDF), counts 11 partners from different European Union countries: Italy (APE – Agenzia per l’Energia del Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Municipality of Udine), Austria, Croatia, Germany, Slovakia and Slovenia. It aims to encourage development and innovation in peripheral European regions, among which we find Friuli Venezia Giulia, through the diffusion of circular principles and practices.
We are currently in the initial stages of CITYCIRCLE and, in each of the participating regions, stakeholders have been identified for the formation of working groups, which will carry out the project at a territorial level. The first meeting between the regional partners of the project and a dozen stakeholders has already taken place on 11 December 2019. Through this collaboration, the intention is to create the necessary tools in the region to better implement the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. To do this, we want to install a facilitator office (HUB), whose structure and legal form has yet to be decided, capable of following and supporting companies, organizations and consumers in applying the principles of circularity. It will have to offer various services including consultancy, event organization and matchmaking (for example a marketplace for by-products integrated at European level). Within CITYCIRCLE (whose end is scheduled for March 2022), pilot projects will also be developed in each of the regions, which will represent examples of virtuous practices to be reproduced and disseminated throughout the territory. Furthermore, the will of the partners and regional stakeholders is to ensure the continuation of the activities well beyond the end of the project.
