SURFACE at stakeholder meeting in Styria

Intensive discussions resulted from the first regional stakeholder meeting of the Interreg Europe project SUBTRACT where the Region of Styria is a partner among six other European partners. Nearly 20 participants accepted the invitation of the province of Styria to engage in an intensive exchange over the coming years. Representatives of the provincial administration, waste consultants from Styrian waste management associations, the city of Graz, social enterprises and the Austrian umbrella organisation RepaNet were just as present as those of the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, a company from the IT ReUse sector, universities and universities of applied sciences (from the design sector), NGOs and private initiatives (Association for Waste Avoidance, Association "Sustainable in Graz", Stadtlabor Graz) as well as the Styrian Green Tech Cluster.

The meeting touched on a variety of issues and the participants discussed the priorities for the coming meetings. During the regional stakeholder meeting (the participants refer to themselves as Reuse Group Styria) a number of good practice examples were presented, including the SURFACE project with the establishment of Smart Urban Reuse Parks in various functional urban areas in Europe. At another meeting of the Reuse stakeholders in Graz - the capital of Styria - the Twinning Scheme for the establishment of a Smart Urban Reuse Park between the SURFACE Leadpartner ATM and the City of Graz was presented and further steps for implementation were agreed upon.

In addition to the regional stakeholder meeting of SUBTRACT, working groups on key topics in the ReUse sector are to be developed and a platform for the exchange of information established. The regional study report on the status situation of ReUse in Styria is to result in a kind of dynamic ReUse map so that future innovations and adaptations can be easily incorporated. This will be the focus of the second regional stakeholder meeting at the end of June 2020.