Circular Transition in Cities
The rapid population growth and increase in urbanisation puts pressure on cities around the world, and the inefficient use of resources and assets make cities linear and unsustainable. Considering their high concentration of both citizens and businesses, cities should use their potential to be both cradles and catalysts for circular change to enable city administrations to plan and support the circular transition.
Circular procurement can be the instrument to leverage many of the pressing waste and circular challenges facing growing cities today, including waste reduction, resource use and green growth. What needs to be done on a municipality level to turn theory into practice, and how can current policies, alongside business and civil society initiatives, contribute to a circular transition?
Join us in this dynamic session at the World Circular Economy Forum with gamification elements, live voting, presentations and a panel discussion alongside leading experts from C40 Cities, EIB, OECD, EIT Climate-KIC, the City of Helsinki and more representatives from pioneering cities.
Innovative Circular Procurement in Cities endeavour
- What? Innovative Circular Procurement in Cities endeavour – side session
- When? Tuesday 4 June 2019, 11.00-12.30
Circular procurement can be the instrument to leverage many of the pressing waste and circular challenges facing growing cities today, including reducing waste, rethinking resources and creating green growth. The circular transition also holds the potential to create new jobs and improve the livability and attractiveness of cities.
But what are the more concrete benefits of incorporating circularity as a planning instrument at city- and district level, and how can these, as well as potential negative effects, be assessed? What needs to be done on a municipality level to turn theory into practice and what hurdles need to be overcome? How can current policies, alongside business and civil society initiatives, contribute to the transition?
This side-event comprises brief presentations and panel discussions of expertise around ‘circular procurement’ and how urban generated waste, either the entire product of its components and raw materials, should be returned to the city or company of origin to either be reused, repaired or redeveloped into a new product. Views and experiences are shared on the rationale for and approach to circularity in cities.
As part of the Circular Cities project, a white paper will be launched at the side-event with a specific focus on ‘Circular procurement’, showcasing how cities can build circular procurement into ownership and contractual relations in which the products are often delivered as a service so resources can remain in circulation as long as possible.
The session will furthermore include a dynamic gamification session where the audience will provide feedback on how circular procurement can represent a mechanism through which circular economy can be embedded into municipal operations via its procurement processes and what effects need to be considered.
Venue
The World Circular Economy Forum will be held in the Finnish capital Helsinki at the Finlandia Hall in the centre of the city. The Finlandia Hall was designed by world-renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and is one of his most iconic buildings.
Venue for side session: Veranda Hall, Finlandia Hall
EIT Climate-KIC will also host an exhibition booth at the Expo Area in the Finlandia Hall.
About the WCEF
The third World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) will be held in Helsinki, Finland on 3-5 June 2019, hosted by SITRA. The forum will have a strong emphasis on the next era of circular economy and scaling up the transition, bringing together more than 2,000 business leaders, policymakers and experts to present the world’s best circular economy solutions. Scaling up the transition involves growing investments into circular economy businesses, spreading and adopting new technologies and making significant regulatory changes that enable the circular economy to flourish.
The Forum will introduce 17 plenary and parallel sessions including keynote speeches, thematic discussions and ample networking opportunities. EIT Climate-KIC is an official partner of the WCEF2019.