WCEF2021 livesession organized by Circular Economy Centre pointed out the importance of international co-operation at the industrial circular economy field. The global co-operation process is crucial to maximising joint learning in measuring the performance of eco-industrial parks, says Policy Brief 2, published by the Circular Economy Centre and Sitra.
Policy Brief 2 was prepared straight after the WCEF2021 livesession "Benefits of Measuring eco-industrial parks on 15th of September 2021. The livesession attracted 300 participants from 37 countries. Main organizers of the livesession were Circular Economy Centre and The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra jointly with UNIDO and NISP Canada. The session focused on joint international learning and sharing experiences with measuring the progress of the circular economy in eco-industrial parks.
"This policy brief focuses on the outcome of the session´s interactive discussions", explains Project Coordinator Eeva Turunen from Norrum, who prepared the summary for the Circular Economy Centre.
The policy brief highlights the importance of strengthening network cooperation, mutual learning, and circular economy know-how exchange. The global co-creation process is crucial to maximising joint learning in measuring the performance of eco-industrial parks.
"We can now better understand the current situation and set more ambitious targets for the global green transition."
"The best way is to learn by doing, and thus it is important to gather insights, concrete good practises, experiences, tools and instructions from different parts of the world", recommends Director Tuomas Pussila, from Circular Economy Centre (CEC).
WCEF session pointed out that it is very important to listen and collect feedback from practitioners on eco-industrial parks from all over the world.
"With this work, we can better understand the current situation and gain knowledge to set more ambitious targets for the global green transition", says CEO Jukka Teräs of Norrum, who prepared the summary for the CEC.
The challenges of measuring industrial circular economy
As a conclusion the policy brief addresses that the aim to find suitable indicators for eco-industrial parks serves also the regional and national decision-making processes which address the industrial policies with the aim of CO2 emission reductions and sustainable use of natural resources.
Measurement with evidence-based facts on eco-industrial parks should be used as a powerful instrument in attracting countries and regions in investing sustainable industry development.
But there are challenges like how to choose right indicators, how to create standard measures for different types of circular economy, how to cover industrial circular economy in a holistic way and how to get all needed data from companies.
"In the future, some encouragement and/or incentives would be helpful for the companies to share data publicly", Pussila thinks.
What is WCEF?
The World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) has become the world´s leading forum for the industrial circular economy in a short time. It brings together business leaders, policy makers and experts around the the world to discuss the word´s best circular economy solutions. 2021 year WCEF had over 7000 registered participants from all over the world. This year WCEF was virtual and hosted by Canada.
What is Circular Economy Centre?
The Circular Economy Centre (CEC) is a renowned pioneer in its field at a national and international level. For example, CEC leads a nationwide network of eco-industrial parks, which offers an outlook on the entire circular economy in Finland. CEC coordinates a network of European operators aiming to promote business investments in the circular economy in the EU. The Circular Economy Centre heads also the industrial circular economy cluster in smart specialisation in Lapland. The cluster is a part of the regional development programme of the EU. CEC networks also at Nordic level.
CEC helps companies scale up and develop their business by giving expert advice, applying for funding and creating networks between operators. Team of experts produces and communicates information on the best practices of the circular economy. Team works in cooperation with companies, authorities and educational institutes.
What Policy Brief?
Policy Briefs are part of the Industrial Circular Economy Platform (TKO) project headed by the Industrial Economy Centre. The project was selected as one of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s spearhead projects in the development of industrial circular economy ecosystems in 2020–2022.
Link to latest Policy Brief:
Policy Brief 1 was published at 2021.
More about Policy Brief 1:
https://www.digipolis.fi/en/news/measuring-eco-industrial-parks-should-start-immediately
Link to Policy Brief 1:
Link to YouTube WCEF2021 session :
TEXT AND PHOTO: SOILE SUVANTO
