With one week to go before the Final Conference, the organisers and Brussels hosts – ACR+, are happy to be able to share the final agenda an announce a dynamic, unconventional and above all a Conference that will keep the attention of the audience for its entire duration! With the registrations closed, as the maximum number of participants – 145 of them has been reached long time ago, the organisers can now concentrate on logistics and every single tiny detail in order to ensure a smooth, entertaining and successful Conference.
The Final Conference which will be opened by Ms. Fadila Laanan on behalf of the Brussels regional government, will take place at Balsamine theatre in Schaerbeek and will be a unique storytelling experience looking back at the previous 3 years of the project. Ms. Laanan will welcome the project’s 11 pilot cities and regions, other 16 project partners and invitees and guest from the European institutions, various European industry associations, NGOs and research institutes, as well as numerous other cities and regions who are coming to hear ideas and get inspired by what URBAN-WASTE has laid down in the area of waste management in tourism. The rest of the key-note speakers will also include Ms. Silvia Bertran of the Government of the Canary Islands, the project’s coordinators and Ms. Francoise Bonnet ACR+’s Secretary General. Apart from highlighting the roles of cities and regions in the transition to circular economy, she will also host the signing ceremony of the Charter of Commitments, URBAN-WASTE’s very own campaign and initiative targeting cities and regions and acknowledging their efforts in making tourism more sustainable. Krakow, Genoa, Corsica and Brugge to be the newest 4 additions to the family of 19 other cities and regions who already expressed their intentions in making tourism more sustainable.
The second part of the morning will be a paradise for every policy maker, researcher but also a regular citizen’s ears. A line-up of experts coming from four research institutes and consultancies will share the project’s key results and findings. Ms. Gudrun Obersteiner of BOKU University, Mr. Erik Louw of TU Delft, Ms. Susan Buckingham and Mr. Javier Lopez of Consulta Europa will report on urban metabolism, consumption and waste behaviour, gender mainstreaming and cooperation between local authorities and stakeholders, fields of interests which laid down the basis for other activities on the project. Marie Yeroyanni of the European Commission and DG Research and Innovation in particular wll wrap up the morning with putting all these findings and outcomes into a European perspective and how they fit into the European Innovating Cities Policy R&I Agenda.
Four thematic debates will change the format of the Conference in the afternoon, as guest facilitators from the European Commission, European Sea Ports Organisation and NECSTouR will host numerous panelists who were on the frontline of all the eco-innovative measures that were being implemented in the 11 pilot cities and regions.
During the day, a set of workshops and ateliers will be taking place during the Conference’s coffee and lunch breaks. The participants will be able to participate in DIY creative and upcycling workshops and visit the stands and the accompanying exhibition set up in order to celebrate the 11 URBAN-WASTE pilot cities and regions and their efforts made during the project’s lifetime. The Conference will continue to the evening, too, as the screening of the HONDAR 2050 documentary takes place at 18.30, followed by a discussion with the film’s main protagonist, a surfer and environmentalist – Carlos Arrolo.
All those who are unable to attend the Conference, due to the distance or not having managed to secure their seats will be able to hear everything about it, as Euractiv will be present as the Conference’s media partner. A webinar is also foreseen to repeat the highlights of Conference later in May.
See the complete agenda, as well as the speakers’ profiles and much more here.
