Spanish stakeholders discussed on the benefits and challenges of Industrial Symbiosis at the CircLean Open Innovation Workshop in Valencia
On 27 May 2022, some 70 stakeholders actively participated in-person and online for the CircLean Open Innovation Workshop in Valencia, Spain. The workshop was organised by the consortium led by Technopolis Group who is running the CircLean Secretariat on behalf of the European Commission. The event became possible thanks to the support of RedEco, ITC, Simbiosy, CETEM and IVACE.
The representative from the European Commission (DG GROW), Mr. Anestis Filopoulos stressed the importance of the European Green Deal and the EU industrial Strategy to unlock the potential of industrial symbiosis (IS) as an innovative business model. At the EU level, industrial symbiosis is being pursued through the CircLean project which pushes further the development of a European industry-led monitoring and reporting system for IS transactions. The participants had the opportunity to discover the network’s toolbox which includes the self-assessment module and the matching tool.
The roundtable discussion engaged stakeholders in discussions on barriers and drivers of industrial symbiosis in Spain. Research and innovation activities were highlighted as paramount to amplify the scope of industrial activities towards new materials and industries. In this context, regional and national public authorities should play a key role supporting stakeholders. Moreover, facilitators play a key role in the creation of national, international, and cross-sectoral collaboration projects, which was also recognised as a key feature for industrial symbiosis activities to be operational at a broader level. Stakeholders also recognised the need of setting the right framework conditions for industrial symbiosis to be feasible.
Local Spanish best practices from FUNDECYT, ITC ACCIONA Simbiosy IVACE and INESCOP were also presented at the workshop. The best practices demonstrated that there had been an ongoing effort to widen the scope of IS activities, both at the sectoral and material level.
Read about the other CircLean Open Innovation Workshops:
- CircLean Open Innovation Workshop in Poland here
- CircLean Open Innovation Workshop in Hungary here
- CircLean Open Innovation Workshop in Finland here
- CircLean Open Innovation Workshop in Belgium here
Hear from Ana Belén Arzo Cabrera (Provincial Council of Castellón), Nazim Kuyer (Co-Founder and COO at RedEco) and Emilie Bannier(European Project Manager at ITC) as they share their takeaways from the event:
About the Project:
CircLean is an EU-funded project establishing an EU-wide, industry-led network to capture the benefits of industrial symbiosis (IS) to business and the economy. Read more about the project here.
The CircLean network offers the opportunity to engage in IS transactions with other companies. If you would like to become a member of the network, please read more here and get in touch with the CircLean Secretariat at circlean.project@technopolis-group.com.
The next CircLean Open Innovation Workshop will be held in Rotterdam in The Netherlands on the 8th of September 2022.