October 4, 2022 - Published 541 days, 9 hours and 27 minutes ago
Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change promotes Technical Seminar on Circular Economy
location Ponta Delgada

Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Ação Climática

The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change promotes on Thursday and Friday, October 6 and 7, a Technical Seminar on Circular Economy in Praia da Vitória. The initiative aims to disseminate, raise awareness and discuss the concept among the various sectors of activity, so as to actively involve stakeholders.

This will be a great opportunity to debate the future of the Circular Economy in the Region by bringing together all stakeholders and partners and promoting a significant moment of dissemination.

The specificities of the Azores make Circular Economy a clear need for regional sustainability, responding to the new European challenges in terms of implementing a green economy.

This seminar intends to promote dialogue with experts as well as the sharing of experiences and knowledge related to the transition to Circular Economy models.

The necessary transition marks a paradigm shift in the economic model, actively promoting resource efficiency through products, processes and business models based on dematerialisation, reuse, recycling and recovery of materials.

The promotion of the seminar, which includes 24 expert speakers in different areas, falls within a series of projects in progress, including the preparation of the Agenda for the Circular Economy of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the circularity platform and the good practice guide for circular events. These actions are funded by the REACT-EU programme: Green Economy Project - Promotion of measures and investment support for circular economy elements in the Azores, representing an overall investment of 500 thousand Euros.

On October 6, during the morning, the seminar will be attended by Ana Rodrigues, Regional Director for the Environment and Climate Change, who will address the Agenda for the Circular Economy of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, whose development began this year and which is expected to be completed by 2023; Dália Leal, Head of the Waste Section of the Regional Directorate for the Environment and Climate Change, who will present the project financed by REACT-EU for the preparation of the Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality; Ana Cristina Carrola, from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), who will deliver a lecture on Circular Economy; Rosa Onofre from the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of Alentejo, who will present of the Forum for the Circular Economy of Alentejo; Cláudia Sá, from the Regional Directorate for the Environment and Climate Change of Madeira, who will present the Agenda of the Autonomous Region of Madeira for Circular Economy. 

Later, in the afternoon, Cristina Rocha, from the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG) will deliver a lecture on Circular Business Models, followed by João Wengorovius Meneses, from the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD Portugal), who will deliver a lecture on industrial symbioses.

Afterwards, a session will be held to present Best Practices in Circular Economy, which will be attended by Francisco de Sousa Fernandes, director of the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory (LREC), who will present the REBUILD 17 project; Raquel Galante, from Fibrenamics Azores Association, who talk about the development of casein fibre from non-food milk produced in the Azores; Sérgio Loureiro, from SustainUtility Atlantic Biotec, who will address the Mar4Terra project - biorefinery of food waste; Joana Ávila who present the Begs&Bags project; Ana Almeida, from the company Boa Fruta, Lda., who will talk about the production of furniture from pineapple leaf fibre.

On October 7, during the morning, several thematic sessions will be held simultaneously. One of them will be focused on diagnosis tools in the Circular Economy and will be conducted by Paula Silvestre and Francisco Salgueirinho Moreira, from the Portuguese Business Association (AEP). There will be a session dedicated to the recovery of byproducts and waste, led by Inês Gomes, from Smart Waste Portugal; a session focused on life cycle assessment, led by Cristina Rocha and Paula Trindade from the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG); a session on food waste, conducted by Iva Pires, from Nova University Lisbon, and a session dedicated to material flow management, conducted by Cândida Rocha, from Lusófona University.  

Another four thematic sessions will take place later in the afternoon: a session on digitisation in agriculture, led by Tiago Sá from Wisecrop; a session on the circular economy, focusing on hotel waste, conducted by Maria José Nunes from the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of Algarve; a session on Eco-design, led by Nieta da Ponta Rocha, from the Circular Blue Group, and a session on sustainable and circular purchases, conducted by Paula Trindade from the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG).

The event also features Marcos Couto, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Azores, and Sónia Silva, executive director of TERAMB, Municipal Environmental Management and Improvement Company of Terceira Island, as moderators. It will also be attended by the Mayor of Praia da Vitória, Vânia Ferreira, the Mayor of Angra do Heroísmo, Álamo Meneses, and the President of the Entity for the Regulation of Water and Waste Services of the Azores (ERSARA), Sónia Santos.

So far, there are more than 130 participants registered for the event.

© Governo dos Açores | Fotos: SRAAC

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