Later this week, CCRI’s Dr Dan Keech and Associate Prof. Matt Reed will be co-hosting a session at the online URP2020 conference. Originally planned to take place in Leipzig, Germany, the conference is now on-line.
Working with their Austrian colleague Dr Theresia Oedl-Wieser from the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research, the trio is co-hosting session S23: Circular Economy – from Business Models to Regional Transition? The Circular Economy (CE) is a concept which is becoming increasingly familiar in sustainable economics research, enterprise practice and policy (it’s peppered throughout the UK government’s Industrial Strategy, for instance). CE foresees a move away from a linear economy (extractive, wasteful, based on unlimited growth-focused) economy, to one which mimics ecological processes. Materials and products should be designed for multiple re-use/re-purposing, designing out obsolescence and removing the need for waste. (see the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for more information)
The session aims to draw out different examples of how the circular economy is taking shape at local and regional levels. Presentations will cover social enterprises making use of repurposed materials in Austria, as well as city-regional policy development for circular economics in the Netherlands. A contribution from India explores how organic urban waste can help enhance soil carbon in rural agriculture.
Further details regarding the session are available from available from Dan – dkeech@glos.ac.uk
You can also follow the session online via their Twitter stream @URP2020
